By: Chris Rushlau

Chris Rushlau — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 18:13:17 +0000

The Israel lobby is the most powerful lobby in Washington (and at other levels of our Federalism system, as my involvement in the Portland Democratic Committee has shown me). To what extent does its power rely on that .05% of the public and its “green primary”: Lester-land or even Sheldon-city?
It is entirely conceivable to me that we could have a clean elections regime a la Maine and leave this lobby unaffected. You did not mention foreign policy in your list of what issues cry out for reform. It seems to me that cancelling the Global War On Terror by locating Israel as a major terrorist power (if we must use the word “terrorist”) would allow other issues to shoot up into the range of do-ability, under the principle that murder is worse than theft, which is worse than littering. A large part of that repressed buoyancy stems from the economic burden of the GWOT. Yet we the People cheerfully finance that GWOT, and there isn’t even a TV dinning away at us with messages about how it will enhance our sex life and whatever else sells political candidacies.
So what else distorts our political process besides money, and how do they interact in the case of the Israel lobby?

By: Mark Berger

Mark Berger — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 15:21:49 +0000

Enjoyed your talk yesterday at USM. Would like to know your thoughts on voter turnout rates in US versus other western democracies as a symptom and or enabler of electoral corruption?

Comments on: Taking these to Maine

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By: Chris Rushlau

By: Mark Berger