There are two ideas going around as to where the word politician came from.

1- polis. the Greek word that refers to those who seek to influence public opinion. This is by far the most reputable idea, so I will ignore it :p

2 – Polit. To lie. I cant find any reference in any reputable book so I would like to offer this (frequently stated) explanation. It is supposed to come form Rome where “to polit” was to lie by pretending to tell people the things that they already know. This has also been called “The Big Lie” when referring to Nazi and Stalinist rhetoric.

Even if the second definition is totally made up, it is more true than not… witness the USA Presidential elections and the sad state of Australian politics for the past decade. Add to that what we have seen in Bejing, Tibet, Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkazia. They all show how “spin” is used to pretend that things are in some way comfortable to the audience being targeted while leaving the truth a long way behind.

When electing politicians, we usually get to choose from the least bad.