I don’t write about politics much. Do we really need another hot take from somebody whose opinion doesn’t matter? Nope. But this one has a local angle.

If you didn’t already know that Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert are a couple of loud mouthed assholes, all you had to do was see them during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. The pair spent the speech heckling the president and generally making a spectacle of themselves.

There was a time when you would never of heard of a couple of first term Congressional nobodies, but social media and today’s overheated political climate have changed all that. Now you can just get elected and become a star.

These two are loose cannons and they’ve made it work for them.

This seems to be what Liz Joy has her eye on in the race for Congress in New York’s 20th. She’s seen how political unknowns can skyrocket to prominence these days by putting on a good show, and if you get elected, the sky’s the limit. Becoming a national figure can open the door to higher office, but lets not forget about the book deals, paid appearances, cable news gigs — you get the idea. All this with no prior experience or much in the way of qualifications.

This is by no means strictly a Republican thing. You don’t have to be a right winger to see the possibilities. It’s just a different audience.

You might say it’s all a lot of harmless theatre, but one of these days things will go sideways.

The world has shrunk, and now tiny people can appear as large as they’d like. I’d feel more comfortable if it were just an optical illusion.

He loves puppies and has eclectic taste in music. His sisters were his role models and his kids have become his best friends in many ways. His first heartbreak? At six, when Timothy the turtle died.

What is this — some middle aged guy’s lame online dating profile? No, it’s from the 20 Things You Don’t Know about John Sweeney.

It doesn’t mention the former congressman’s three divorces, the drunk driving arrests, the domestic strife, the ex-stripper, those frat party pics, that assault involving his kid, the ski trip thing — but hey, that’s stuff we already know.

I always read these 20 Things features that Kristi Gustafson Barlette writes, and I wasn’t surprised when the Sweeney item left a few readers bent out of shape. One guy wrote, “I’m looking forward to next week’s segment, ’20 Things you don’t know about me: Chris Porco’.” Kristi says her subjects are folks who are “interesting and people know them — or know of them.” By that standard, a Chris Porco 20 Things is not off the table. And you know we’d all read it.

So here comes John Sweeney again, reimagined as the cool, sensitive guy in recovery who “used to party with the band U2.”

Yeah, right.

Mr. Sweeney, do us all a favor and go away. Go away and quietly pick up the mess you’ve left in your wake. And I’ll tell you what: we’ll say a prayer for your recovery, and another prayer that you don’t fuck up again and damage the lives of more people around you. Best of luck, sir.

None of us are perfect. I may not have accomplished huge things in my life, but at least I’ve been a good husband and father. I’d like to think that’s enough.