The Scum Also Rises: The 50 Most Powerful People in Washington

Once again, GQ Magazine has put together its list of the 50 Most Powerful People in Washington (other than Obama and Biden). The article is a slideshow with details on each person listed and why they were chosen, but I've reprinted the actual list below. Even though I think some of the choices are a bit daffy (the list includes Washington Nationals pitcher Steven Strasburg, but not Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi...WTF?), it really is all you need to know to know why we're screwed.

1. Eric Cantor: Virginia Representative, House Majority Leader

2. Mitch McConnell: Kentucky Senator, Senate Minority Leader

3. David Plouffe: Senior Advisor to the President

4. Leon Panetta: Secretary of Defense

5. Hillary Clinton: Secretary of State

6. Ben Bernanke: Chairman, Federal Reserve

7. David Petraeus: Director, CIA

8. Kevin McCarthy: California Representative, House Majority Whip

9. Peter Rouse: Counselor to the President, the White House

10. Tom Donohue: President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

11. Tim Geithner: Treasury Secretary

12. John Boehner: Ohio Representative, Speaker of the House

13. Karl Rove, Steven Law, Ed Gillespie: American Crossroads & Crossroads GPS

14. Tommy Boggs: Chairman, Patton Boggs

15. Dan Pfeiffer: White House Communications Director

16. Gene Sperling and Jack Lew: Director, White House National Economic Council & New White House Chief of Staff

17. Chuck Schumer: New York Senator

18. Grover Norquist: President, Americans for Tax Reform

19. Chuck Todd: Chief White House Correspondent, NBC News

20. David Rhodes & Ben Rhodes: President, CBS News; Deputy National Security Advisor and speechwriter

21. Paul Ryan: Wisconsin Representative

22. Denis McDonough: Deputy National Security Adviser

23. Heather and Tony Podesta: Heather Podesta + Partners; Podesta Group

24. Chris Van Hollen: Maryland Representative

25. Paul D. Clement: Partner, Bancroft

26. Jim DeMint: South Carolina Senator

27. Kathy Ruemmler: White House Counsel

28. Joe Pounder: Research Director, Republican National Committee

29. Tim Scott: South Carolina Representative

30. Nancy Hogan: Director, Presidential Personnel

31. Brian Deese: Deputy Director, White House National Economic Council

32. Arne Duncan: Secretary of Education

33. Jake Sullivan: Director of Policy Planning, State Department

34. Ezra Klein: Blogger, The Washington Post

35. Rob Nabors: White House Director of Legislative Affairs

36. Bill Daley: (Former) Chief of Staff, White House

37. Patty Murray: Washington Senator

38. Capital Weather Gang: Bloggers, The Washington Post

39. Liz Cheney: Co-Founder, Keep America Safe

40. Mike Allen: Reporter, Politico

41. José Andrés: Restaurateur

42. Svetlana Legetic, Jayne Sandman, Barbara Martin: Party planners

43. Marco Rubio: Florida Senator

44. Jeremy Bernard: White House Social Secretary

45. Charles Krauthammer: Syndicated Columnist

46. Chris Dodd: Chairman, Motion Picture Association of America

47. Stephen Strasburg: Pitcher, Washington Nationals

48. Jack Quinn: Chairman, Quinn Gillespie & Associates

49. James Alefantis: Restaurateur and Bon Vivant

50. Bradley Graham & Lissa Muscatine: Owners, Politics & Prose

Bonus: Imagine how much better off we'd all be if Washington's very own Fugazi topped the list instead