For hardcore political junkies — and we do mean hardcore — capitolwords.org can be downright addicting. Although the actual meaningfulness of the site might be up for debate, its wonkish fun factor is not: the site tracks how many words are spoken by individual U.S. legislators in a given time period and the frequency of certain words.
As might be expected, Sheila Jackson Lee is the undisputed champ among Texas lawmakers: measuring wordcount in the Congressional Record from May 13, 2009 to May 12, 2010, the Honorable SJL racked up 12,774 words — about 4,300 more than second-placer Ted Poe.
Democrat Charles Gonzalez falls dead last, at a mere 380. (Nine of the top 10 are Republicans; six of the bottom ten are Democrats).
Hair Balls went through great efforts to find out what else your legislators are saying
Most Uses of the Word “Hemp”: 31, by Ron Paul
Most Concerned With the Ladies: Al Green, who used the word “women” more than any other word.
Most Uses of the Word “Barbie”: Michael Burgess (10)
Most Proud of Him/Herself: John Culberson, who used “Culberson” 58 times
Best Use of a Homonym: Mac Thornberry, “Seaman.” (Nine times)
Most Pious: Kenny Marchant, who used the word “church” more than any other word. (Marchant is also the only lawmaker besides Jackson Lee to use the word “hooker.”)
Most Sexually Obsessed: Ted Poe used the word “vagina” twice.
Possibly Just as Sexually Obsessed, Depending on Context: Pete Sessions used the word “snatch” twice.
This article appears in May 13-19, 2010.
