One of the Democrats' favorite lines about Richard Nixon was, "Would you buy a used car from this man?" The idea being that the used-car business is one where the credibility of the salespeople is particularly important. Since Nixon was such a shifty-eyed stiff he looked like he was lying even on the occasions when he wasn't, it was a telling question.
And this week there was Gov. Schwarzenegger, speaking at a car dealership whose owner and his wife had contributed over $50,000 to his campaign and inauguration. "Go out there. Buy cars. Buy new cars. Buy used cars."
I could make the up the Republican excuses myself. There's nothing illegal about it. It's no different than what Davis did. There are no ethics rules against it, yadda, yadda, yadda. And under our increasingly pathetic system of campaign financing, all that's probably true.
But let's not kid ourselves about what's happening here. During the "Abscam" sting operation against Congressional corruption a couple of decades ago, one Congressman made the most memorable moment of the whole affair when he told an undercover FBI agent that money talks and b******t walks.
And what is developing in front of our eyes, at Galpin Ford like in Texas and in Washington, is crony capitalism. You want to play, you got to pay. Money talks and BS walks. Them that has, gets. You grease my palm and I'll grease yours.
Democracy can coexist with crony capitalism. Just look at Mexico. Mexico has been a democracy since the Mexican Revolution established the constitution of 1917. But it's only in recent years that the corruption endemic in the political system has been challenged sufficiently to make the ruling PRI party have to seriously contest national elections.
Pay to play. If you need the Governor to do a a publicity event for your business, cough up 50 grand or so for one of his initiative campaigns. Maybe you'll be as "lucky" as the good folks at Galpin Ford.
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