Here is an editor's letter from The Week magazine by Eric Effron:
"When did “politics” become a dirty word? In a representative democracy, politics is the participatory process through which citizens pick their leaders. That shouldn’t be something to be ashamed of. Yet both presidential campaigns have been doing their part lately to advance the notion that politics is an inherently ignoble, even shameful activity. At the Republican convention, John McCain temporarily suspended the conclave’s usual political showmanship because Hurricane Gustav was bearing down on the Gulf Coast. “This is a time when we have to do away with our party politics,” McCain declared, “and act as Americans.” And last week, McCain and Barack Obama called a one-day campaign truce, vowing to “put politics aside” to mark the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Let’s stipulate that in both instances, McCain and Obama had the
finest of motives. Still, what message does it send that in times of
national crisis, electoral politics is treated as if it were America’s
crazy uncle, to be hidden up in the attic? As columnist Rich Lowry
argued on the eve of the GOP convention, the impending hurricane made
it more imperative, not less, that citizens learn how Republicans plan
to address such challenges in the future. Similarly, as the nation
paused to reflect on the shattering losses of 9/11, Americans were
arguably primed for a sober, intelligent discussion about the ongoing
terrorist threat and the appropriate national response. The proper word
for that discussion is “politics,” and there’s nothing shameful about
it. I’m not sure what to call the ridiculous, petty arguments about
knocked-up daughters and lipsticked pigs, but I’m certain that nobody
would complain if we suspended that activity from now till November."
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