I spent over a decade working closely with elected officials — the descriptive term preferred, over politician, among those I know — and I wholeheartedly agree with Ezra Klein:

I’ve met a lot of members of Congress, and I do think most of them are good, or at least are trying to be. Serving in Congress is actually a sort of crummy life: You live in a small apartment, you spend most of your time missing your family, you’re constantly in airports, and when you do get home you barely have time to see your kids because you’re running to meet with constituents. It’s a grind. And — this is where kids and adults alike overestimate politicians — you’re not that important. No one cares about the speech you just gave or the amendments you just proposed. The media generally doesn’t pay attention unless you become part of a controversy, or say something dumb. You have to do what your leadership tells you. You get yelled at a lot. Most of the people who stick with the job stick with it because they believe they’re doing some good in the world.

But when the public looks at them, they don’t see it. Sen. Evan Bayh once told me that “we’ve got good people trapped in a dysfunctional system.” I still think he’s right about that. The individuals are trying hard, but the whole is a lot uglier than the sum of the parts. At some point, however, it’s up to them to change that. The problem is, no one member of Congress, and no one party, has much incentive to start.

Something Jon Stewart said in a Fresh Air interview is on point here. I found this totally offensive, undermining his whole Restore Sanity shtick. It came as a throw-away line in what was intended as a media critique:

I have become increasingly unnerved by just the depth of corruption that exists at many different levels. I’m less upset about politicians than the media. I feel like politicians, there is a certain, inherent – you know, the way I always explain it is, when you go to the zoo and a monkey throws its feces, it’s a monkey.

(Soundbite of laughter)

But, when the zookeeper is standing right there, and he doesn’t say bad monkey…

(Soundbite of laughter)

Somebody’s got to be the zookeeper. And that’s – so I tend to feel much more strongly about the abdication of responsibility by the media than by political advocates.

I’ve feared that Larry Lessig would skirt this line sometimes. His is a nuanced and clearly systemic critique. But the language of corruption lends itself to sloppy misappropriation.

When I try to make this argument at parties, it’s always a losing one.