For people interested in immigration laws, it is worthwhile to understand the life of a modern politician. It is worthwhile to understand how principled, how honest, how studious, how vain, how altruistic, how idealistic they are. After all, they can make, change, or keep in place immigration laws.
Most people harbor misconceptions about members of congress. These misconceptions are well-stated in an excerpt from Andrew Young’s book The Politician:
As much as senators may project an aura of deliberation, dignity, and decorum, the facts of life inside [the Senate] are much messier. Many times, senators cast votes on the basis of a signal from a staffer or a party leader, and they have no idea about the matters being considered. …
No one talks about how … senators cast a lot of blind votes, because the illusion of a serious legislative body at work is useful to us all. It reassures voters, who want to believe that their men and women in Washington are serious about the public’s business, and it reinforces the Senate’s aura of authority, which can be a valuable thing in times of crisis. … Besides, as everyone in Washington likes to say, politics is like sausage making: You really don’t want to know how it’s done.
In this blog post, we have two recommendations of funny books (ordered by level of funniness) that will help you get past misconceptions–that will take you into the sausage factory–and help you get a more accurate picture of the politicians on whose back immigration laws ride.
- The Speechwriter: A Brief Education in Politics by Barton Swaim
A humorous chronical of Swaim’s experience working as a speech writer for a modern politician. The Speechwriter brings you inside the spin room of the modern politician as he makes a name for himself on the national stage.
- Homo Politicus by Dana Milbank
In this humorous “anthropological” study, Milbank describes the nation’s capital, profiling the people and rules that govern Washington.
There’s a lot to learn from these humorous reads. With knowledge plucked from their pages, you’ll have a better idea of what goes through the brains of the individuals tasked with making or changing immigration laws.