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

• Author: Fischer, Raymond L.
• Position: Book review

HOMO POLITICUS: The Strange and Scary Tribes That Run Our Government BY DANA MILBANK DOUBLEDAY, NEW YORK 2008, $26.00, 277 PAGES

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Once past the garish cover and "HOMO" in one-inch caps, the reader will find Homo Politicus quite interesting--and worrisome. Author Dana Milbenk writes "Washington Sketch," which appears four times a week in The Washington Post. A must read for politicians, the column generally derides powerful figures in and around D.C., and Homo Politicus follows in the same ridiculing vein.

The term Homo Politicus denotes political man (or woman) referred to as Potomac Man living in Potomac Land. Milbank points out that Potomac Man in the capital of the "most egalitarian people on the planet" has accepted a "hierarchical and Byzantine" status system similar to India's caste system. He will do anything to amass power by which to reach the upper caste for himself and his "tribe" (party). However, one major difference exists between India's caste system and Potomac's: Potomac Land "has a severe shortage of indigenous wise men and scholarly figures."

The author disapproves of most of the inhabitants of Potomac Land. He begins each chapter with a reference to a tribe or individual whose unique deplorable activity occurs in the nation's capital. For example, Milbank compares sacrifices 15th-century Aztecs made to their sun god to contemporary Washington scandals which demand "rituals of human sacrifice to appease the gods of public opinion."

Although Milbank begins with rather common shortcomings and indiscretions characteristic of politicians, he quickly progresses to more serious improprieties and exposes specific individuals. In "Norms and Deviancy," the most "scary" chapter of the book, Milbank writes Potomac Land has "long encouraged eccentricity" and tolerates behavior that other cultures would attribute to "psychiatric disorders." The author details unbelievably bizarre activities...