Whether It's Bribery in Mexico or Or Posing With A Dead Suicide Bomber, Let's All Bow To Political Correctness

American troops posing with a dead suicide bomber is the story that broke first, so let's begin there.  Shock.  Oh, the sight of it!  (Actually the press was pretty good in suppressing the picture.)  Oh, the horror!

Give me a break.  Some Islamist soldier of God wants to go to heaven and take with him as many American troops, not to mention women, children, and other civilians, as he can, and our  troops are supposed to show respect to what's left over after he sets off the explosives strapped to his waist?

Look, I respects the remains of the dead; to a point.  If someone dies in battle, his or her body is not to be defecated on, or urinated on.  Nor, should we do that to the remains of a suicide bomber.  However, I see nothing wrong with photographing a suicide bomber's remains and giving the image the widest possible circulation (as long as it can be kept from children).  A suicide bomber's remains deserve no respect.  Let other would-be suicide bombers see what their decapitated remains will look like after they release their murderous explosives.  Maybe it will give them pause.

I've heard tell that Muslims proclaim that suicide bombers are behaving in an unIslamic way.  Good.  They then should have no problem having everyone see what a suicide bomber looks like after he takes the lives of others.

But, that point of view is apparently politically incorrect.


The next story deals with Wal-Mart and their bribery of Mexican bureaucrats and other officials up and down the line.  I read the story in the NY Times (and a lengthy and well written story it was).  But, it aimed its guns at the wrong target.

Why is it that large, international companies act in compliance with all of our country's laws and regulations, but get in trouble overseas?  Wal-Mart is a retailer, but it also happens in the oil business, in the aviation business, and in the selling of military supplies, to mention but a few of the many businesses that find themselves having to deal with corrupt officials.  It's not that America doesn't have any corrupt officials.  It seems that it's endemic to all bureaucratic structures.  But, in America we don't accept it as a normal way of doing business.  When it happens, we do our best to ferret it out.  The key to keeping a government clean is to elect clean citizens to high office and then trust that they will do all possible to keep their departments clean.

But how can you do business globally, if grease is the only way to make any progress?  Here the options seem to be greasing palms or watching competitors from other countries with greater sensitivity to local business practices rob you of your market.

But, of course, this too is politically incorrect.   We want to change the world.  In the process, we shoot ourselves in both feet.