While I do not always agree with your conclusions, I always appreciate your
careful consideration of political issues. But I was completely in
agreement with your recent op ed from yesterday's NYT. I don't know any
lobbyists but I fully expect that they are no more corrupt than the typical
politician or the typical voter.

I agree that "cash-in-paper-bag" transactions are probably pretty rare but I think you are placing too much blame on the electorate. Corrupt individuals are often likeable people -- witness Charlie Rangel -- and there is a huge personal cost for individuals voters to figure out the reality behind the friendly face that good politicians so often have.

When combined with the nearly limitless ability of human beings to self-justify self-serving actions (teacher unions fighting pay-for-performance "for the children"! or pro-business advocates arguing for corporate bailouts lest the "economy go under"!), we find ourselves facing a "culture of corruption" shared by Republicans and Democrats, shared by politicians and permanent staffers, shared by corporate America and environmentalists and unionists and every other "ist" we can imagine.

Even if I understand the nature of the problem and even if I understand the cause of the problem ("power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely"), changing it seems an impossible task -- too many lobbyists and politicans and voters have too much to lose should power devolve away from the federal government back to individual citizens.