Parliament of whores

by P. J. O'Rourke

In 1988 the author moved to Washington to take a long look at our government and to find an answer to the question every American asks: What the hell do these guys do all day, and why does it cost so much money? In his Introduction, he proffers the theory that we are suffering under a dictatorship of boredom. Adopting the manner of a high school civics textbook, he covers the three branches of government -- legislative, executive, judicial -- in a section entitled "Money, Television and Bullshit."