Introduction: from a nearby table...

Well, it's another day, and the bloated body politic is swarming darkly with flies. Oh, don't worry, Mr. Politic is not dead - far from it. He is simply grossly gluttonous, while his hygiene leaves much to be desired. The crumbs of corruption are scattered thickly down the front of his fine three-piece suit, and the gravy of lobbyist largesse runs in rivulets down his greasy triple-chin. The bloat, indeed, is not that of a corpse, but merely good old-fashioned American obesity.

Yes, he is not a pretty sight, and thus, in some sense, an unlikely subject for our observation; certainly, the temptation to simply avert one's gaze is almost irresistible. But he is, after all, an important figure in our lives, and therefore ignored at our own peril. And so here, at the BBP, we will keep a disgusted eye on him. And who knows, perhaps if he senses he is being scrutinized, he will try to be a little less ill-mannered (he has been known, on occasion, to dab daintily at his chin with a napkin, creating a tiny smear of semi-cleanliness which is quickly engulfed again), and if nothing else, we will learn little bit about his ways and this world in which we live.