The Zionist Lobby: America's Special Interest Problem

The Zionist Lobby: America's Special Interest Problem By Lawrence Davidson Redress, Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, November 3, 2014 The problem of special interests or lobbies was one of the foremost concerns of the Founding Fathers of the United States. In their day they were called factions. James Madison, who is considered the architect of the US Constitution, devoted the entire tenth Federalist Paper (1787) to the problem. He defined a faction as “a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority… actuated by some common… interest, adverse to… the aggregate interests of the community”, and believed that within the context of liberal republicanism, they could never be eliminated. However, he did feel they could be controlled. To this end he sought to create representative bodies with high numbers of delegates and a wide diversity of interests in the hope that they would counterbalance each other. When George Washington delivered his famous Farewell Address in 1796, he too noted the problem. Washington warned of “combinations and associations” which attempt to “direct, control, counteract and awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities” and thereby substitute their own desires for the “delegated will of the nation”. As Washington’s continued concern implied, James Madison’s approach to controlling special interests or factions never proved adequate. Lobbification readmore....