Political Animals

Way back in January 2008, in the midst of the presidential campaign, I put a link away in a draft post thinking I'd get to it in a few days ... And now that political season is long past, we're through the dismal Bush years (even if Dick "Darth" Cheney is still on the airwaves defending torture at every opportunity, working on that long-range plan to save himself and his buddies from the extended jail time they deserve), and the hook of the story is way out of date. It's a good story, though, by NY Times science writer Natalie Angier, a reminder that politics - the disposition to make fundamental decisions in groups - is, after all, something we share with lots of other members of the animal, er, kingdom. So check it out. We're always, after all, in a political season.