Politics is a nasty business. A few years back, a certain former vice-president told a Democratic colleague on the Senate floor to engage in a sexual act with himself that I doubt is anatomically possible. In 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson’s campaign ran an ad suggesting that the election of Barry Goldwater would mean that little girls picking flowers would be annihilated in a nuclear holocaust. And I won’t even go into detail about what some of our venerable founding fathers called each other; suffice it to say that although they might have used more creative language than Dick Cheney, their insults suggested similar acts as his.

For those of us who like to take a break from partisan squabbling, Jon Stewart and his writers on “The Daily Show” have provided us with “America (The Book),” a hilarious study of the American political situation. In it they take aim at people of all political stripes; even Lincoln isn’t spared. For those of you who’ve always had a crush on Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there are also naked pictures of the Supreme Court justices. The “Daily Show” team reminds us to laugh right along at everyone who takes himself too seriously.

When I hear the hybperbolic insults thrown around on Keith Olbermann’s “Countdown” and in books like Ann Coulter’s “Slander,” I often want to cry. Instead, I open my copy of “America (The Book)” and realize that these people aren’t just sad; they’re hysterical.