cesspool or hot tub?

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 10/23/06, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Here's a new political quote by Anonymous.
>
>   A CNN correspodent this a.m. quoted "somone involved in the Abramof
> investigation" as follows:
>
>   "Some conservatives go to Washington thinking it's a cesspool, but they
> finally decide it's a hot tub."
>
>   A lightning-fast search reveals an example from March 13 here :
>
>   http://www.house.gov/petri/newslett/mar13_06.htm

That's from the newsletter of Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wisc.). He was using
the line back in 1999:

-----
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 17, 1999, p. 6 (Nexis)
Petri has a "Poisoned Pen Corner," which features nasty letters people
have sent to him.
"Many people think congressmen are all fat heads, and the fat has
melted and clogged their ears," he says in an introduction.
"Others say their representatives were sent to Washington to clean up
the national cesspool -- but mistook the cesspool for a hot tub and
jumped right in."
-----

Even earlier, from black conservative Bob Woodson:

-----
Austin American-Statesman, Aug 13, 1996, p. A9 (Factiva)
He [sc. Bob Woodson] also says that the new GOP lawmakers quickly
became "infatuated with the perks of office. They found that the
cesspool they'd been elected to clean up could become a hot tub."
-----

--Ben Zimmer

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