Rep. Julia Hurley, 29, is a freshman legislator from Tennessee who once worked as a waitress at a Hooters restaurant. Yeah, so what. You got a problem with it? As she recently told Hooters Magazine (it's like The Economist, but with articles about onion rings and large breasts), "I have taken quite a bit of flack from the public at large during my run for State House in Tennessee for being a Hooters Girl. But I know that without that time in my life I would not be as strong-willed and eager to become successful." Right on, Rep. Hurley! Unfortunately, though, her political career has gotten off to a not-so-auspicious start.

Hurley confirmed to the Knoxville News Sentinel this week that it was indeed she who had carved the initials "J.C.H." into a wood desk on the floor of the state House. The vandalism occurred back in May, but a local TV crew turned it into a pet cause recently, and she finally fessed up, saying, "It was like one in the morning on the last day of the session. I wasn't thinking straight."

Apparently the news crew found other carvings around the assembly, but no witch hunt is yet underway to smoke out those perpetrators. Hooters Girls: just can't catch a break. [Time, photo via AP]