New Year's wish : Politic politicians

Politic : Shrewd or prudent in practical matters; tactful; diplomatic (dictionary.com)

It's funny the difference one letter can make in a word. Politics, as practiced in modern democracies like our own, seems to lack shrewdness, prudence, practicality, tactfulness or diplomacy. If we look at the record of Barak Obama over his first year in the presidency, we can be an optimist and believe that he has some of these positive traits and has had a successful year overall. If we look at it from a liberal's point of view (as I do generally), there's much to be distressed about.  Take health care, for example. It was evident that Obama had killed a real public option from the point he appeared before a joint session of congress and  essentially conceded that it wasn't a key requirement for successful health care reform. Many liberals, like Howard Dean, have critized this and demand a stronger bill than the one they're currently concocting.
As the "debate" has progressed over the last few months, it's apparent that passing a reform bill with any meat on the bone becomes impossible, particularly in the Senate, when it requires appeasing the Ben Nelson's and Joe Lieberman's of the world.
I'm trying to be an optimist and hope that something is better than nothing, but you have to wonder at what point the bill becomes so watered down you have essentially destroyed it. I think they're close to that now, and may totter over the edge in trying to compromise with people using their leverage to suck even more out of their favorite lobbyists. It's obvious Republicans have decided en masse to fight any legislation that Obama might get credit for. The biggest two face of them all is John McCain, who has managed to fool people into thinking he's a man of  integrity. Some are calling for more transparency by filming the negotiations. Otto von Bismark had a good point when he said " Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made" .
I think we should be able to watch this ugly process live and uncut. Those who have seen sausages being made tend at the very least to think twice before eating one. Those who have seen the impolitic behavior of those politicians holding legislation for ransom under the harsh lights of live TV may think twice before voting them back into a position of responsibility where they'll continue to legislate based on who's filling their pockets the most.