Homo Politicus : The Strange and Scary Tribes That Run Our Government

Washington’s most acerbic (and feared) columnist, the Washington Post ’s Dana Milbank, skewers the peculiar and alien tribal culture of politics. Deep within the forbidding land encircled by the Washington Beltway lives the tribe known as Homo politicus . Their ways are strange, even repulsive, to civilized human beings; their arcane rites often impenetrable; their language coded and obscure. Violating their complex taboos can lead to sudden, harsh, and irrevocable punishment. Normal Americans have long feared Homo politicus, with good reason. But fearless anthropologist Dana Milbank has spent many years immersed in the dark heart of Washington, D.C., and has produced this indispensable portrait of a bizarre culture whose tribal ways are as hilarious as they are outrageous. Milbank’s anthropological lens is highly illuminating, whether examining the mating rituals of Homo politicus (which have little to do with traditional concepts of romantic love), demonstrating how status is displayed in the Beltway’s rigid caste system (such as displaying a wooden egg from the White House Easter Egg Roll) or detailing the precise ritual sequence of human sacrifice whenever a scandal erupts (the human sacrificed does not have to be the guiltiest party, just the lower ranked). Milbank’s lacerating wit mows down the pompous, the stupid, and the corrupt among Democrats, Republicans, reporters, and bureaucrats by naming names. Every appalling anecdote in this book is, alas, true. **Washington’s most acerbic (and feared) columnist, the __Washington Post__’s Dana Milbank, skewers the peculiar and alien tribal culture of politics.**__Homo politicus__Milbank’s anthropological lens is highly illuminating, whether examining the mating rituals of Homo politicus (which have little to do with traditional concepts of romantic love), demonstrating how status is displayed in the Beltway’s rigid caste system (such as displaying a wooden egg from the White House Easter Egg Roll) or detailing the precise ritual sequence of human sacrifice whenever a scandal erupts (the human sacrificed does not have to be the guiltiest party, just the lower ranked).Milbank’s lacerating wit mows down the pompous, the stupid, and the corrupt among Democrats, Republicans, reporters, and bureaucrats by naming names. Every appalling anecdote in this book is, alas, true. Dana Milbank writes The Washington Post's "Washington Sketch" column, a takedown of the ridiculous and the powerful that appears four times a week, and has earned the title of "the most hated man in the White House Press Corps." Here he skewers the peculiar and alien tribal culture of politics, examining the mating rituals of Homo politicus, demonstrating how status is exhibited in the Beltway's rigid caste system, and detailing the ritual sequence of human sacrifice whenever a scandal erupts (the sacrificial victim is not the guiltiest party, but the lowest ranked). He mows down the pompous and the stupid among Democrats, Republicans, reporters and bureaucrats by naming names. Every appalling anecdote in this book is, alas, true.--From publisher description