The sewer that is modern politics was on full, nauseating display this past week, as one leader was gunned down, one refused to run for office, and another showed how twisted the whole business is just by opening his mouth.

Each of these incidents demonstrated a sad symptom of politics in modern democracies; a serious lack of real leadership.

The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin last Saturday marked a low point in Israel’s history that ranks as badly as the massacres in the Beirut refugee camps back in 1982.

One of the most respected leaders in Israel and worldwide, he was the only man who could truly negotiate a peace with the Palestinians and with Israel’s Arab neighbors. He fought in the 1948 war; he was chief of staff of the Israel Defense Force during the 1967 Six-Day War; and he gave the order to the Israeli police to come down hard on Palestinian rioters during the uprisings which began in 1987.

It took that kind of credibility and experience to convince the Arabs and Palestinians that a peace initiative was real and genuine. Coming from an old warrior like Rabin, the effort to finally reach a settlement and put an end to the fighting, fighting which he was a part of and experienced and suffered through, carried real weight.

But Rabin’s bold initiative to bring peace to his nation resulted in an assassin from the extreme right wing firing two bullets into him and bringing some doubt to the whole peace process, as it was propelled by Rabin and there may not be someone with such force of will and personality to replace him.

The lesson? Don’t undertake any controversial initiatives that anger your foes; you will end up assassinated in character or by the gun.

Colin Powell’s refusal to run for the Republican presidential nomination or as an independent candidate was a real disappointment for me. Here was the best man for the job turning down the opportunity to lead the United States into the next century because he didn’t want to be dragged through the mud over the next year and during (perhaps) his term as president.

He didn’t run for all the right reasons: his family life, his family’s safety and a lack of real interest for and commitment in a difficult job.

That is understandable, since he did serve in the army for 30 years and held various posts high in the service. The man has to be a bit tired of that grind, and his family must be wanting a quieter life as well.

The loss to the United States is great, for Powell could have been a great president, and one who probably could have successfully addressed a number of problems in society and worldwide.

But the attacks on his past and personality that would be sure to surface during a campaign, and the grief that would cause his family, not a family raised in a hot political environment, proved to be too much.

The right wing of the Republican party was already going after Powell on peripheral issues such as abortion, and he was hounded by various right-to-life goons during his book-signing tour.

The whole episode shows just how low the political system has become in this country, where a very qualified person refuses to run for office because no one wants to pay attention to the important issues at hand. Instead, the focus is on image and bluster, which leads us to our next example of political rot, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

As if the whole campaign system isn’t disgusting enough, the brilliant Newt made the statement last week that campaigns are actually underfunded, and that politicians need to be allowed to raise more money to fight incumbents and, of course, the media.

He did suggest that PAC money be limited, but that individuals be allowed to contribute more, but then he lamented “millionaire candidates” buying their offices. That’s just a tad contradictory.

An individual allowed to contribute more to a candidate would, in essence, be buying the office too by buying the candidate for it. And such an individual would run no risk of not being re-elected for the next term with a patsy in office to take any heat for unpopular or questionable policies.

I have never been a Gingrich fan. I always felt that he was a ideologue and self-promoter, more involved and concerned with getting and staying elected by playing up voter’s emotions than with practical policy matters.

Even worse, his district receives more federal money than any other in the United States even while he is railing against budgetary pork.

But this campaign finance reform comment finally proved to me that Gingrich should not be taken seriously. It is a transparent attempt to get people with money, people who will usually support the Republican party, to shovel even more green into Republican coffers.

There are more pressing issues at hand, Newt, and while campaign finance needs to be reformed, this is not the way to do it.

What a depressing week. Going back to school and staying away from professional politics really seems like a great idea now.

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Kevin S. Kirby is a senior in journalism mass communication from Louisville, Ky. He has a B.A. in political science from the University of Wyoming.