Submitted by Fredric Dennis Williams, Sep 3, 2007 10:28

For a lobbying organization or special interest group to be truly effective, it must be largely invisible. By working behind the scenes, it can influence policy without arousing opposition. As a result, when college professors write papers or publish books that shine a light on an unusually effective lobbying organization and its many allies, those who support the organization must act quickly to discredit the authors. This is particularly difficult when they teach at two of the nation's most prestigious universities.

America is a nation which is not well led. AIPAC can't be blamed for that. A good lobbying organization works for the purposes it believes in, and if it believes strongly, it does whatever it can to advance those purposes. When those purposes involve it in conflict, as most aggressive political efforts do, or when they shift the nation's policies and priorities in directions that might not be supported by a majority of the people, there will be accusations of wrongdoing. The weakness of democracy is that any special interest group -- whether it is lawyers or doctors or insurance companies or the Christian Coalition of America or AIPAC -- can usually gain its ends by applying pressure, exerting influence, spending money, and manipulating the media. Democracy is poorly equipped to defend against the power of special interests.

I have not read this book, nor am I likely to, but I believe that, to the extent it is an honest book, it contributes to a healthy democracy. To those who condemn it because they wish to protect Israel, I am sympathetic, but as an American who wishes to protect America, I am glad to see any effort to explain how our government is run. There is nothing more dangerous to a democracy than secrecy and its partner, deception.

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