Business as Usual

I live for this stuff. I'm addicted. As much as I hate the sick corruption of politics, I can't turn away from its seductive drama.

This video shows "consultant" (political fixer) Stephen Payne meeting with an undercover reporter and a representative of Askar Akayev, former president of Kyrgyzstan. During the fall of the Soviet Union, Akayev was selected (or elected, depending on how you look at it) by the Supreme Soviet to be the first president of the fledgling republic of Kyrgyzstan. He ruled until 2005, when his government was overthrown by a mob.

In the video, Payne suggests that for a few hundred thousand dollars, he could arrange for Akayev to meet with a high-level politican who would then make a statement about what a great guy he is, which would help his credibility in running for a new term of office in his homeland. The donation would be made to the Bush Library, which is not required by law to disclose it's donors.

This is just one example of what I call "deep politics". While the media pundits are busy covering the electoral distractions of official political business, the real action goes down in backroom deals where guys like Stephen Payne exist. Middle-men who keep the pump of corruption primed. They keep the cash flowing and hidden. They keep a priceless rolodex, their stock in trade. But Payne isn't just some schmuck with a few phone numbers, he sits on the board of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, is a 20 year associate of the President, and has traveled across the planet with the Vice President. When he offers to hook up a meeting with Cheney for a smooth 750K, he's not fucking around.

But this isn't just another "republicans are corrupt" rant. Notice that while most of the individuals Payne mentions are Bush cabinet officials, he also names Joseph Biden, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This reminds me that while the Republican party is measurably more corrupt, both parties together run a corrupt system of politics that rules this, the most powerful nation in history. And even though I trust Obama, and I think he's a decent guy, the first decent candidate in my lifetime, remember, he is still a party man. His cabinet will be party people. They will cut checks to hacks like Stephen Payne, to do their dirty work and keep it well hidden. Obama can't fix the system, and if he did, he would probably be assassinated.