Picture, if you will, a scene from any parliamentary debate you’ve been unfortunate enough to witness. There’s the theatrical gasp—perfectly timed, mind you—followed by the hand pressed dramatically to the chest, then the solemn invocation of “working families” or “our children’s future.” It’s magnificent theater, really. The only thing missing is honesty about being theater. H.L. Mencken, that delightfully cantankerous observer of American democracy, called these performers “courtiers of democracy”...
