There is a lot of media coverage these days on the most recent travails of the former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. The issue of cash payments, potential corruption and intrigue always send the media into high gear and whether true or not the reputations of many are hanging by a thread.
Quite honestly, I've never been a fan of Mr. Mulroney, however I do believe he is a very smart man and he wouldn't engage is something so blatantly obvious that has been alleged. I personally believe that Mr. Mulroney did and has tremendous respect for the office of the Prime Minister and would not have engaged is such corrupt behaviour during his term.
The problem here is when one is hood-winked by individuals such as Karlheinz Schreiber, who probably sold his grandmother sometime ago. Almost all his dealings over the years seem to be cast with murkiness and even his latest allegations against Mulroney seem to be little more than a ploy to fight his extradition to Germany for --what else? --fraud, tax evasion, etc.Now having said earlier that Mulroney is a smart man, he must have had a synapse break the day he decided to accept cash payments from Mr. Schreiber. As Dr. Phil would say "What were you thinking!" If somebody is giving you cash, then either they are trying to hide something (for example laundering money) or it is done with a wink, wink, nudge, nudge -- as in you don't have to make this part of your taxable income (Mulroney has indicated he declared these payments and paid tax on them).
So inevitably Mulroney will be tried and convicted in the realm of public opinion because of a significant lapse in judgement. And I mean significant. He made the mistake of trusting an untrustworthy individual and for that he must pay. The downfall of many over the years can be traced to that momentary lapse, that ends up haunting the reputation forever.
In the area of Procurement a lapse in judgement can ruin a career, or potentially even ruin a company, because without a good reputation, inevitably you have nothing.
So I ask Mr. Mulroney and any others out there who are thinking of engaging in what may seem like questionable dealings, with
questionable individuals....If you dance with the Devil, do you really expect him not to lead?
1 comment:
Mulroney accepted $300,000.00 in cash for something and sure, that gives the devil (Karlheinz Schreiber) the 'lead' in any common blackmail scheme to follow up but I have to wonder, how common is it for our Prime Ministers and other politicians to be paid such large sums - in cash - for anything by anyone?
Mulroney is what he is and he seems to have lots of wealthy and influential friends. I expect him to get away with anything short of shooting someone dead while being recorded by a camera and even then, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't slither his way out of that, too and get richer with the inevitable 'harassment' lawsuit.
Sure, people in procurement might have lapses of judgment but if those cases even approached the magnitude of this one, I think their reputations would be about the last thing on their list of concerns.
'Reputation' means something entirely different in jail.
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