The Bribe of Frankenstein

Third World corruption comes to Washington.

Just to prove there are some things every one agrees on, here's a Belmont Club link to TPM Muckracker.

There was a new FBI search warrant affidavit unsealed yesterday in the Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) case, which offered a little more in the way of damning evidence - but mostly it just heightens one of the central mysteries of the case for me. Why didn't Jefferson hand over the $100,000 to the Vice President of Nigeria, like he'd promised? ...

So what happened? Did Jefferson double-cross Mody? Or was it all a big misunderstanding? The answer is important: it's the difference between a corrupt congressman and an incredibly corrupt congressman.

Commentary

It's on that last point that I slightly differ from TPM Muckracker. It should read "it's the difference between a corrupt congressman and an internationally corrupt congressman". One of the really disturbing things about the Dubai Ports World story, even if it may not have been true, was the possibility that foreign lobbyists may have been behind it. Bags and politicians have always gone together. It's the ones with the overseas stickers that are kind of troublesome.

One of the possible consequences of Globalization is the globalization of Third World corruption. Everyone knows how business is done in the Socialist People's Democratic Republic of El Cucaracha; but the hope is that things were not done that way in DC. Mr. Smith came to Washington. Today anyone can come to Washington. Maybe there was a time, as in that famous scene in the Rocketeer, when even crooks knew they were American crooks and lined up to fight against the Nazis. Maybe.