Although Ahmad Ismail’s racist remarks in Permatang Pauh are a contradiction of National Day’s solidarity message, he is being treated with kid’s glove because a harsher treatment is feared to have effect of alienating support fromUMNO’s main contituency.

Especially at this time when Anwar’s electoral success has cast doubts whether UMNO is losing grip of that support. Without that support there can be no political power, and without political power, the raison de etre of being in politics – to have unfair advantage over the rest without power to make money – is no more.

That is what political coruption is all about: power + patronage (notwithstanding conflict-of-interest and impropriety) = chances to make big money.

In this respect of political corruption Boleh land is not having sole monopoly and franchise. It is rooted in human avarice and propensity to gain unfair advantage to make once in a life time lots of money for financial security of one self and one’s future generation. Most (but not all of course) are susceptible and will succumb to its pull. Corruption like Prostitution is a story as old as mankind.

I dare say – with appropriate realism and cynicism – that many (again not all) of us who criticise corrupt politicians for squandering our rakyat money will have no qualms in associating with and ingratiating politicians if that would enable us to have some of the crony crumbs (even crumbs are in millions!) if given an oportunity. We lament and fret on high moral grounds because we do not have that access and privilege that we secretly covet…….I dare say too that many politicians even in the Pakatan Rakyat camp will be susceptible to political corruption once they are ensconced in power. We can only hope that they will be notch better as compared to present crop of leaders and their rank and file that have been feeding on the public purse for so long, no doubt underpinned by our oil wealth.

The main measuring cast of difference betwen political corruption here and elsewhere especially the more developed nations with strong anti coruption laws and enforcement is the scale – the mark up is not 10, 20 or 30% but hundreds of percent : hence we pay from public coffers “RM5,700 for a car jack worth RM50; RM224 for a set of four screwdrivers costing RM32 in the market”! It is in short blatant, flagrant and excessive, which can only happen in a society in endemic and systemic corruption reeking at the seams…..

In the case of BN Component parties, there is disconnect betwen grassroots members and leaders : the former feel the pressure of principles because their fingers are yet in the pie; the latter has to compromise for the greater good of the godies from fingers already dipped in the pie.

And why so hard to accept reality of changing demand of electorate BN; why the denial syndrome of the implications of 308 “political tsunami” of the March 8 general election and 826 – the second “political tsunami” of the Permatang Puah by-election and why remain political dinosaurs?

They are not political dinosaurs – they know exactly what is happening but there are two vital factors bearing on their denial equation:

The first is that one can’t give up power so easily because contracts conceived and carried out with one’s cronies are still coming onstream by the day, some are just conceived, others are half way, the rest completed but monies have not come in yet, which takes years. There also financial costs already sunk in and need to be recouped.

Secondly the political opponent Pakatan Rakyat and its leader have so far made no promise of amnesty to all who were corrupt if they lost power. Now almost all are corrupt, the difference is degree and scale; it seems to be a “sensible” thing to do under the cultural and political milieu of the last 30 years…..Millions of “rice bowls” might be affected and broken one way or another if there were a change of leadership; thousands more fear of being made accountable for corrupt deeds deemed aceptable under the regime thrusted out of power . Losing the chance to make money is one thing : facing the slammer (jail) in a possible witch hunt by the new administration (which in time to come may well prove no better in acountability and governance) is another!

They will therefore resist at all costs a take over by Pakatan Rakyat – even if by democratic ballot, let alone defections and crossovers of questionable democratic character!

In furtherance of earlier posting, there is but one more distinguishing feature of our political corruption (besieds scale & proportion mentioned) that proves a measuring cast of particular iniquitousness when compared against political corruption occurring universally elsewhere – and that is, ours is perpetutated upon political power built on a sum zero institutionalised preference of one race against the rest.