I generally agree with you, but I strongly disagree that "politician" is in the same class as any random person. I find it rather bizarre that anyone would find

I generally agree with you, but I strongly disagree that "politician" is in the same class as any random person. I find it rather bizarre that anyone would find more stringent requirements of politicians to be "insane" incredibly strange considering the power they hold over the average citizen. I see things as being quite the contrary, frankly, and regaining the ability to speak freely is as simple as resigning. Politicians (and the wealthy) are not a protected class and there's no need to treat them as such considering the power dynamic.