|
|
Executive Times |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2008 Book Reviews |
|||
|
|
Homo
Politicus: The Strange and Scary Tribes that Run Our Government by Dana
Milbank |
|||
|
Rating: |
*** |
|||
|
|
(Recommended) |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Click
on title or picture to buy from amazon.com |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Witty Dana
Milbank’s new book, Homo
Politicus: The Strange and Scary Tribes that Run Our Government, uses the
structure of anthropological fieldwork to examine political life in
Washington. This isn’t quite satire, although it is witty and often funny. It
really falls outside the usual range of tragicomedy. Perhaps Milbank has
introduced a new genre: politicomedy, where those who take themselves too
seriously fail to see the humor in their own behavior while everyone around
them roars with laughter. Here’s an excerpt, featuring current presidential
candidates, from the end of Chapter Six, “Shamanism,” pp. 139-141: SHAPE-SHIFTING One of the most fascinating
aspects of Potomac spirituality is the ability of a very small number of
Potomac Men to escape the party frame- work that imprisons all others. While
it is quite common for ordinary Potomac Men to shift their shapes from time
to time—Bill Clinton looked like a Republican when he condemned rapper Sister
Souljah, and George Bush looked like a Democrat when he criticized
"leave us alone" conservatives—almost nobody can criticize people
in his own party for an extended period of time and yet survive in Potomac
Land. The most notable exception to
the partisan dichotomy in recent years has been John McCain, a Republican
senator from Arizona who was able to shift his form into that of a Democrat
on a regular basis. He drew his extraparty strength from his time as a Navy
pilot; his family's long history of military service; and, particularly, his
years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi. This left him with extraordinary powers
in Potomac Land: the only member of the Keating Five to survive the
savings-and-loan scandal of the 1980s and arguably the leading deal maker in
the Senate. This
power came despite—or perhaps because of—his incessant and almost fratricidal
criticism of his fellow Republican Bush. This began when he challenged Bush
in the 2000 GOP primaries and said, among other things: "Bush wants to
give 38 percent of his tax cut to the wealthiest 1 percent of
Americans"; "Governor Bush is one of the great polluters in
history"; and "Bush's plan has not one penny for Social Security,
not one penny for Medicare, and not one penny for paying down the national
debt." Later he criticized Bush's policies on global warming,
prescription drugs, and veterans. He objected to a Bush campaign ad in 2003,
and in 2004 defended Democrat John `- Kerry against attacks on his military
record and accused his fellow Republicans of "spend[ing] our nation into
bankruptcy while our soldiers risk their lives." Then, in 2006, he ridiculed the
happy talk Bush administration officials used to describe the war in Iraq.
" 'Stuff happens,' 'mission accomplished,' 'last throes,' 'a few
dead-enders': I'm just more familiar with those statements than anyone else
because it grieves me so much that we had not told the American people how
tough and difficult this task would be. . . . They were led to believe this
would be some kind of day at the beach." With an eye on another
presidential run, McCain shifted back to Republican form at critical times.
He voted for the Bush tax cuts. He championed the war in Iraq. He gave a warm
speech at the 2004 Republican convention celebrating Bush's leadership. This created some awkwardness.
McCain, for example, was on the record as stating both that Bush has
"earned our trust" on national security and that he (McCain) had
"no confidence" in Bush. Such shape-shifting alienated
Republican primary voters as McCain sought the party's 2008 presidential
nomination; he quickly fell from front-runner to nearly bankrupt. But in
Potomac Land, this flexibility allows figures in both parties to see McCain
in any shape they wish. At a Senate hearing on torture techniques, for
example, lawmakers in both parties hid behind McCain's skirts. Asked for an
opening statement, Senator Mark Dayton, a Minnesota Democrat, said only,
"I just wanted to salute Senator McCain for his comments." Added
Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, "I'd also like to
associate myself with Senator McCain." Things become tricky for McCain,
however, when he tangles with another politician who has shape-shifting
powers. This happened early in 2006, when McCain attacked Senator Barack
Obama, a black Democrat from Illinois and prospective presidential candidate
who was developing a following for his crossover appeal to Republicans. It
began when Obama, after a meeting in McCain's office, sent him a letter—a
press release, really—about proposed lobbying reforms. "Dear
John," the freshman senator wrote, "I know you have expressed an
interest in creating a task force to further study and discuss these
matters, but I and others in the Democratic Caucus believe the more effective
and timely course is to allow the committees of jurisdiction to roll up
their sleeves and get to work on writing ethics and lobbying reform
legislation that a majority of the Senate can support." McCain
replied with some of the most caustic language ever heard in Potomac Land. "Dear
Senator Obama," he began. "I would like to apologize to you for
assuming that your private assurances to me regarding your desire to
cooperate in our efforts to negotiate bipartisan lobbying reform legislation
were sincere.... Thank you for disabusing me of such notions.... I'm
embarrassed to admit that after all these years in politics I failed to
interpret your previous assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used
in politics to make self-interested partisan posturing appear more noble....
I have been around long enough to appreciate that in politics the public
interest isn't always a priority for every one of us." Obama,
wisely, responded mildly. "Dear John," he wrote. "I confess that
I have no idea what has prompted your response.... The fact that
you have now questioned my sincerity and my desire to put
aside politics for the public interest is regrettable but does
not in any way diminish my deep respect for you nor my willingness to find a
bipartisan solution to this problem." McCain
quickly realized he had erred. He wasn't attacking the president, after
all. He was attacking a fellow shape-shifter. "We're still
friends," McCain announced after patching things up with Obama by phone,
not letter. Obama said McCain is "an American hero" who is entitled
"to get cranky once in a while." At
a hearing a few days later, McCain and Obama posed jointly for the cameras.
"Senator Obama and I are moving on and will continue to work together,
and I value his input," McCain recanted. Contrition was an unusual form
for the senator to assume. Even
when Milbank’s ethnographic motif fails a little, he remains funny, and those
at whom he pokes fun are shown at their worst. Homo
Politicus is a fun distraction from the serious politics in a
rhetorically heavy political year. When you’re not laughing, you may be
crying in frustration about whether these people are the best we have to run
our government. Steve
Hopkins, March 21, 2008 |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
Go to Executive Times Archives |
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The recommendation rating for
this book appeared in the April 2008 issue of Executive Times URL for this review: http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/Books/Homo Politicus.htm For Reprint Permission, Contact: Hopkins & Company, LLC • E-mail: books@hopkinsandcompany.com |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
