While most of our congressmen and congresswomen are lawyers, there is probably no better preparation for the job than the study of parasitology. At least one author has made the case that parasites are actually at the top of the animal kingdom. He reasoned that, once established on or in a host, the parasite lives a life of leisure while the host becomes little more than the parasite's slave. Whereas politicians present themselves as humble servants of their constituencies, the truth is that their service they give us is barely distinguishable from the service given by a tapeworm. ....In other...