Pages 224-253 Summary and Analysis

In "Doomed Love in the Rockies," Thompson is watching a presidential conference when his neighbor Tex calls claiming that his wife is dying. When Thompson arrives at Tex's house, Thompson discovers that Tex is actually just giving his alcoholic wife pills that cause her system to reject alcohol. Thompson returns home and sees that even Reagan is now turning on Bush.

"The Scum of the Earth" details a feud between famous television preachers like Jerry Falwell, Oral Roberts, Jim Bakker, and Pat Robertson. Thompson believes that the White House welcomes this development because it is distracting people from the Iran-Contra scandal, but Thompson is still revolted by the ministers' greed.

Thompson begins "The Losers' Club" with an attack on Democratic Senator Terry Sanford, who has managed to take three different positions on a bill in a single day. Thompson...