THE LAND OF PHOTO-OPPORTUNITY: Escape from Scrutiny

By Diane M. Grassi

Whoever said that the land of opportunity was reserved for the little people looking for a piece of the proverbial pie? In this land of ours the pie now extends to a multi-tiered layer cake for the powerful, the rich and the politically connected, including those who have fallen from grace. They remain in the spotlight infinitely by way of becoming an entity unto themselves through the ever-present media spotlight, and thus are subject to less scrutiny.

And some of them cannot help themselves either, to wit former President Bill Clinton. Word came out last week that Marc Rich - pardoned by President Clinton in the last days of his presidency causing much controversy- was allegedly rumored to have been a beneficiary of the U.N.’s Oil for Food Program scandal. We have also learned in the past few weeks that Denise Rich, Marc Rich’ wife, was the predominant fundraiser for as well as a major contributor to the Clinton Memorial Library. And this week she made the society pages by purchasing her new $14 million yacht.

Meanwhile, while all this is going on, Bill Clinton could not resist this past week from crashing the party at the Westchester County Medical Center in Westchester County, New York where he received his initial treatment and advice for his heart by-pass surgery earlier in the year. The medical center was opening a new wing of its hospital dedicated to cardiac surgery and the board figured it would give them better press coverage if the former president was there. And given his Achilles heel for posing for cameras and mucking it up with the little people, it worked out great. And the best part is that he took the spotlight off of the Marc Rich fiasco.

As they say, the best defense is a strong offense. And none other than Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has taken advantage of the movie reels several times this past year, as he defended the Defense Department’s arguably failed leadership, craftily parsing his words and leaving his own self out of the equation in doing so.

After the Abu Ghraib disgrace Rumsfeld made an unpublicized trip to meet and greet troops, and an unexpected trip at Thanksgiving when word was beginning to surface that supply trucks were not escorted by proper security for unarmored vehicles. Later it became confirmed that the Secretary did not even know the status of armor production at a recent press conference before the troops, or that a third of the vehicles namely supply trucks were unarmored.

And finally this week on Christmas Eve, Rumsfeld made an impromptu trip to Tikrit, Iraq and various other locations there again, days after the blast in the mess tent in Mosul, Iraq which killed 14 American soldiers and critically injured 22. Hand shaking and diatribe in tow accompanied the ever-rolling cameras. (No less than six Iraqi suspects are presently being investigated in an effort to learn how base security was pierced.)

Never one known for shying away from the cameras herself, fabricated altruist Martha Stewart has taken on a new mission. As the homemaking diva went to federal prison this past October, with an ample supply of arrogance in tow, she has now shifted her focus. Aside from illicitly conducting a TV show deal, and selling $8 million of her own stock while behind prison walls, she has now decided to take stock of how money cooks are too many in the Alderson Prison’s kitchen; meaning she does not like the food.

Although now photo-op challenged from federal prison, it has not stopped Martha from appearing in the press. As quoted on Stewart’s personal website on December 23, 2004 (which is also a violation of her incarceration as she is not to be communicating with the public or have access directly or indirectly to an internet connected computer) Stewart said, “When one is incarcerated with 1,200 other inmates, it is hard to be selfish at Christmas.” Could this be a self-effacing admission by Stewart herself? Who says one cannot be rehabilitated in prison, after all?

But keep those cameras rolling, folks! At this rate we will eventually never need the courts or legislative hearings again! Decisions will be made in the court of public opinion and the reality show as we now know it will eventually morph into our own daily reality. And the people with the money and power will no longer be held accountable, as they can always go to the videotape to reinvent themselves.

Happy New Year!