Rep. Thomas Wright could pick up some tips from Josiah Turner Jr.

Over on The Progressive Pulse, Adam Searing dug up a good story about the last North Carolina legislator to be expelled by his colleagues.

According to an Oct. 5, 1878, article in The New York Times, Turner was running as an Independent Democrat for Congress.

At a meeting in Franklin County, one of Turner's political enemies, M.A. Bledsoe, started speaking first and would not give up the floor.

Bledsoe would not stop, but attempted to continue his speech, and every time he said anything Turner would ring a cow-bell that he had purchased and brought along for the occasion.

According to the Times, the crowd laughed and Turner got to speak.

So if Wright brings a cowbell to his ethics hearings at the state legislature, don't be surprised.