There are those who seem disturbed, indeed disgusted, that Hamid Karzai, the current head of what passes for a government in Afghanistan, declared publicly that he has accepted bagfuls of cash from both Iran and the U.S. These critics even point to the what-are-you-gonna-about-it smirk he wore when announcing this cash gobbling.
Fie! on such critics, I say, Fie!
It’s been made clear by the Supreme Court in our own country that money is free speech, which of course legally licenses buying government influence with money. Outdated cultural norms on this shores, however, still regard flagrant and overt influence purchasing as sleazy (can you imagine!). So would-be influence buyers here often have to give their cash anonymously.
You don’t see that sort of hypocritical secrecy with Karzai. No sir. He wants it. You give it. The amount is fixed up front for the favor expected. No one has to play the anonymous charade with this statesman.
The Karzai way also introduces much needed market norms into the influence buying and selling process. In this country, what you get for what you give can be diluted because the cash passes through so many hands. To lobbyists, to media consultants, et. al. With Karzai, you merely fill a bag with hundred dollar bills and pass it to a well-known presidential bagman who then delivers it lessened only lightly by the intermediary’s cut. Are we talking about world class, B-school caliber influence buying here or what?
Personally, I was extremely impressed by the nonpartisan, ecumenical nature of Karzai’s influence selling. In our country, liberals give to liberals in hopes of gaining influence, and conservatives give to conservatives in hopes of gaining influence. But in Karaziland, The Big Man is an equal opportunity accepter of cash and dispenser of favors. To Iran. To the U.S. To whoever else will meet his price. Really, isn’t this the kind of non-partisanship we need in our our politically fractured nation?
And of course there’s also the matter of knowing where your money ends up when you give a bagful of moola. A goodly share of it is easily visible with Karzai. This man knows his threads and flashes them with panache. He makes Jesse Jackson look like a street person. And he’s done more for male millinery than Jean Luc Picard did for male baldness.
So three cheers for The Man in Kabul who is doing so much to get influence peddling and government corruption generally out of the closet. And my fellow Americans, though we still lag behind in this realm, there’s no reason to give up hope that we may one day catch up.
It has just been announced by Transparency International that America has dropped out of its list of top 20 least corrupt countries. We’re moving closer to the Karzai way by the day. Just one or two more Supreme Court decisions, just one or two more, and…
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