Some More Equal Than Others
In Canada, we are assured that each and every one of us is equal before the law. And in theory that's a very comforting thought. Despite which, everyone is aware that the balance can be tipped when one has the right contacts, and above all has the money and prestige to hire high-priced lawyers who can twist and turn the law to advantage.
And the same can be said for the tax-paying public, which includes everyone who earns a living. We all are expected to pay our due, but some of us can hire tax experts who can manage to subvert the intent.
And when someone of high authority manages to do all of that; behave as though he is above the law and get away with it, expect that everyone else will pay the tax freight and he's exempted, we've reason to believe we've been shafted.
And somehow, when it comes to his personal entitlements, the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney comes out of the public eye into his private dealings rather less than honourable.
Why are we not surprised? The man's faux-humble facade hiding an amazing belief in himself as superior to the laws that bind the rest of us has always offended the public who though they voted for him so inexplicably also found his greasy hubris pretty disgusting. Now, being questioned by federal lawyers trying to reveal finally the truth behind his covert dealings with a shady arms-dealing businessman-lobbyist he remains as evasive and entitled as ever.
His lack of judgement in associating himself with Karlheinz Schreiber speaks more to his personal greed and affinity for liaising with characters who double-deal in shades of grey than his understanding that there is a certain level of comportment when one is the executive head of a country and there are certain activities that compromise one's integrity, besmirching the political office held in public trust.
His melodramatic flair, wailing at the unfairness of those who were out to get him "trying to ruin me - to throw me in jail", to elicit sympathy as an ill-done-by former statesman who led Canada into a brighter future and was assailed by enemies attempting to smear him through the Airbus scandal earns him few points for candour and honesty. There simply is not an honest bone in the man's body.
He did not divulge vital information during legal proceedings because he wasn't asked "the right question", to extract that information from him, so he felt perfectly justified in withholding it. It would have been awkward for him, made things difficult for him to admit that he had a working relationship with a man so closely involved in the Airbus affair that enriched so many.
His relationship with an arms dealer was 'peripheral'; his acceptance of hundreds of thousands in cash was a personal matter; his unwillingness to declare it as earned income until six years later he was aware that the matter was on the cusp of being revealed since Mr. Schreiber was facing legal issues in Germany does him little credit.
He is untrustworthy and always has been. But foxily able to hold his own.
So he milked the taxpayer for a $2.1-million settlement because the RCMP was unable to link him positively to Airbus payoffs, and was able to evade paying the full cartage on the entire ill-gotten $225 - or $300K; depending on whom you believe, one dissembler or the other; and will have his $2-million legal bill hoisted on the tax-payer as well.
This man of well-earned ill-repute who saw nothing amiss in a former prime minister of the country scurrying off to international destinations to hawk "peace-keeping" armoured vehicles - perfectly legitimate, as far as he's concerned and obviously a ploy, a sham, to divert attention from what actually occurred to have him earn hundreds of thousands in undeclared income.
But because he knows no shame, he feels no shame in presenting himself as an arms-dealing shill. So much for political ethical standards for high political office holders.
And the same can be said for the tax-paying public, which includes everyone who earns a living. We all are expected to pay our due, but some of us can hire tax experts who can manage to subvert the intent.
And when someone of high authority manages to do all of that; behave as though he is above the law and get away with it, expect that everyone else will pay the tax freight and he's exempted, we've reason to believe we've been shafted.
And somehow, when it comes to his personal entitlements, the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney comes out of the public eye into his private dealings rather less than honourable.
Why are we not surprised? The man's faux-humble facade hiding an amazing belief in himself as superior to the laws that bind the rest of us has always offended the public who though they voted for him so inexplicably also found his greasy hubris pretty disgusting. Now, being questioned by federal lawyers trying to reveal finally the truth behind his covert dealings with a shady arms-dealing businessman-lobbyist he remains as evasive and entitled as ever.
His lack of judgement in associating himself with Karlheinz Schreiber speaks more to his personal greed and affinity for liaising with characters who double-deal in shades of grey than his understanding that there is a certain level of comportment when one is the executive head of a country and there are certain activities that compromise one's integrity, besmirching the political office held in public trust.
His melodramatic flair, wailing at the unfairness of those who were out to get him "trying to ruin me - to throw me in jail", to elicit sympathy as an ill-done-by former statesman who led Canada into a brighter future and was assailed by enemies attempting to smear him through the Airbus scandal earns him few points for candour and honesty. There simply is not an honest bone in the man's body.
He did not divulge vital information during legal proceedings because he wasn't asked "the right question", to extract that information from him, so he felt perfectly justified in withholding it. It would have been awkward for him, made things difficult for him to admit that he had a working relationship with a man so closely involved in the Airbus affair that enriched so many.
His relationship with an arms dealer was 'peripheral'; his acceptance of hundreds of thousands in cash was a personal matter; his unwillingness to declare it as earned income until six years later he was aware that the matter was on the cusp of being revealed since Mr. Schreiber was facing legal issues in Germany does him little credit.
He is untrustworthy and always has been. But foxily able to hold his own.
So he milked the taxpayer for a $2.1-million settlement because the RCMP was unable to link him positively to Airbus payoffs, and was able to evade paying the full cartage on the entire ill-gotten $225 - or $300K; depending on whom you believe, one dissembler or the other; and will have his $2-million legal bill hoisted on the tax-payer as well.
This man of well-earned ill-repute who saw nothing amiss in a former prime minister of the country scurrying off to international destinations to hawk "peace-keeping" armoured vehicles - perfectly legitimate, as far as he's concerned and obviously a ploy, a sham, to divert attention from what actually occurred to have him earn hundreds of thousands in undeclared income.
But because he knows no shame, he feels no shame in presenting himself as an arms-dealing shill. So much for political ethical standards for high political office holders.
Labels: Canada, Particularities
posted by Pieface @ 6:20 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home