Are we hypocritical in our expectations of politicians?

llj, I think it depends on the company you work for. I have known of some companies that are really strict re expenses.

Also, their expenses are coming from the public purse. We have every right to say how it should be spent.

They should follow a high moral code. They are in government and making the laws.

The expenses scandal has been highly hypocritical in how public reacted. I don't know anyone in any business who doesn't claim pretty much whatever his expenses system allows. I head one caller on Radio who said the same (obviously I am in a minority on this one!). MPs took advice -- in fact, they were often encouraged (by whips, the fees office) to claim for more stuff than they originally thought of.

Than the public turns on them savagely saying "You should have followed some mystical higher moral code", not merely the official advice and published rules that had been publicly debated at length in Parliament.

The recent news story complaining that MOD staff got bonuses (because they have only had pay freezes for years and their pay in real terms has plummeted in last few decades) is awful, too.

If you want monkeys to run the government and staff the civil service, go ahead and pay them in peanuts and treat them accordingly....

OP - I don't agree with you. It is important to be critical of politicians because if we aren't then it is giving them permission to do whatever the hell they like as they like.

The examples that you have quoted I see your point - however the problem with Gordy is that when he has fucked up he has never admitted to it. Therefore, he does a "u turn" instead of saying sorry.

Politicians put themselves in a position of responsibility and therefore it is fair that they behave in a moral way, as they are the ones that are setting an example to the wider community and even more importantly they have a say in making the laws of this country. The expenses scandal has just shown how corrupt and immoral they are - they have every right to be judged.

Lastly, what is wrong with judging people who have behaved in an immoral way?

I think this is a very good point. And extends beyond just decision making process. I think the public (media?) is often very quick to condemn politicians no matter what they do, or no matter what they (and us) might do in our daily lives. It starts to get to the point where there's very little upside in being a politician as it's almost impossible to not be attacked. And I think the downside is that as a result politicians are even less likely than they were before to make actual statements or have real opinions which they're willing to stand up and be counted on.

one thing that people forget are that politicians are human being and we all make mistakes.in other hand politicians shuold do they jobs right and stop making crap decisions.

I hate the way politicians are expected to have instant opinions/make instant decisions, in snappy, media-friendly, sound-bite form. I would rather they spent all that media time THINKING.

Only one down from drug dealers and pimps??!! I am totally non-political myself but all the people I have known who went into politics have done so for idealistic reasons. MPs may have got corrupted along the way or they may be lethargic and of course some are total tossers but actually the two people I am thinking of (not MPs but involved) put a lot of time in for no money. If my kids wanted to go into politics I would like to think it would be for the right reasons and I would be proud of them - while instantly wishing they hadn't put themselves into the public spotlight and hoping their private lives were whiter than white...

Having said that the party-scoring-points stuff drives me insane.

I don't think ordinary people do bleat on if a politician admits a mistake and does a 'u-turn'. The only people who do bleat on about it usually have newspapers to sell.

I certainly think it's hypocritical to moan that they've made a stupid decision which everybody with any sense can see is wrong and then moan when they have the sense to do a u-turn on the issue.

If politicians start to believe that making a u-turn is seen as worse in the public eye than admitting you're wrong, then it will become even harder to get them to admit they've made an error of judgement.

But what I'd love to see, and probably never will, is politicians admitting they were wrong, and admitting that the other parties have a valid viewpoint now and then. And just maybe understanding why we don't trust them an inch. But I don't see it ever happening.

wukter

When Dubya was commending himself for his streadfastness and refusal to "flip-flop", a critic agreed. "He believes on Wednesday what he believed on Monday - regardless of what happened on Tuesday".

I think you have a good point, however, politicians are to blame for a certain element of this. They rarely answer straight questions, are as slippery as a wet snake and are completely hypocritical (for example the current economic disaster is being blamed squarely on the finance sector by the govt when they in fact took a huge part in it by encouraging and not regulating unwise investments and dreadful lending, amongst other thigns).

For this reason they get slammed in many ways. Many of them have done very little to build our respect and if you have no respect it is hard to agree with someones decisions, no matter how they are made.

The U-turn thing really annoys me as it must discourage them for admitting they stuffed up. If a politician actually listens to criticism I think that is A Good Thing.

As for Obama taking his time, I think it depends at what point you think careful decision-making shades into indecision. Gordy's definitely guilty of the latter.