Washington is filled with people making other people's arguments for money. Anyone trying to do anything of good purpose is in a constant struggle to keep from drowning in the river of steaming bullshit served up by lobbyists and politicians and pundits and PR firms. They bend statistics, they do impressions of people who believe what they say, and all the while the country burns. And it is the height of arrogance to decry what's happened to our politics when you are a bonded practitioner of what's happened to our politics.
You want to be a pitchman for warlords? You want to carry the Devil's water in Washington? Go for it. But just don't tell me how to fucking talk.-former Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett on Lanny Davis and the "both sides" meme
Well said, and indeed, some of the most turned-to names in politics are neck-deep in generating the problems of Washington while also being consulted on how to fix the problems in Washington. And they'll say we need to "stick to the issues" while ensuring that the issues are never resolved.