The suicide of Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich earlier this year has sparked a debate about fairness and morality in politics. The local chapter of The Village Square joined that discussion Thursday night with a panel event titled "The Politics of Personal Destruction." KCPT was also a sponsor of that event. The panel featured Mr. Terry Nelson, founding partner of FP1 Strategies, Ms. Margaret Talev, White House correspondent for Bloomberg News, Rev. Adam Hamilton, Senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, and former Missouri Senator and Attorney General, John Danforth. Danforth began the discussion by saying that election politics have changed drastically since his six campaigns for office. "I think that something has gone wrong with politics beyond ads, and what has gone wrong is anything goes to win an election,” said Danforth. The former Senator said Schweich, who viewed him as a mentor, was tormented by an anti-Semetic whisper campaign that was brought on by our destructive political climate. Margaret Talev, speaking on the media, thinks that it’s difficult for journalists to navigate their role and avoid the clickbait, especially when you're expected to draw a certain amount of traffic. “You may want, as a journalist, to write about it in order to hold the perpetrator of the ad accountable, but in doing that you're giving loft to the very argument that's out there,” said Talev Rev. Adam Hamilton deals regularly with the moral issues in politics. His parish, the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS has a number of politicians in its congregation. Hamilton said that he regularly encourages politicians at his parish to run…...
