Entry number two in the "I'm Confused About" series.

Politicians. It's often said that to know them is to hate them; to watch government in action is like watching sausage being made by the three wicked witches in Macbeth who haven't washed their hands since the beginning of time. And to participate in the political process is equivalent to eating the sausages with your bare hands after you've slopped the pigs, baled the hay, and milked the cows.

The problem is that I've known lots of politicans. Starting way back when the world was young...or, rather I was young. What confuses me is that I've liked most of them — I'd say the vast majority even. Conservative, liberal, Republican, Democrat, Independent, Bipolar, Alcoholic, sexual deviants — the whole bunch.

Individually, I've found honor and decency, thoughtfulness, and a willingness to consider various points of view. Why is it, then, that collectively, it's like watching monkeys in a zoo?

A few years ago, I was on a private jet flying to some conservative educational conference (I was client hunting if you must know), and I met a religious conservative Republican congressman who'd promised his constituents that he'd only serve three terms. His third term was half over, and he was honestly and sincerely trapped in what he saw as a moral dilemma. His promise — his word — carried great moral weight, and yet he realized that it had been a dumb promise by someone who knew nothing about the Byzantine maze that is D.C.

Three terms — six years — hell, you barely learn how to find the congressional gym. He believed he had so much more to offer, but how could he go back on his word? He and I agreed on just about nothing politically, but he won my respect because he wasn't just mouthing platitudes, he was sincerely torn and distressed. Of course the story would be a lot better if I knew the ending, but I don't know whether he ran again or not. Oh well, that's not the point.

The point is that there's something in the process of government — or perhaps it occurs when three or more people come together to accomplish something — that turns decent people into political hacks.