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Aaron Schock: Look at Me! (But Not Too Closely)

Rep. Aaron Schock’s penchant for seeking out the spotlight appears to finally have burned him.

The embattled four-term lawmaker Tuesday tendered his resignation after a stream of embarrassing coverage threatened to propel him from mere media fascination to potential object of investigation.

The Illinois Republican first showed his smiling mug around Capitol Hill in 2008. He officially made a splash a few years later when Men’s Health dubbed him “America’s Fittest Congressman.”

Once the shirt came off for that profile, it seemed Schock would always find an excuse to shed a few extra layers, whether it be:

Playing soldier with up-and-coming armed forces personnel.

Working up a sweat with Reps. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii and Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas.

Getting huge with fitness guru Shaun Thompson.

Scrunched in with Lady Antebellum during a lobby day here in D.C.

Pressed the flesh with Sir Richard Branson when the entrepreneurial Brit cruised the Capitol in early 2014.

Huddled with birther-in-chief Donald Trump during a swing through New York City.

And cozied up to pop star Ariana Grande last fall at the American Music Awards.

Politically speaking, he was pretty much a bust (not much there, there).

Not that congressional ‘shippers cared.

Rather than focus on his fairly light legislative lifting, they fantasized about what his days (and nights) on Capitol Hill might be like vis-a-vis the incredibly not-safe-for-work fan fiction that imagined him and 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan in increasingly compromising positions.

Even after all that hot-dogging, it looks like Schock and Congress just aren’t going to work out.

Of course, to hear retired Rep. John D. Dingell tell it, Schock’s presence won’t be too sorely missed.

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