Grease Monkeys, by Chris Floyd

[The2ndWheel]

http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/12/120.html

One of the grubby little secrets of the Great Potomac Grease Pit -- otherwise known as the U.S. government -- is that the massive amount of bribes given and taken there often has little effect on the final outcome of policy decisions and legislation.

Cynics tend to believe that Washington is overrun with sleazy bagmen prowling the halls of Congress and slithering down White House corridors, proffering baubles, trinkets, sweetmeats and other enticements to plucky public servants, drawing them away from the straight and narrow to do the bidding of rapacious elites. But like so many of the hateful canards issuing from the foul stithy of the liberal imagination these days, this fantasy contains scarcely a shred of truth.