Thanks for this. It seems not far from the truth (I think you believe this, and are saying so) that most of our elected leaders-- particularly in the higher ranks-- are and have been corrupt for some time. But I think, the more invested we are in one of the exactly two parties in our country, that we react more or less to obvious signs of it by assuming they started out that way and are sullying their office like it's some sort of holy mantle. The more reasonable explanation is more rational: That by merely stepping into whatever office they step into, they inherit the illicit dealings of their predecessor, and are immediately thrust into a corrupt undertaking, no matter how sparkling (Obama or Biden) or not (Trump) their public image leading up to it. My suspicion with this whole Trump affair is that while the Obamas, Bidens and Clintons of the world were not innocent, they just managed to do less to piss off... well, nearly everyone with power to frame their perfectly 'ordinary' corruption as extraordinarily corrupt. That is what Trump has done-- he's pissed people off, and has been such an antagonistic prick about it that he's driven the country into the deepest state of division I can remember in my lifetime. Whether or not his actions are uniquely egregious I doubt any ordinary citizen can say, with the information we are given, but if I have to choose between someone who started off decent, and someone who started off as an unethical/amoral piece of garbage, I'd rather pick the former and see them try and navigate the morass that is the US presidency.
Altruistically speaking, I wish we could hit the reset button on this whole thing and elect good people into respectable roles where they don't have to do corrupt things in order to succeed and further the interests of the country. Wouldn't that be nice?
