So far, we've got several responses agreeing with the conventional wisdom - that politicians are all the same - but nobody has cited any facts to support that view.

IMHO, Karl Rove figured out a long time ago that most people think that all politicians are the same. Therefore, there is no political benefit in staying on the ethical or fair side of the line. That's why people like Dick Cheney, Tom Delay, et al., get away with saying and doing things that are way, way over the line. When they get caught, people say it's no big deal because policitians are all the same.

I am not an objective observer of this phenomenon, but I also believe that there is some objective truth to what I'm saying. It would be great if someone could post some examples of Democrats engaging in similar dishonest or unfair behavior. I'm sure there are plenty of examples of that, but it would be interesting to compare them to what Hastert said.