The lead front page article in the July 28 N.Y. Times detailed what is happening to the political system in the United States. In the wake of Supreme Court decisions removing regulations on campaign spending, the system is now more awash than ever in money. This year the amount is six times as much as in the last election cycle. Already in that cycle, money dominated the campaigns, especially for the presidency, Congress, governors and any other campaigns where the stakes seem high — such as for certain state legislatures and statewide offices. The prospect is that money will now overwhelm the system.

The money lopsidedly comes from millionaires and billionaires. Not only that, the money is mostly channeled through the creation of outside groups — outside the operations or control of the candidates themselves. Even if, as a candidate, you might not want the money spent by an outside group or you are embarrassed by its barrage of ads that are meant to support you, you have no say.

This is the most menacing thing of all. If you are a candidate who wants to reach the people with your own message you soon discover that your message is upstaged by TV and other media ads from outside groups. These ads, out of your control, are fueled by tons of money from remote forces who put first their own interest, not your interest. The ads are notoriously negative, out to gun down your opponent. They often reach crescendos of onesided, vicious, and unfair attacks on the character, ideas and record of your opponent.

Ironically, and of course inevitably, your opponent’s outside groups are doing the same to you — raking you over the coals. You and your opponent are both trapped in a sickening spectacle of mutual destruction.

The result is terrible noise, bitterness, and degradation of everyone involved. There is no politics in this. It is a matter of violence in words. Politics was invented by human beings long ago as a refuge from and replacement of violence. Politics, as it has come to be practiced from the top down, is a plague of verbal violence. This is certainly true in Washington. It is true to a certain degree in the capitols of most states, and it is seeping into local politics as well.

Political debate becomes a thing of the past. Gone is the airing of issues. Gone is speech that may contribute to greater understanding of a candidate’s ideas and stands on issues, to say nothing of his or her ideas, hopes, and visions for future policy.

Both major parties play this game — apparently with enthusiasm.

Two closely related answers are these: One is a political party that deliberately does not accept corporate or any other special interest money. The other is a political party that refuses to engage in hate speech, in name-calling, or in twisting words to turn good into evil and light into dark. It is a party that honors above all the determination to talk sensibly and honestly about the needs of the people, to do it with the people, and to do it for the common good.

Those among your readers who know of my party affiliation may think that my words in this letter are just a partisan thrust for a certain party. But let’s turn that argument on its head. My Green colleagues and I in this state and in the nation turned to the creation of a new party, not because we wanted the adventure of doing something new or because we had a partisan need and resentment to give vent to. We did it because we saw, as many did see and continue to see, that politics was becoming the tool of money and because political speech was withering away.

The political system itself, we felt, and continue to feel strongly about, needs rejuvenation and redemption. Someone must come forward. We don’t take corporate money or special interest money. We strive as hard as we can, not always successfully, to use speech for purposes of communication and debate. In the face of this challenge, as Kermit the Frog puts it, ”It isn’t easy being Green.”

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John Rensenbrink is professor emeritus of Government and Legal Studies at Bowdoin College. He is co-founder of the U.S. Green Party and the Maine Green Independent Party. He lives in Topsham.