"The Public Serpent: Analysis of Parallelisms Between the Reptilian and Politician Life Cycles" Newmann, Kreger, et al. Annals of Performance Science 103:12 (June 2005): 48-62.

Précis: Politicians start out warm-blooded but become more cold-blooded the longer they are in office. Despite the politician’s ability to generate heat through campaigning and fundraising activities, they have a remarkably limited capacity for genuine warmth. Like a reptile born from an egg, the politician emerges fully formed and predatory in the post election phase. And like any reptile, politicians must seek out sources of heat/money to sustain them through the election cycle. Definitive parallelism is proven. In their conclusion, the authors suggest they prefer the company of actual reptiles to politicians, claiming “At least they don’t lie.”


Crossposted to another of my blogs, Invisible Books. Reprinted here because it's funny and political.