Representative Thaddeus McCotter has resigned from Congress, guaranteeing that he will win the 2012 award for strangest congressional career implosion.

Last year, the Michigan Republican launched a longshot bid for president. Someone had to finish last in the Iowa straw poll, and it was McCotter. So he returned to the life of a backbench congressman. Or so it seemed. A few weeks ago, he failed to gather enough signatures to appear on the August primary ballot. There were allegations of fraud. McCotter talked about running a write-in campaign, then dropped the idea. On Thursday, we learned from the Detroit News that he’s been trying to pitch a bizarre television show:

“Bumper Sticker: Made On Motown” starred McCotter hosting a crude variety show cast with characters bearing the nicknames of his congressional staffers, his brother and a drunk, perverted “Black Santa.” They take pot shots about McCotter’s ill-fated bid for the White House while spewing banter about drinking, sex, race, flatulence, puking and women’s anatomy. It features a cartoon intro and closing snippet with an Oldsmobile careening through Detroit and knocking over the city’s landmarks. The double-finned car has a Michigan license plate reading: “Made on MoTown.”
The News obtained a copy of the script from a former staffer who offered it as evidence of what the five-term congressman was pitching while in elected office and the tawdry humor unbecoming of a public official who had become disinterested in serving the 11th Congressional District.

If McCotter ever tries a return to public life, here’s a bumper-sticker idea for his foes: “McCotter: Not Welcome Back.”