At least he didn't drive into the Tidal Basin with his stripper girlfriend.

David Broder blows a kiss to retiring Ways and Means chairman Bill Thomas:

Thomas is an able, principled conservative who has pushed through major legislation that has changed the direction of national policy and altered millions of people's life prospects. He is also someone who has inflicted substantial damage to the legislative process and to personal relationships on Capitol Hill, leaving bruised feelings in his wake.

As someone once said, "Politics ain't beanbag*." Funny, I don't recall any of the famous Democrat Congressional leaders being all that sensitive or worried about bruised feelings.

Lyndon Johnson and Tip O'Neill were always so polite and considerate, not like Bill Thomas! He "rammed through a set of procedural changes that tightened leadership control of the finances and operations of the House," turned Ways and Means into a "bitter political cockpit," and produced bills that "had to be muscled through by brute political force." What a beast!

How much better it was, when the Democrats ran things. They never "cut corners and run roughshod over others in order to achieve [their] policy goals." What's happened to the good ol' days when Republicans knew their place?

* According to Wikipedia, it was Finley Peter Dunne, famously quoted by Mayor Richard J. Daley, who was also well-known for his gentle ways and considerate behavior.