translation query: 1950s Soviet usage

[Rebecca Jane Stanton]

Dear SEELANGers,
I'm posting the following inquiry on behalf of a historian colleague.  
Please feel free to reply to the list or to Professor Roth-Ey directly, 
as you deem appropriate.  Her email address is krothey at yahoo.com .

The substance of the query:
The following is an excerpt from a 1956 article by Igor Il'inskii (the 
comedian) in Literaturnaia gazeta, wherein he browbeats his fellow 
artists for snubbing television.  He writes:
"Takaia pozitsiia predstavlaetsia mne antigosudarstvennoi. Davaite 
rukovodstvovat'sia soobrazheniiami tvorcheskimi, ideinymi, a ne odnoi 
tol'ko zabotei o povyshenii sborov. Ved' my delaem odno i to zhe delo. 
Kak zhe mozhno davat' narodu vmesto luchshikh -- khudshie obraztsy 
iskusstva, stalo byt', rasprostraniat' ikh na gigantskuiu auditoriiu. I 
kto my, v kontse kontsov, --komersanty ili politiki?* *Ia ubezhden, shto 
televidenie nikogda ne zaimet mesta teatra..."
** 
The question concerns the use of the term "politiki" here.  In 1956, is 
it probable that the term only refers to "Western" or "Western-style" 
politicians?  Should a responsible translation render the word not just 
as "politicians" but as "Western-style [or some other adjective] 
politicians"?   For scholarly purposes, the translation
needs to convey the nuance of what Il'inskii means here.

All expert opinions will be appreciated!
Thanks,
RJS

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