Politics are no uglier or dirtier today than in the past -- Same as it ever was

I see so many people bemoaning the terrible state of politics in this country. Some perspective:

• Founding Fathers’s Dirty Campaign – hermaphrodites, half-breed, pimp, slut were just some of the epithets thrown around.
• A History of Dirty Tricks in Presidential Elections – the 1896 election sounds like fun
• Nastiest US Presidential Elections “Are you prepared to see your dwellings in flames… female chastity violated… children writhing on the pike?” I’m not sure either of our candidates this year are proposing to have children writhing on pikes.
• Dirtiest Campaign Ever? Not Even Close! – “murder, robbery, rape, adultery and incest will openly be taught and practiced.”
• Dirtiest Presidential Campaign
• The Complete History of Dirty Politics – “The upshot of Cummins’s book: campaigns are no dirtier now than they were in the past”

In short, don’t despair about the horrible state of the politics. As Churchill said (tho he lifted the quote from someone else): Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.