except the gentleman’s battlefield is full of people with the morals and honor of scum..not gentleman.
Yes. I just used that term, gentlemen's battlefield, to distinguish from a military battlefield.
And not to say that all politicians are sociopaths, any more than all people are. Just that at the level of "successful politician" in the modern world (and by successful, I mean setting of policy via legislation or order), they all share the qualities of being selfish (would rather be "in" the role, and would drop a principle to stay "in") and of belief that the system of "them" lording over "us" is the correct natural order. IOW, they find the radical order of self government to be nothing but a quaint phrase.
And not to say that the parties are the same. They can't be. If the parties were the same, the illusion of "government of the people, by the people and for the people" would be destroyed. They have to be different, and they have to conduct a public battle against each other. Throw in "the vote," and voila, the politicians can shift all blame to the voters.
What is the same is that they all enjoy the perks and powers of privilege, above all else. And they avoid accountability as if it was the plague.