Be In the Room, Not Bought at the Door

Justin Jest here, with a smoke alarm in one hand and a visitor badge in the other: if the public is invited into democracy’s living room, the lobbyists do not get to park at the coffee table and call it “expert access.” That is not participation. That is a donor-class pantry raid with nicer shoes.

The whole trick is to dress paid influence up as civic seriousness while regular people get told to be visible, patient, and grateful for the privilege. Fine. Put the citizens in the room. Then stop pretending money deserves the chair closest to the law. Democracy with a lobbyist-only VIP lane is just a rented capitol and a very expensive coat check.