David Collins’ column “Bloomberg’s Connecticut spending is eye-opening,” (Feb. 8), expresses perspectives with which I heartily agree. He doesn’t get sidetracked into a dissection of the corpse of our national campaign process slaughtered by Citizens United; his analysis of Bloomberg’s massive spending is sufficient to lay out the realities of turning off the desk lights above the lists of who is funding whom.

Bloomberg is the poker player who has the cash to out-bet every gutless high roller who thought that a few million would take everybody’s breath away while remaining anonymous. As Collins explains, Bloomberg is willing to stick what may end up being billions into the process and keep it there. No one-time ad buys for him. He has the guts that all the “dark money” cowards never had.

But Bloomberg’s play amounts to a standoff. It’s a flawed response to the declining integrity of the country’s electoral process that was originally feared by the builders of the U.S. Constitution. Their candid acknowledgement of the breakability of the document is coming true. And the worse it gets the less likely enough of us will be willing or able to support the efforts needed for repair. Time to trade it in?

Jay Louden

Groton