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Politicians? By Mike Lushington

It has been often said (Tim Jaques most recently in last week's Two Cents Worth) that politicians are fair game for all sorts of comment. They are routinely the butts of jokes, they are criticized for everything they do, and for many things that they don't do; and they are expected to be all things to all people.         Much of it goes with the turf, I guess. I cannot imagine anyone offering to run for political office who is not prepared to accept it as part of the job description.         For the most part I can accept what is said about this or that politician or the party that he or she represents. It is in the nature of adversarial democracy to criticize those who make the decisions that affect our lives; we do so, it is held, in order to remind them that they are answerable to us, and that they had better remember that, if they should wish to continue to serve us.         There are times, though, when I do have to wonder why anyone in his or her right mind would even think about running for political office.         Back in the fall, there was a letter to the editor of this paper that implied that all politicians, regardless of party or belief, were representatives of the lowest forms of life imaginable: In the "mind" of the writer, they were all despicable scum who were into politics solely for what they could garner for themselves. I thought to write a variation of this column at that time, but other topics prevailed. However, I do remember wondering that, if the premise were true (that all politicians were corrupt), what it says about those of us who vote for them, sometimes several times, in the course of their careers. Are we really so gullible, so cynical, so disillusioned, that we willingly vote for someone who is only running for such mendacious reasons? And do we have no expectations for better?         As I said, though, I got off onto other tracks. Then, just after the disasters in Southern Asia. I saw a news reporter confront Prime Minister Paul Martin as he returned from a Christmas Holiday trip with the question: "Don't you feel guilty about being away on holiday when such a terrible disaster happened instead of being here to deal with it?" Opposition spokespeople echoed the sentiment, in the hopes, I suppose, that voters across the country would get the impression that while governing party officials were loitering on tropical beaches, they, the loyal opposition, were all in their offices, ready to spring into action in the event that a tidal wave, or a hurricane, or a volcano were to create chaos anywhere on the globe.         In the end, it does seem that we expect our politicians to take public office for the sheer love of working endless hours for low pay (just introduce the idea of raising their pay at a social gathering). We expect them to forego or abort family vacations and personal interests at the first hint of any sort of trouble. We expect them to respond - positively - to any all requests, at all times, and to do so cheerfully. And while they are doing all of these things, we expect them to accept, humbly, even contritely, that they are among the lowest of all life forms.         As I say, I do have to wonder why anyone would bother. I do know, however, that I am grateful to them; I wouldn't trade places with any of them.