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it's almost as though congressmen undergo some kind of selection process which attempts to find responsible, non-criminal members of society

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That would be a good hypothesis if politicians wouldn't be constantly being caught lying, cheating and breaking promises, starting wars or saving bankrupt industries with people's money. But since they do that, with little consequences, the theory that they are actually good at getting what they want without paying the cost we would pay for something far smaller seems more likely.

Think you missed the sarcasm.

sametmax disagreed with the sarcasm.

So do I. There is a selection process. It is not selecting for non-criminality. It isn't selecting for criminality necessarily either, but it certainly is not strongly selecting against, in the sense intended.

Being a terrible person isn't against the law.

That's a good point :) But they are breaking laws in the process. God, the US government is even breaking the habeas corpus, the most important law of all, and nobody bats an eye.

Oh they undergo a selection process alright.

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