The title of this excellent book by Robert Draper is based on a quote from a Congressman who was so frustrated with the “days of fraction” that he was not seeking re-election after his fifth term in the 5th Congress of 1796! Yikes.

Draper does a masterful job of understanding and projecting the push and pulls of the new 112th Congress brought in 2010 by the Tea Party wave. We travel with many of the new congressmen on their journey of discovery, while also looking over the shoulders of the old guard who are trying to control the result.

Draper's point is much larger than same-old, same-old that the Fisher Ames quote might indicate. Rather he explores, particularly through the eyes of the freshmen congressmen, the Alice and Wonderland world of appearance and deception that is today’s politics.

As the Ames' quote makes abundantly clear, getting something accomplished in Congress is a cruel slog. What is different here, perhaps, is a meeting that Draper opens with. On Obama's Inauguration night, while the Democrats are celebrating at the Inaugural Balls, a small group of Republican leaders vow to do everything to thwart any of the efforts of the new president, whether that is consistent or inconsistent with their own ideology. On a very real level, the 2012 freshman are the result AND the victims of that evening.

I’ll admit that you probably have to be a political junkie to really enjoy this stuff, but I would also assert that until we more fully understand the Escher inspired never-ending, circular staircase of Congressional action, we have very little chance of landing on successful outcomes, either there or as a country.