Letter: Follow the money

For weeks now, we have been told that Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are anti-establishment candidates and that the “establishment” is seeking a more pliable candidate. Not that I like Trump, a bombastic showman, or Cruz, a most negative individual despised by all. They are both opportunists who exploit the fears and hate sown by the GOP over the years.

But I do want to know who is that “establishment.” Is it the Koch brothers, who already have many legislators in their pockets, or Sheldon Adelson, the rich head of an international gambling syndicate.

Or is it a bunch of other billionaires who openly or anonymously feed money into campaigns? Trump at least uses his own money and Bernie Sanders finances his campaign with small donations from ordinary citizens.

Or is it Congressional leaders who have willfully forgotten that “legislating” may involve compromise and have paralyzed government and even shut it down?

Of course, the disastrous Supreme Court decision on campaign finances has enabled all kinds of money to filter into political campaigns and there is nothing we can do about it as long as the GOP dominates Congress and now even the Supreme Court.

Perhaps we’ll luck out and get a decent Republican candidate, like John Kasich. He doesn’t appear to be owned by anyone, including the establishment. Surely our country’s founders and the authors of our Constitution did not contemplate the political circus we are witnessing today.

This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 8:20 PM with the headline "Letter: Follow the money."