Senate stories that made me smile

Blogger Steven Bainbridge reminds us of an unforgettable statement Sen. Roman Hruska (R-Neb.) made while defending President Nixon's SCOTUS nomination of Harold Carswell.

Here's how the late Paul Duke, long-time reporter and host of Washington Week In Review, recalled the event for a National Press Club audience:

Some years ago, I was in the Senate press gallery when Roman Hruska, a nice old solon from Nebraska, came in. He came in to be interviewed about a Supreme Court nominee named Harold Carswell, who probably was the worst nominee ever proposed for a seat on the Supreme Court. One of my colleagues asked the senator how he could support such a mediocre man. And Senator Hruska replied, dead serious, "There are a lot of mediocre people, and they're entitled to a little bit of representation, too."

I recall years later a press group voted Hruska the Senate's "Dumbest Member." The news understandably upset Hruska. Before his staffers could stop him, he publicly denounced those who had selected him and denied he was the dumbest Senator.