Same as it ever was

People screaming at each other, mud flying everywhere, the press egging it on... Lest you lose perspective during this election cycle, here's a reminder from our allies in South Korea that this is not unique to the United States, it's just politics an usual.

Factional strife within political parties usually reaches its peak ahead of general elections as each faction strives to get as many nomination tickets as possible. We expected the same for the April 13 election, but the infighting inside the parties -- especially the ruling Saenuri Party -- is really disappointing.

Since the nomination process entered full swing, the party did not spend a single day without encountering disputes, accusations, controversies and rumors, with its two factions -- one of which is close to President Park Geun-hye and the other which is not -- engaged in a battle to gain the upper hand.

Party leader Kim Moo-sung, who heads the “non-Parks,” touched off the first of the seemingly endless wars of words between the two groups. Kim’s comment that he was given the list of about 40 non-Park lawmakers to be denied nomination by a key pro-Park politician -- regardless of its authenticity -- showed how deep the internal strife is and how dirty the infighting could be.

There were more cases that show politicians could be as deliberate and astute as con men or fraudsters: The results of in-house opinion surveys of candidates for the party’s nomination races were made public -- with some data rigged. Then a key member of the pro-Park faction, talking with someone on the phone, said a man like Kim should be removed -- he actually used the word “kill,” and effectively called the party leader “a son of bitch.” Somebody recorded the conversation, which was then relayed by a television channel. It looks like a spy operation.