Savage

The Political Zoo gives Michael Savage’s take on many political players. Some describe career pols while others are of entertainers that have entered the political fray with their sometimes inane comments that are only broadcast because of the celebrity status of the speaker.

Each person is lampooned in an introductory page with a caricature of the individual and a pseudoscientific name. Once Savage turns the page and gets into a description of the animal so named in the introduction he proceeds to list peccadilloes, outright lies and past history of the insider advantage that many of them have used to build their own fortunes. There is no rock for these pols to hide under when it comes to Savage’s investigations.

If you’ve forgotten the pattern the pol has relapsed to time and time again, Savage reminds you in a very entertaining way. And though seeming venomous, the descriptions and facts are not nearly as poisonous as the acts themselves. What Savage is getting at is the undermining of the body politic by these lawful but despicable acts.

Many of these political animals have no compunction when it comes to putting their families on the payroll, even when the jobs they are purported to do conflict with the legislation that the pol is either working on or has influence over.

Savage is much like Sisyphus in his lashing out at the pol’s behavior because they, in his estimation, are exactly like the people who have elected them, somewhat petty, greedy and willing to cut almost any corner to achieve their ends. Pushing that political boulder up the hill of Machiavellian misdeeds only to have it roll down to the bottom requiring another round of examination and reportage is, alas, what appears to be an inevitability inherent in our political system.