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G.K. Chesterton made this remark in a 1921 interview with the Cleveland Press, in a broader discussion about politicians becoming detached from the people they supposedly represent. His prescription was that politics should be kept as local as possible, close enough that ordinary citizens could hold their leaders accountable. Then came the line that survived the century, “It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged.”Chesterton was not some anonymous provocateur. Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer, journalist, novelist, critic, poet and Christian apologist, born in 1874. He wrote across an astonishing range of subjects, from politics and philosophy to theology and detective fiction. He created the famous priest-detective Father Brown, and works such as Orthodoxy and The Man Who Was Thursday remain among his best-known writings.What makes the quote funny is also what makes it uncomfortable.It appears the basic character of politics has not changed nearly as much as we like to believe.The technologies change. The slogans change. The parties reorganize. The campaign consultants get better cameras, better polling and better talking points.But the temptations remain remarkably familiar.Power attracts people who want power. Government creates opportunities for self-promotion, careerism, hypocrisy and the convenient discovery that principles can become flexible once an election, committee chairmanship or donor is involved.Chesterton was writing before television, social media, cable news or billion-dollar campaign cycles, yet his frustration sounds completely modern.That may be the real joke here. We keep redesigning political systems, rewriting rules and promising reform, while human nature stubbornly refuses to receive the update.Politicians today may have better public relations departments than politicians in 1921, but have they actually developed better character?What do you think, has politics gotten worse, or are we simply seeing the same political class with better technology?