Poor power

Few of the readers of the Panama dossier drew attention to the track record of the chief offshore master Ramon Fonseca , little was written about his biography-except that he is a prolific fiction. But he is also a prominent opposition in the past. In particular, the creation of a commission to investigate crimes of military regimes, which was established by decree of President Mirea Moskoso, Panama Gorbachev, is charged with the personal merit of Fonsiek. When the opposition party became ruling, Fonseca, including an administrative resource, launched his business.

A familiar story, isn't it? So Mikhail Khodorkovsky recently made a remarkable confession: “I bought Yukos in 1996, and I took it from me in favor of the“ well -known Putin ”by Baikalfinance Group from the extent London in Tver in 2004. I consider both the first and second and the second. But I bought, like all the other, according to the then laws, and I was taken from Putin’s friends.”

Unjust, but you can - so I bought it. Power or proximity to power is traditionally considered in countries that have no experience of democracy, as a completely legitimate way of enrichment. The popular aphorism of the lord Akton "corrupting the authorities, absolute power corrupts absolutely" can be translated as "the authorities corrupt ..." I think even the title of this column seems to many an oxymoron.

In the history of the United States there were enough rich presidents. The richest - in terms of the current course - was George Washington. His condition would be enough to enter the list of 400 richest people in the world according to the version of the Forbes magazine today. But he did not earn his capital at the presidential post: he successfully married a widow with a great inheritance and increased him, being a diligent and successful farmer - he considered it his profession. Having become the president, Washington refused a salary. But the Congress asked him not to do this, so as not to create a precedent, because in the future a person with modest means could take this post, and the head of state did not stand out for the official need, he hired a secretary and serving at his own expense.

Watergate’s trace was found in Panamanese documents: with the assistance of Mossack Fonseca, money was washed in offshore with which Nixon's assistants paid with crackers of the headquarters of the Democratic Party

President Clover Cleveland (80–90s of the XIX century) had to answer telephone calls himself, and President William Howard Taft (the second decade of the XX) kept a milking cow in the White House as an help on the household. The suburban residence of the Camp David appeared with the US President in 1943 and to this day remains the only one. Dwight Eisenhower became the first president to receive a pension from the state in 1961. I recall Jimmy Carter, leaving the White House with meager belongings - two Indian pots and the Bible. Prior to the election of the president, he owned an arachy farm in Georgia, which he inherited from his father. Having occupied a high post, Carter gave a profitable family enterprise to trust management. The managers completely ravaged him, instead of income, Carter got a million dollars of debt. Well, he didn’t have any Rotenbergs or Ramon Fonseca at hand! To pay off creditors, the former president began to write books. Bill and Hillary Clintons, ashamed to say, did not have their own housing - from the last treasury apartment, the White House, they would just have nowhere to go on if it weren’t for a friend who bought them a house. The former US presidents were not provided and not provided to the former state departments.

There were large corruption scandals in the USA. The largest is considered to be adopted during the presidency of Warren Harding , chosen in 1921. Members of his office transferred oil lands in federal property to private hands. The president did not live before the investigation. The sudden death of a blooming 58-year-old man gave rise to rumors about his poisoning by the same gang that was acquired in the corruption scheme. His successor Kalvin Culidge without hesitation put on trial of officials involved in illegal transactions.

The founding fathers were not seduced regarding human nature. “If the angels ruled people,” wrote James Madison, “in no supervision of the government - external or internal - there would be no need.” Ultimately, the main guarantee from abuse of power is its immutable change. It happens that early, as happened in 1974 with Richard Nixon, who tried to establish a secret wiretapping behind their political opponents. By the way, Watergate’s trace was discovered in Panama documents: with the assistance of Mossack Fonseca, money was washed in offshore, which Nixon’s assistants paid with the crackers of the democratic party headquarters.

Vladimir Abarinov - Washington Observer Radio Liberty

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