I found myself wondering the other day,
how politicians got so crazy during my lifetime. And then I was
reminded of Representative Marion Anthony Zioncheck, who toiled for
almost a decade in the lumber camps north of Seattle, Washington, to earn
his college tuition. When finally in law school he was elected class
president, and then campaigned for a new student union building. His
successful tactics so offended the football team they shaved his head
and dumped him in a fountain. As a successful criminal attorney he
was often cited for contempt, once appealing a $25 fine all the way
to the Washington State Supreme Court. Then in November of 1932 the
Democrat won a Republican seat in the U.S. House of Representatives
by 12 percentage points.
"This was a sophisticated and lucrative
operation with a multi-tiered management structure. It was, however,
nothing more than a prostitution ring."
Governor Eliot Spitzer, explaining a
Staten Island vice ring
In 1934 Marion Anthony Zioncheck was a
freshman in the 73rd Congress, one of 311 Democrats to
just 117 Republicans. And while this was the congress famous for the
Hundred Days of New Deal legislation, the 31 year old Marion earned
his reputation as an intellectual bully, calling his G.O.P. colleges “fools and
jackasses”. He was once invited to “step out into the hall” so
Republican William Ekwall of Oregon could “deal with him.” In a
1934 floor speech he referred to the director of the F.B.I., J.
Edgar Hoover, as a dictator and a “master of fiction”. That was
politics as usual, but Marion even had a truckload of manure dumped
on Hoover's front lawn. That was not usual politics, and the folks
back on Puget Sound loved it. Marion was re-elected that year by an
even bigger margin.
"The attractive lady...dropped into my
lap....I chose not to dump her off."
Senator Gary Hart explaining a photo of Donna Rice sitting on his lap
In April of 1935, as part of the normal
grease which helps the House to function, fellow Democrat Thomas
Blanton from Texas sought to remove from the official record some of
Zioncheck's more nasty attacks on Republicans. But Marion refused to
allow it. To make a point he suggested, “I want it put in the
record that Mr. Blanton is a son of Texas”. Marion then offered to
have the offensive word “Texas” removed, and replaced by a blank
space.
Mayor Marion Barry explaining his cities' high murder rate
Fellow Democratic Congressman Blanton called Zioncheck's
suggestion “ridicules and asinine”. Marion protested the word
“asinine” as “un-parlimentary”. The Congressional staff were forced to look up
the exact definition in a dictionary. The interruption only angered
Blanton more, and in finishing he slipped and refereed to Zioncheck
as the “gentleman from New York”. Anyone else would have ignored
the gaff, but Marion pounced, sneering at his fellow Democrat, “I
long ago learned not to describe the beauty of a morning sunrise to a
cat.” Blanton leapt to his feet, and stormed toward Marion, who met
him with balled fists. They were separated by fellow members and
Congressman Zioncheck's remarks, now including the ones about
Blanton, were removed by vote of 272 to 0. Even Zioncheck did not vote to retain them.
Sen. John Kerry explaining his voting
record
Just after midnight on January 1st,
1936, Marion stumbled into the lobby of a D.C. apartment building and hot wired
the intercom so he could call every tenant at once. He identified
himself and then wished them all a happy New Year. His sleepy victims
did not appreciate the gesture, but the press did. It seemed some one
had begun keeping newspapers notified of Marion's adventures - as when
early in the morning a few weeks later the congressman was stopped by
capital police doing 60 mile an hour up Connecticut Avenue. Marion
paid a $25 fine. Then in April, it happened again. This time the
speed was 70 mile per hour. Marion paid a $45 fine, and the the judge slapped
on a $20 fine for contempt. The papers began calling him the 'Salon
Congressman” - as in "saloon", and “the House's Bad Boy”. It was even reported
he had driven his roadster on the White House lawn. And when the
White House did not strongly defend him, Marion mailed President
Roosevelt a package of empty beer bottles and some mothballs.
"About this time, the Congressman's car was stopped by
the Park Service and Mrs. Battistella was able to open the door...
The next thing I knew she was in the water."
Congressman Wilbur Mills explaining how his date, aka stripper Fanny Foxe, ended up in the Potomac River
In April Marion met a 21 year old Works Progress Administration typist from Texarkana, Texas, named Rubye Louise Nex. Marion
explained to Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, "I met her
about a week ago, then she called me up one night. She asked me down
and so I went down and looked her over. She was OK.” Marion asked
the Secretary to officiate at their wedding, but the Ickes demurred. So Marion and Rubye crossed into Maryland, which had no
waiting period for marraiges.. Rubye told the papers “excitement and hubbub”
just seemed to follow her new husband, and she was “glad to go
along with him”.
"American scientific companies are
cross-breeding humans and animals and coming up with mice with fully
functioning human brains."
Senate Candidate Christine O'Donnell
explaining why she does not trust science
They decided to honeymoon in Florida,
but were stopped almost immediately in Alexandria, Virginia, and
charged with speeding. Marion posted a $200 bond, and continued on
his honeymoon. Four days later their trip was interrupted again, 2 ½
miles south of Shallotte, North Carolina, when a county sheriff
pulled Marion over, supposedly because that morning he had missed his
court date back in Virginia. The head line read “Zioncheck Again
Arrested”, and though one might wonder how in 1934 a county sheriff had heard within four hours about a missed court appearance 300 miles
away, no one in Washington thought to ask that. When Alexandria
refused to pay for Representative Zioncheck's extradition over a
misdemeanor charge, the couple was released - but for the rest of
the trip to Miami, Rubye did the driving.
"The governor is hiking the Appalachian
Trail."
Spokesman for South Carolina Gov. Mark
Sanford
At this moment the Peurto Rician
legislature passed a bill applying for statehood status. American
congressional leadership asked Marion, since he was in Miami, to
check out the situation. Marion and his new bride flew there on
Monday, May 7th, and what they found was not what
Roosevelt's appointed governor, Blanton Winslip, had been telling the
White House. Their car was chased by rock throwing youths, shouting
nationalistic chants. But the White House was not prepared to listen,
telling Marion the governor “is the sole and competent authority
to carry out this government's policy”. So Marion went public,
warning the Associated Press, “The United States ought to either
get in or get out of here. This thing is like a snowball. It grows.”
But Marion had under rated the damage already done to his
reputation, and his report was dismissed as the ravings of a drunken
lunatic.
"I find it interesting that it was back
in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out under...President Jimmy
Carter. I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an
interesting coincidence."
Representative Michele Bachmann,
explaining the 2011 flue outbreak.
On his return to New York, two weeks
later, Marion entertained several reporters in his hotel room, even
inventing a new drink - cough syrup, honey and rye, which he dubbed a
“zipper”, as in 'zip your lip'. But if Marion thought this meeting was
off the record he was sadly mistaken. The alcoholic invention was duly
reported, and afterwards the couple were dared by photographers to wade
into a fountain. The headlines shouted, “Zionchecks Go For A
Paddle”.
Congressman Mark Foley, explaining his
attraction to a 16 year old male page
Back in Washington at the end of May,
Marion found his apartment occupied by the woman he was subletting
from, Mrs. Benjamin Young, who thought he was unfit to be either a Congressman or rent her property . Despite the Zioncheck's lease having another five
months to run, she refused to leave. So all three occupied the one bedroom
together. Marion returned to work the next day, riding a bicycle to
the capital as a publicity stunt and to avoid any further traffic
tickets. But as a pedestrian he was arrested by Alexandria police
Sargent George Helmuth, for that missed court appearance. He was only
in jail long enough for a few more press photos to be taken , which made the front pages
from D.C. to Seattle.
Governor Mitt Romney, explaining why he
strapped his dog on the roof of a station wagon
A few days later, after yet another
confrontation with Mrs. Young, Marion dragged the screaming and
kicking woman out into the hallway, where he dumped her. Luckily the
press was on hand to snap more photos. These headlines read,
“Zioncheck Puts Woman To Rout”, and “Zioncheck Checks Out
Landlady”. Mrs. Young claimed a broken hip, but refused to be
examined. Reporters quoted her as saying, “We've got to see whether
this country is going to be run by Bolshevism or Americanism” Mrs
Young insisted the police report her as 92 years old. Her driver's
license said she was 42.
"Not only did I grope him, I tickled him
until he couldn't breathe and four guys jumped on top of
me."
Congressman Eric Massa explaining his boisterous lifestyle
Rubye could take no more of the
circus, and walked out. And while she was gone, Marion threw a temper
tantrum, tossing dishes and furniture about the apartment. Eventually
the police were called again, and Anthony was arrested again. This
time a friend bailed him out, but warned him the Democrats would
offer no further public support. From this Marion became convinced
that his 21 year old bride had been kidnapped by the 66 year old Vice
President, fellow Democrat John Nance. The next time the police were called, Marion
was committed to a hospital for "mental observation".
Congressman Tom Delay, explaining why
he is smiling in his mug shot
They locked him up in the
Gallinger Municipal Hospital Psychopathic Ward, aka the Washington
Asylum. Rubye came to the hospital, but only to speak with Marion's
doctors. The newlyweds never visited. During his three week
evaluation, Marion announced he would not run for re-election. Just
as a grand jury was convening to consider his sanity, Marion's
friends got him shipped to a clinic in Baltimore, Maryland. He stayed
there for a few days, before climbing a fence and disappearing. He
surfaced a week later with Rubye in Chicago, fresh and seemingly
recovered, and boarded a train for Seattle.
Senator Zell Miller explaining how much
he disagreed with interviewer Chris Matthews
On his return home, Marion's mother
urged him to run for re-election, saying it was the only way to prove
he was not crazy. And on Monday, August 3, 1936, Marion paid the $100
fee and filed papers to run again in November. That night he told a
Seattle radio station, “I have been pictured as a vicious wide eyed
radical ever since I was president of the student body at the
University of Washington. Now I'm going to go back to congress...I'm
going to clear up of things that were falsely said about me.” He
opened a campaign office on the 5th floor of the Arctic
building (now a hotel) in downtown Seattle, at the corner of Third
Avenue and Cherry Street. But Rubye insisted Marion see a
psychiatrist, which he finally did on the afternoon of Friday,
August 7th, , when he was evaluated by Dr.
Edward Hoedemaker.
Senator John Edwards, explaining the
timing of his infidelity around his wife's cancer.
Doctor Hoedemaker warned Rubye and Marion's
brother-in-law, Bill Nadeau, who were to drive him to a political
meeting that night, that they should keep a close eye on the congressman. After
leaving the doctor's office they stopped off at Marion's
headquarters in the Arctic building , so Zioncheck could pick up some papers before
addressing a postal workers banquet. When he did not come out after a
few minutes, Bill went in after him. He found the office
locked. A janitor opened the door, revealing Marion writing at his
desk.
Congresswoman Katherine Harris,
explaining her reasons for being a Republican
Bill looked at what Marion was writing,
which he assumed were remarks for that night's meeting. The note
read, “"My only hope in life was to improve the condition of
an unfair economic system that held no promise to those that all the
wealth of even a decent chance to survive, let alone live." The
note made no sense to Bill, so he told Marion, , “Come on, kid.
We'll be late. Forget it”. As his charge stood, Bill held up Marion's suit jacket for
him to put on. But instead Marion made a dive for the open window. Desperately
Bill reached for the Congressman's feet. By the time he reached the
window, Marion was already dead on the sidewalk five floors below.
New York City Mayor David Dinkins, explaining why he
did not pay his taxes
Marion Anthony Zioncheck tumbled 60
feet past the cream white terra cotta exterior of the Arctic
building, and landed on his head, spattering a passing loan broker, W.H.
McFarlane, with his blood and brains. Rubye was the next to reach the
body. She fainted on the sidewalk. Two thousand attended Marion's
funeral, at which the Reverend Fred Shorter called him “a shell
shocked comrade who died at the barricades, fighting to the very last
for the poor and dispossessed.” It might be added, with
hindsight, that Marion was at least a manic-depressive who was self
medicating with alcohol, or at worst a victim of schizophrenia, which
often onsets during the late twenties and early thirties. But
whatever his illness, he was certainly not helped by the soulless
cut-throat nature of Washington politics. But it makes me wonder why
so many of those drawn into politics are so freaking nuts, to begin with. And why we keep electing them.