The Senate, Defined

Gerard Baker, writing in the Times of London, writes the best description of the Senate I've ever seen (from Political Diary):

"The [U.S.] Senate describes itself, without apparent irony or hint of self-awareness, as the world's greatest deliberative body. Wherever they travel, senators are treated with a sort of scented deference that only a republic could confer on its leaders and not risk revolution. Fawning staffers strew petals in their path; highways are made straight for them; rivers are forded lest they get their feet wet. One observer noted that senators take themselves so seriously that 'they'd wear togas if they thought they could get away with it'"

Too funny and right on the money.