Monday, September 15, 2008

Special Interests and Politicians

There is no purer villain when it comes to politics than the evil "special interests."

Granted, I am not a fan of special interests either. Big money greases the skids in Washington, and those of us with less grease tend to end up being ignored.

However, it is nearly impossible for politicians to avoid association with at least some special interests because every constituency is, by definition, a special interest.

Look at John McCain, the target of a new ad of the Obama campaign. In the advertisement it accuses McCain of employing seven top advisers who also are lobbyists. I did not look into the merits of the ad but assume that it is true.

However, Barack Obama is not devoid of all special interests either as evidenced by this report on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their political donations.

All politicians need to stop throwing around this accusation. Glass houses and all that.

h/t LGF

3 comments:

RightMichigan.com said...

A "special interest" is just a group of people exercising their Constitutional right to free association to come together as a group to petition the government and her representatives re: specific issues.

There's nothing inherently evil about it. The job of the electeds is to weigh the wants and needs and desires of each group against the wants and needs and desires of the others and the community at large without violating the basic principles and protections of the founding document.

THAT is where the failure usually lies.

--Nick
www.RightMichigan.com

el grillo said...

Nick is correct, however the "evil" attached to special interests is the tendency to pander to wants that may be contrary to the general interest of the voting majority.

The marketing of both parties is disgusting, at best. I suspect that it is being done by old farts like myself who are struggling to understand this new century. One-liners, sloganeering, and all sorts of mud-slinging used to be effective, but the newer kids do this in virtual reality (far too much) and it is not considered reality.

What would blow this election cycle wide open would be some good ideas about how we can resolve some serious issues (we do have a few to work on).

Using the word "Muslim" in pre-manufactured rumors as a substitute for the "N-word" doesn't fool anybody. Some people will vote against skin-color or for a female just because deeper thought gives them a headache.

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