In Washington, the drama never ends

For the purest distillation in popular culture in these days of Jekyll and Hyde, look not to a character but to a city. On the one hand, we have President Frank Underwood, who connives in the most sinister ways imaginable -- push a pesky reporter in front of a Metro car, why don't you? -- to ascend to the highest office in the land in "House of Cards," a mesmerizing Netflix series neck-deep in nefarious muck.