Why Do We Give Politicians Any Respect?

Norweigen, Jo Nesbo is an excellent and inventive story teller. I often seek out his books in my local library. Nesbo suggests that to 'win' the special operation/war in Ukraine, politicians have to tell the 'best story' (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/17/vladimir-putin-power-stories-occupied-jo-nesbo). For example, Nesbo points out that Picasso's Guernica painting, although based wholly on the artist's imagination, eventually ousted General Franco's 'story'. To me, this sounds a bit too much like 'survival of the most inventive (or the slickest)'! If politicians have any 'art', it's generally encased in bullsh*t. Coming up with a superficially convincing story, however, is facilitated (at least in the short term) by controlling the media. You don't actually have to be a dictator to control the media but it helps. The choice of which news items become 'the truth' and which 'fake', is also manipulated by politicians. They generally do this, by leaning on the predominant confirmation biases in their publics. When a politician 'changes his/her mind', they have generally worked out that a particular change of direction, benefits them personally. Perhaps, politicians could be discouraged from pledging things unless they absolutely guarantee it will happen? Pledges shouldn't be flexible things, dependent on votes or changed circumstances. Given the characteristics of the current crop of politicians, one can argue that the Nesbo thesis has some inevitable flaws. The first is encapsulated in the English saying that "the devil has all the best tunes". Messianic and devious politicians tend to have the good stories, even when they are based on untruths. The second problem may be the time it might take for the 'best story' to become actually accepted. By the time this happens a) many people might have died/suffered; b) the climate might have been wrecked and c) entire ecosystems could have been destroyed. Some politicians won't care, if it advances their 'career'. One could argue that politicians and their stories often cause more problems than they solve.