Every politician is completely sincere. I posit that this is a much more frightening notion than the comfort of a conspiracy theory.

Hear, hear.

I think of self-deception and ill will as lying on a continuum with no bright line separating them. Bad Jackie in slacktivist's "Jackie at the crossroads" is a "bad person", or at least a person who does a clearly bad thing and does not repent, but she will be quite upset with herself if she ever realizes this.