None of them just look at him like he's nuts?

Then there's Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who styles himself as an accomplished practical joker. A classic Nelson gag: asking incoming senators just before their swearing-in ceremony which Bible verses they'll read at the ceremony and watching them blanch at their unpreparedness. (There's no such requirement, you see.) During such lighthearted moments, the senator likes to show his hand with a hearty "Gotcha!," says Nelson's communications director, Jake Thompson.

Those incorrigible zanies!

Ben Nelson's wacky jape might be put to better purpose: Anybody who thought even for a moment that they were required to recite a Bible verse to become a U.S. Senator would be immediately disqualified.