Having worked at a number of US newspapers inside and outside the United States for some years, I have come to admire, among other things, the US way of "looking someone in the eye and talking straight".

This, more than any other national manner, has had a big influence not only on my writing style but also my personality. I thought I could understand, although not necessarily endorse, the strong protests that US politicians have made against what they perceive, rightly or wrongly, to be others' deceptive attempts to take advantage of their country.

For that reason, I was all the more surprised and disappointed at reading about the dark side of politics revealed by the presidential campaigns being run by the two main US political parties.