Politicians Are Special and Not To Be Treated Like Lesser Folks

It should not be a surprise to anyone that politicians are not ordinary typical citizens, nor should they be expected to be treated like run-of-the-mill members of society and certainly not held up to the same standards and legal obligations to which the rest of us are subject. Now it shouldn’t be a surprise, but apparently it is. I suppose that there are a couple of factors that produce this irrational mind-set in the public awareness of what is ‘right’, ‘fair’, and ‘just’. Perhaps I should say that this is due to our public schizophrenia about leaders, rather than the irrationality is behind our perceptions and expectations.

This topic surfaced in yet another news item about a political figure, albeit a in transitional politician, who somehow managed to forget to pay taxes. In this instance, it was Sarah Palin (hence the transitional adjective, as she is in her yet-to-be determine political future state) where she (and her husband) had somehow overlooked paying Alaskan Property Taxes on one of her properties. Given this news story there are the expected partisan positioning, accusations, blustering, and maneuverings to justify/explain or to impugn/question this action or inaction on her part.

My problem is that when these events happen to Republican or Democrats alike, that the public, media, and special-interest group reactions are inevitably more extreme, whether more harsh or lax, than would be expected for the more-common folk. Further, the repercussions to the politicians’ actions are equally unlikely to be on par with the consequences to the rest of us. And here is where it really gets absurd; the consequences for really important matters are oddly less severe, and the outcome of less relevant issues are usually vastly over-blown.

The problem of course resides with those of us who fall into the vast common folks category. In part it is due to obsessive allegiances to one or the other party, as if what behaviors and actions are right or acceptable based on the party that the politician is affiliated with. This is especially true of the individuals who make their incomes based on either party affiliation or ideological philosophy. It’s not that I don’t trust the motives of these people, I trust them absolutely. The problem I have with their motives is that they are self-serving and monetary. If you think they care about the issue, once again I maintain that you are the problem. As soon as the issue turn in a direction that does not help support their financial interests, they pivot to whatever position they need to, to insure that you are likely to continue to contribute to their bank accounts.

So given Sarah Palin did not pay her appropriate Property Taxes, I cannot see why there are two sides to the issue. There should only be one. As to which one you think this ought to be, I really don’t care. But when the next issue of this particular type shows up on the next politician (or ex-politician depending on how you view Sarah Palin) if you wind up on a different side of the coin, then I think you should be willing to stand up and say, “Yes, I am a hypocrite. It’s absolutely true that I really don’t care about fairness, rightness, or justice. I only care about judging people based on whether they agree with me or not. And I don’t really believe in the American principles of democracy and equality.”

Personally I believe that when a politician does something wrong, illegal, and immoral that you can be assured its because they are a politician (Democrat or Republican) and of course they are doing something wrong, illegal and immoral. It’s the only thing that politician do.