I’m giving the late O’Rourke an extra half-star for his career and his honesty, but what was amusing in 1991 now seems cold and cranky, such as remarks about feminists and the ADA. However, his points about government ineffiency still stand, for exactly the reasons he lays out in the last chapter, on a New England town meeting: government is about people, and people have conflicting interests, and nobody wants to compromise when there’s a lot of money at stake. (Add in corporations and lobbyists and the problem gets exponentially worse.)

Also, his maxim still holds true for the most part: “The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it.”

If only the last part of that statement hadn’t taken on a poisonous tinge in the last 15 years.