Bribery

Just a little wistful ... (4.00 / 8)

... wishful thinking, I know.

Impeach.  Convict.  Imprison.  The whole lot of them.

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by: Nightprowlkitty @ Sat Jul 12, 2008 at 23:38:46 PM CDT

Good ROI (4.00 / 3)

That's Return On Investment for the non-biz folk. It's what drives angel investors and early round venture capitalists in the tech biz. The surer a service or product is, the more it costs to get in for the second and third rounds. The two hundred grand mentioned above is the seed money.

A couple hundred grand up front for a private meeting of this type is a good enough "in" to put together a much larger package. You get some buddies, pony up a pool of money, send in a front man, like the former prez of some hole-in-the-wall country for an audience with the decision makers(Cheney, Rice). It's well known by them that you've paid for your audience; they don't touch the cash, too uncouth. You make a pitch for a no-bid government contract of several gigabucks, with an implied percentage to go back into further campaign, library, 527 or PAC donations. Then you go have a few celebratory cold ones with the buddies who put the pool together.

You've just bought a tap into the US Treasury. It's a well that never runs dry. There are always millions of dumb-ass taxpayers willing to keep it filled up. Best way to take their money is to make them feel fear of the unknown. Televangelists use the same scam. This government uses terrorism. They both play on fears of uncertainty and certain death.

It's like having an ATM at the US Treasury. You pay an inconsequential transaction fee of a couple hundred grand to withdraw a couple of billion. Out of that two billion you provide some shoddy product or service or in some cases - nothing at all. You spread around several million in the right places, hire the right people and their family members or college buddies. Now you're connected as they say.

One hand washes the other. Cheney is a master at this game. He's the water boy for the old money types. The ones who have inherited theirs over the generations and continue to consolidate their hold on not just the US but the entire planet. It's not just American money doing this.

Some new blood makes it in now and then by sheer luck or creativity. If they don't fall into place their children will - or their grandchildren.

$200,000 for $2,000,000,000 plus an entry into the club. Your membership entitles you to join in more swindles with other club members. That's an ROI of $10,000 for every dollar invested. Not bad work if you can get it.

The Dems play this game as well as the Republicans. That's why impeachment is off the table. They know their time at the trough is coming up. Let's not make anyone pay a penalty for playing the game, they think. I want mine, too.

Looks like Obama will be more of the same. Younger, intelligent, charismatic. Puts a nice spin on the ball. For the rest of us it's same old-same old. The Beltway will revolve on its own axis until it's knocked off it.

Somewhere out there someone will find a way to do it. I pray that it's a peaceful, non-violent way.

Shanti.


"Three things cannot be long hidden: the Sun, the Moon and the Truth." Buddha

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by: RUKind @ Sun Jul 13, 2008 at 00:29:00 AM CDT

And that is why... (4.00 / 2)

...the size of government does matter.  Because it makes it worthwhile to bribe them.  Honestly, who in their right mind with the opportunity wouldn't?

"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the urge to rule it." ~ H.L. Mencken

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by: Jay Elias @ Sun Jul 13, 2008 at 00:35:50 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I wouldn't (4.00 / 2)

Live large at the expense of people who really need some help? That's sheer greed. Take money from the poor and middle class to buy your G5s and yachts and trophy houses and wives? The toys all crumble into dust or go out of date. The superficial all passes over time.

In the end you've got your conscience. There are two measures of a human - how they live this life and how they leave it. I guess it all depends on what you value in life. If it's the planet and your fellow beings on the planet that's one thing. If it's you and the pleasures of your five senses then that's another.

There's only one way out for everyone. No one gets out of here alive. I'd just as soon leave some peaceful ripples in my wake. Old H. W. and his cigarette boat and his spawn will leave a bit of wake in their leaving.

Size of government is a red herring. If all were honest, government would operate at the most efficient level possible. No more money than need for the common good would be raised or spent. The problem is greed and self-gratification at the expense of the vast majority. Good government will act as a damper on itself.

We do not have good government. We have a great framework for one. We just need to get back to basics.

"Three things cannot be long hidden: the Sun, the Moon and the Truth." Buddha

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by: RUKind @ Sun Jul 13, 2008 at 00:54:09 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I'm sure you wouldn't... (4.00 / 3)

...I probably wouldn't either.  But we're not everyone.  And the issue here is the same one I've been talking about all day with budhy: moral hazard.  You give people the opportunity to do the wrong thing, and to not have to bear the effects of their wrong actions.  And once that opportunity exists, it is inevitable that someone will take it.

You may well be right that the only things that matter are how you live and how you die.  But you certainly won't get significant agreement about what is the right way to live your life, and you won't be able to do much to ensure that people do live the right way.  Which is why the point is harm reduction: reduce the ability for people to do harm.  All will never be honest; the notion is preposterous.  You won't even be able to get a common consensus on what "the common good" means, and if you did, there is little probability that the majority will be right.  You might as well suggest that we should all learn to breathe carbon dioxide.

We do have the framework for a relatively good government.  And that framework is significantly about the limits of what government should be allowed to do.

"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the urge to rule it." ~ H.L. Mencken

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by: Jay Elias @ Sun Jul 13, 2008 at 01:07:36 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Agreed (4.00 / 3)

The Seven Deadly Sins will always tempt us: superbia, avaritia, luxuria, invidia, gula, ira, acedia. Or in English:

Pride (Latin, superbia)
Greed (Latin, avaritia)
Lust (Latin, luxuria)
Envy (Latin, invidia)
Gluttony (Latin, gula)
Wrath (Latin, ira)
Sloth (Latin, acedia)

Those Latin roots pop up in a lot of our vocabulary. superiority, avarice, luxury, invidious, gullibility/gluttony, irate, accede. Acedia is interesting in particular. A definition in English: Spiritual torpor and apathy; ennui Lot of that going around in certain circles.

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

We just happen to be in the middle of a Perfect Storm at the moment. And the ship of fools is taking on water.

"Three things cannot be long hidden: the Sun, the Moon and the Truth." Buddha

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by: RUKind @ Sun Jul 13, 2008 at 02:40:32 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

No more "wistful/wishful" than my own dream... (4.00 / 2)

http://www.docudharma.com/show...

Thanks to our Democratic "Leaders" in the Congress, we're running out of time here in the US.

Fortunately, The Hague is always available.

The butchers of Sudan and Zimbabwe may well be headed for international charges at The Hague.

Hopefully, BushCo, will follow soon after.

Peace.

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by: Faheyman @ Sun Jul 13, 2008 at 00:42:19 AM CDT

I want the PPV rights for the BuschCo trials at the Hague (4.00 / 3)

I wonder who I have to bribe to get them? Murdoch will probably beat me to it, though. I'll end up recording it and passing it down to my grandkids. We can have DD house parties on nights when the trial is on-air.

The coolest thing would be to have mass audience feedback like American Idol. The show can be named American War Criminal (already posted that thought). If you think the Bush thug on the stand just lied you can TM in a Mule. If the Mules outweigh the Ponies, the testifying defendant gets a severe electrical shock to the buttocks. Then again, if ratings started to slip, Fox would probably wire their genitals.

Ah, the futures that will never happen. We can always dream. And like Dylan said:

If my thought dreams could be seen,
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine.
But it's alright, ma. It's life and life only.

"Three things cannot be long hidden: the Sun, the Moon and the Truth." Buddha

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by: RUKind @ Sun Jul 13, 2008 at 01:09:12 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Payne *does* mention the price to meet with Bush. (4.00 / 2)

An ultra-violent snuff film and a bottle of Boone's Farm. "Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh... We'll wait til Laurabelle goes to bed then sneak down to the basement and have some fun.  Oh, gotta stop by the kitchen first and grab us a bag of pretzels, heh, heh, heh.  This is gonna be good.  I miss Turdblossom!  He loves this stuff."

Mu . . .

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by: Mu @ Sun Jul 13, 2008 at 07:09:21 AM CDT