They do know what they're doing, the whole "politicians are ignorant and incompatent" thing is just a scam to fool the public. Any naivety they have is intentional, to the tune of "well knowing those specific details might make me feel a little bit like too much of a scumbag, and there's no reason I need to affect my sleep quality, so I'll just ignore it." By and large, though, they know exactly what they're doing and they're criminals.