This Town

Don't read This Town if you already have high blood pressure because, if you do, your head will start pounding and your eyes will start bulging. You've been warned!

You can't really call Mark Leibovich's book a political exposé because it simply confirms what most of us have already suspected, which is that Washington D.C. is a cesspool that exists simply to perpetuate itself. For example, while most of us want bipartisanship, Washington prefers gridlock because that's what pays. In fact, as Leibovich documents, again and again, today's status quo is perfect as senators and representatives go from being elected officials to lobbyists in order to "monetize" their public service.

Particular scorn is heaped upon those who claimed to be anti-Establishment while in office but are quick to jump on the gravy train after leaving. North Dakota's own Byron Dorgan is one such ex-Senator who was "contemptuously righteous" about lobbyists but then was quick to cash in. In fact, Dorgan didn't even delay the two-year period that office holders are supposed to wait before lobbying their former colleagues. Instead, he flouted that regulation by not officially registering as a "lobbyist" and joining a Washington law firm as a "senior policy adviser," one who just happens to oversee a staff of lobbyists.

Although the book is about Washington culture in general, much of it focuses on specific personalities—such as "super lawyer" Bob Barnett, Senators Harry Reid and Tom Coburn, the late Meet the Press host Tim Russert, and lobbyist Jack Quinn—to show just how morally bankrupt the current national political system is. Other individuals who come in for particular scrutiny are Darrell Issa, Dick Gephardt, Haley Barbour, and Richard Holbrooke, as well as dozens of staffers and assorted hangers on that you haven't heard of before. Even though This Town discusses literally hundred of people, there are no heroes in this story.

Washington media, usually more concerned about its own "branding" opportunities than about truly covering the news, also comes in for some scathing criticism. Leibovich cites, for example, how, in April 2010 after Justice John Paul Stevens retired, the website Politico asked why Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hadn't been mentioned as a possible replacement for the Supreme Court, which then started a frenzy of "trending" discussions on other websites before the White House, less than 24 hours later, announced that Clinton would not be nominated. In the meantime, page views of Politico multiplied, which undoubtedly pleased its advertisers and likely allowed Politico to increase its ad rates.

This Town is a thoroughly depressing and dispiriting book, and as such, it should be read by everybody, for only by understanding how far off the rails our political system has gone will we be able to reform it.

Unless, of course, you read the book and then just throw up your hands in despair, which was my reaction.