Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10 Worst Congressmen

Rolling Stone magazine has decided to focus on politics over music for their election edition with their cover story: Time To Go: Inside The Worst Congress Ever. I'm not planning on focusing on that but I'd like to look at their list (by contributing editor Tim Dickinson) of The 10 Worst Congressmen:

#1 Dennis Hastert (Republican-Illinois)
#2 James Sensenbrenner Jr. (Republican-Wisconsin)
#3 Don Young (Republican-Alaska)
#4 William Jefferson (Democrat-Louisiana)
#5 Jerry Lewis (Republican-California)
#6 Tom Tancredo (Republican-Colorado)
#7 Dick Pombo (Republican-California)
#8 Curt Weldon (Republican-Pennsylvania)
#9 Hal Rogers (Republican-Kentucky)
#10 Marilyn Musgrave (Republican-Colorado)

So, as I am looking at the list... something stands out. I'm not saying that anyone on the list is a shining example of what a congressional representative should be unless it is indicative of their constituents. I just find it funny that it is 90% Republican. Maybe the percentage would have been less on this list if it was a Top 20. Was William Jefferson chosen as a token Democrat or was he tossed to the wolves here because nearly $90,000 in bribe money was found in his freezer? Does Marilyn Musgrave's stance against gay marriage warrant being #10 out of 535? I guess that depends on what priorities rate highest for Mr. Dickinson.

I think this is why I'm not fond of Top 10 lists as they are highly questionable (unless they are personal favorites or supported by stats like album sales and airplay create Top 40 lists.) If they wanted to call most of them corrupt, that might be easier to discern. I just find it interesting that they weren't rated by their voting record or bill sponsorship. Then again, a list is only as good as its creator.