Politics: Inside the Worst Congress Ever

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Politics Inside the Worst Congress Ever A look at some of the lowlights of Robert Draper's new history of the House. By David Weigel Posted Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012, at 02:15 PM ET I was halfway through Do Not Ask What Good We Do when I felt moved to email Robert Draper. Another title for his book, a history of our current House of Representatives, might be Worst Congress Ever. Draper wrote back. "That's about 50 times pithier than Do Not Ask What Good We Do." To research the book, Draper embedded with new and senior House members—mostly Republicans—shortly after the 2010 election. His reporting took him from the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords through the spring 2011 passage of the government-funding continuing resolution through the soul-deadening summer of the debt-limit vote. It took about as much time as an average pregnancy for 87 new legislators to become convinced that Congress didn't actually work for them. The intended punch line: For the new guys, this is how Congress always looks. The rest of Draper's title quote, uttered by a retiring House member in 1796, is asking what good the body can do "is not a fair question, in these days of faction." Well, phew—if the legislative branch was born dysfunctional, and we've made it this far, America might survive the Tea Party Congress. I said might. Here's a quick guide to the more embarrassing or telling moments from Draper's insta-history. The Democrats: Anthony Weiner Division The first juicy Draper leaks appeared in Politico and the New York Post last week. News Corp.—the bane of Anthony Weiner's existence—got to display his corpse and ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate The Most Embarrassing Moments From the Worst House of Representatives Ever Is Our Economy Too Complicated for Our 18th-Century Political System? Why Lunch Breaks Are Massively Overrated	Advertisement
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