Former Congressman James Traficant (D-OH) has apparently died. Traficant was, during his tenure, one of the most colorful members of the House known for his audacious toupee, odd dress, and ending his speeches with “Beam me up…”
Throughout most of his tenure, he was a thorn in the side of his party. Particularly as he became more conservative and his district became more liberal. A staunch critic of immigration and Israel, he is a hero in some anti-immigration and anti-Semitic circles.
When he faced congressional expulsion, the only “nay” vote was Gary Condit. Another prominent supporter was David Duke.
Here is a snippit from one of the more colorful speeches he gave before congress:
Here is a speech he gave during his expulsion trial:
He is the only person ever to win a RICO case without counsel, though a couple decades later it was another RICO case that took him down. After seven years in congress, he served seven in prison.
That is, indeed,an audacious toupee.
Flamboyant; even intrepid.
Daring to go where no toupee has gone before.
The Greatest American Hairpiece
“Believe it or not, I’m frontin’ on hair…”
If he hadn’t existed, the Onion would have had to invent him.
The opening line on that second video is priceless.
“Am I different? Yeah. Do I change my pants? No…”
Dude ran at least one of his campaigns from jail, and did a lot better than he ought to have.
I think he served closer to 17 years in prison, not 7. He was around quite a while. Always in the news in northeast Ohio.
geeze, when you said NE Ohio, I thought you meant Lawn Gnome’s district!
Ack, not in prison, he served 17 years in Congress. I mistyped. Sorry.
Yeah, that should have been “seventeen years in congress” and not seven.