Politicians. Cant live With Them, Can't... I wonder?

       It used to be a prestigious event to be elected to public office. It used to mean that people thought you were a good person who would serve the needs of the people that elected you and even those who had voted against you. After all, we're all Americans and that's what Americans do. Americans aim to serve their fellow citizens in good times and in not so good times.
       If you got elected to office, it meant that you had the respect of your neighbors. Well, okay, sometimes it meant you bought your way into office, but even then people respected you for your ability to govern. Or at least they respected you for your ability to deliver the pork. But nobody ever respected anyone who couldn't act like an adult. A politician was expected to respect their spouse or at least keep it quiet if they didn't.
       But not any more. Now a lot of the problem is a result of 24/7 news cycles and the internet. A lot of the problem, but certainly not all of the problem. Now I'm sure you're familiar with the "swinging door policy" where politicians become lobbyists and lobbyists run for office, but nowadays we've got a "swinging politician policy". A swinging politician is one who works on the concept that anything goes and he wants in on the fun.
       It's sort of like saying I did not have sex with that woman, or What did you say the number for that hooker is or I'm going hiking on the Argentine branch of the Appalachian trail, or Let me send you a picture of my best qualities. It's like pretending you're Sen. Joe McCarthy and seeing communists or terrorists in every corner of the government. Or sitting in Congress and collecting farm subsidies and then complaining about people on food stamps.
       Anymore the only respect you see in Washington or around the state capitals is for the poor suckers who elected these politicians. And it's more like pity than respect. It's a wonder how we can find any decent, honest person to run for office. In fact looking at some of the recent arrivals in Congress and the state houses, I'm not sure we did find any.