Via Arnold Kling, Ross Douthat presents a sensible (i.e I largely agree with it) take on politics and the interests involved in it. Those who want to get “money out of politics” or “kick our the special interests”, unless they want to get politics out of money or render it irrelevant to anyone’s interests invariably want to monopolize its dispensations. They also don’t think much of the right of the people to petition their representatives for a redress of grievances.

Meanwhile, an SA goon is answering about being a state-level lobbyist for various interest groups in Michigan (he briefly mentions this). He justifies his occupation as analogous to a defense lawyer. Because he has a degree in poli-sci he injects a bit of high-brow above the muck, like citing Riker. As a youth he worked as a lookout for crack-dealers, and I’d be interested in which profession my readers respect more. You have to pay $10 to register and post, which I have no intention of doing.

On a completely unrelated note, Deirdre McCloskey has sunk so low as to read and comment at this very hive of scum and villainny. I spent 1262 words on that post despite not having read the book she reviewed, but the only part she has anything to say about is my reference to l’affaire Bailey in the opening sentence. Funny that Clark considers the Industrial Revolution to be the only event to happen in all of modern history, but it has been displaced in this instance by The Men Who Would Be Queen.