Stories about a man called Abramoff made headline a few weeks ago. This man apparently undertook questionable lobbying work in the US. Questionable should maybe read illegal. I guess the surprise is the scale and openness of the whole thing, not the fact that it is a done thing in the business of government in the US. Lobbying is an old profession. Not the oldest for sure but the job description would catapult it pretty close to the oldest.
Yesterday’s LA Times reported the Malaysian connection with Abramoff’s equivalent of the $2 company – an entity known as American International Centre. Malaysia was a good client, apparently. It paid $1.2 million to Abramoff through this organisation and got in return, a photo-shoot session for Mahathir with Dubya. I don’t know if it did anything to improve Mahathir’s image then but that was a lot of money for a government to pay to make its PM look better. A botox treatment would have been cheaper.
To me, what came through the article was how Mahathir was perceived to be anti-semitic. No reason to question the accuracy of that perception, as he certainly gave everyone very good reasons to think that. That image has stuck. He is now a recognised anti-semitic.
The irony? Abramoff is a Jew – and he was paid plenty of money by an anti-semitic in a business deal. I guess if one chooses to worship the almighty dollar, there can be no other gods besides USD.
Money does really motivate people. It may not be the most important thing to many, but it is the reason why most people do what they do. I guess they enjoy their tasks along the way. Yesterday on radio, someone recounted how a newly promoted School Assistant Principal lasted 1 week in her job. She quit after 1 week, when she won a lottery worth $15 million. I guess money was the reason she was an Assistant School Principal. Otherwise, what has winning the lottery got to do with her continuing on with her job?
I wonder how many people would continue doing what they have been doing if they win the lottery. I think I will go and buy a ticket. There’s a big draw coming up this Saturday – saw the ads for it. $19 million, I think.
Ante 