Florida mailman Doug Hughes flew a gyrocopter onto the Capitol grounds to strike a blow for “campaign finance reform.” In Sunday’s Washington Post, his illegal act was rewarded with an op-ed (complete with a large photo of the landing). The headline was "My flight for democracy: Shining a light on the corruption in Washington is the only way to clean things up."
The flight exposed lax security in the nation’s capital, and yet Hughes is so haughty about his cause that he compared large political donors to terrorists, a national security threat:
Sadly, most Americans don’t know about these solutions or how to engage. That’s why I chose civil disobedience, taking 535 stamped letters and my message to the seat of power where the problem is. Big money is a threat to our democracy just as security threats are.
Following my flight for democracy onto the Capitol lawn, Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) said on the House floor, “Mr. Hughes does have a point about the pervasive influence of money in politics. I’ve seen it get worse and worse in my 20 years in Congress.”
It’s appropriate that we spend billions protecting the United States from terrorists. It’s time for Americans to spend time protecting democracy from plutocrats.
Doug Hughes didn't find time in this piece to reflect on the Democrats who tend to favor these reforms -- like Hillary Clinton. How's she working out?
Hughes also claimed the public was on his side because Gallup tracking polls show people are most frustrated with government right now. That's not a campaign-finance question!
