To the editor:

In his column headlined “Lift the legislative fog” (Journal-World, Aug. 12), Mike Hoeflich offers little light to cut through the political haze. Hoeflich quotes an unnamed senator who says he will not attend “unscripted” events if he is to be subjected to heckling and rowdy crowds. Hoeflich goes on to defend the heckling and “orchestrated dissent” as “the very essence of the American political tradition.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. The rowdy crowds in health care meetings are intent on shouting down the politicians and shutting down debate. That is the essence of demagoguery, not democracy.

Inexplicably, Hoeflich then wishes politics could be conducted with more civility. Huh? Pick a position and stick to it. Next, Hoeflich says what this country needs is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan group that could provide unbiased analysis of legislation. But there already are many of them. Center for Science in the Public Interest, Public Citizen, The Pew Research Center and Common Cause, to name a few.

The real problem is many Americans are too busy with celebrity idolatry, texting and twittering to check out what hard-working groups like these are telling us about our Congress.

Finally, Hoeflich laments the “fog of politics” that has settled over Washington. It’s been there for many decades. Until we take the corporate money out of political campaigns, that fog serves to obscure the true motivation of our legislators: serving the corporations which pay for them to be elected.