Benazir Bhutto: One Night in Brentwood

It's not the job of political satirists, I've believed, to pal around with politicians. Only Mort Sahl, in my ken, has been able to do that kind of socializing without trading his teeth for a comfy set of gums. I have met two American presidents, and dozens of legislators, without feeling my emotions tugged at by anything resembling great warmth. Two leaders from elsewhere, however, did trigger something disturbingly close to admiration. One was Jose Ramos Horta, the Nobel Peace Prize winner from East Timor. The other was Benazir Bhutto.

Arianna Huffington invited me to a dinner with Ms. Bhutto in 1998, early in the latter's period of exile. It was at Arianna's home in Brentwood. I can't remember who else was there, because all I do remember was Benazir Bhutto: her intelligence, her wit, and her indisputable charisma. A BBC correspondent today was talking about the long-standing loyalty of those who worked for Ms. Bhutto, and I thought of the person I met that night over dinner at Arianna's, easily capable, it seemed, of inspiring that kind of dedication. Smart enough, at least, to avoid the tell-tale signs of self-importance--no speaking of herself in the third person or in "historic" terms, but speaking with a passion, an urgency for her country. And asking questions, the mark of a savvy politician, wanting to know more about the people she was dining with as we wanted to know more about her tumultuous career.

Yes, she was campaigning, in the sense of a long campaign for her reputation and her country.; every bit as much as Ramos Horta was, when I met him on a television show in Australia, campaigning for the final completion of his tortured country's independence. No political figure in a social situation is ever fully at ease, fully off message.

Were the corruption charges against Ms. Bhutto true? They were never proved, and, as conveniently as they appeared, they were dropped when she began her minuet of negotiations with General-President Musharraf for her return home.

All I know is that the words pouring out in too-late encomia today are the words that occurred to me on the drive home from Brentwood, and that I found myself, in subsequent years, measuring the downward slide of Pakistan into military dictatorship and extremism against the Pakistan that Ms. Bhutto still, through her last moments today, so urgently imagined.

UPDATE: And, in response to those commenters who've recycled the corruption allegations against Ms. Bhutto, try this:
And this.
Have we traded a democrat with a corruption problem in her family for a military dictator with a corruption problem in his office?
Read more reactions from HuffPost bloggers on Benazir Bhutto's assassination

Comments

[Chip1222]

I like the way you make this sound like just another dinner party, while conveying its importance. Glad you had the experience and shared it. Happy New Year, Harry.

[plutorage]

It is really sad to see Pakistan descend into extreme fundamentalism. The fault lies with Zia who executed Benazir Bhutto's dad. The right wing cons liked a military man like Zia with a fundamentalist religious agenda because it made it possible for the military to enroll the islamic public (including Afghani Taliban)in the fight against communism. Pakistan was on the front line of Washington's post WWII "containment" policy.

However, I really wanted to address "corruption" in Pakistan. In Pakistan when a government employee is asked his salary he states his salary from the government, a nominal sum, and then the amount he receives as payment directly from the public for the various services he offers as a bureaucrat. We would call them bribes but in Pakistan an appointment in the civil service often means the right to exact payment (bribes???) from the public for stamps, signatures, permits, etc.

In short, when you read that somebody was charged with corruption in Pakistan, just think to yourself: I wonder what the real offence was??

[thedudeabides]

mr. shearer-i am sure ms. bhutto was charming and witty, to say nothing of her intellect, as evidenced by her oxford and harvard pedigree, but she was taking a mortal risk returning to pakistan at this or any future juncture...that country has changed and has fallen into the grip of wahhabism, as surely as any islamist location could have...so in a tragic way, she returned with the awareness, if not the expectation of martyrdom...

[Arissa]

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari just said, in his maiden speech as PPP chairman, an hour ago, that his mother told him, "Democracy is the best revenge." I think that pretty much sums up Benazir Bhutto's legacy.

[mamacat]

Why is it that everything this administration does seems to have the opposite effect of what a rational person might conclude should be done?
They seek to protect "democracy" by supporting dictatorships all over the world.
They say they can increase government revenue by decreasing government revenue (cutting taxes to increase taxes?).
They let Osama escape when they had him surrounded, then invade a third world country that was no threat to anyone.
The list is a mile long. So, when did the inmates of the insane asylum get control of the White House?

[eggcream]

I will always think of Benazir Bhutto as the modern day Gandhi. Thank you for trying to make this world a better place. RIP kind lady.
Peace to you and yours....

[Garvagh]

I'm sorry I missed that dinner!

[MagisterLudi]

If one reads Marxist theory of history (and old Karl was right about many things) Marx proposes a concept of dialectically inevitability of history: from slavery to feudalism to early capitalism and advance capitalism, socialism etc.... He argues that a society must necessarily advance in a sequential order, i.e. a feudal society cannot suddenly jump to socialism.

Similarly, an Islamic government can't make a giant leap from well, Islamic government to Western style democracy without going thru' some version of Reformation and/or Enlightenment in between.

So far, only Atta Turk's Turkey managed it and even they're backsliding now.

Butto had as much chance to bring democracy to Pakistan as Che Guevara could bring socialism to USA.
In American cultural narrative there's powerful idea/illusion of solitary Jungian/Promethean hero bringing liberty and/or salvation from above. But this just that, an illusion.

Without developed secular institutions, under the gun (literally) from all kinds of Islamic wackos and under pressure to impose strict relious controls from the mainstream religious leaders, Bhutto's was a brave and desperate gamble. Was it done for democracy or personal power we will never know now.
She made some mistakes.
For whatever reason she failed to live up to the bargain she made with Musharraf (or the other way around, I don't presume to know for certain).
And with all the radicals gunning for her hide,
this left her with more liabilities than she could handle. Too bad.
She certainly had the courage to stick it to the Man (Men), as it were.

[lisakaz]

I've always thought she was personally capable. The things that bothered me largely involved what was published in an op-ed by a relative of Bhutto's who spoke of politically-related killings that involved Bhutto's party. Seems there's a lot of strongarmed behavior and few have clean hands. Whether Ms. Bhutto would have furthered democracy or not, Pakistan lost a force for stabilizing its country in the long run and I feel we have a mis-administration very ill-equipped to respond and indeed by distracting itself with its adventurism in Iraq vs. taking on Al Qaeda in Afghanistan/Pakistan, I think Bu$h, one way or another, bears some indirect responsibility for Ms. Bhutto's death. We'll see. Blaming Al Qaeda might be a mere convenience. Or not.

[antispin]

Compare Hillary's statement:

Hillary Clinton:
"I am profoundly saddened and outraged by the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, a leader of tremendous political and personal courage. I came to know Mrs. Bhutto over many years, during her tenures as Prime Minister and during her years in exile. Mrs. Bhutto"s concern for her country, and her family, propelled her to risk her life on behalf of the Pakistani people. She returned to Pakistan to fight for democracy despite threats and previous attempts on her life and now she has made the ultimate sacrifice. Her death is a tragedy for her country and a terrible reminder of the work that remains to bring peace, stability, and hope to regions of the globe too often paralyzed by fear, hatred, and violence.

"Let us pray that her legacy will be a brighter, more hopeful future for the people she loved and the country she served. My family and I extend my condolences and deepest sympathies to the victims and their families and to the people of Pakistan."

with Greg Palast's take:
http://www.gregpalast.com/mrs-clintons-forgotten-fling-with-the-killer-of-karachi/

"While the Clinton"s may have handed us the Lunatic of Lahore, it"s George Bush who leaves mints on his pillow. " -Palast
HARRY RESPONDS: I wish I could give more credibility to Mr. Palast's reporting, but early in the linked dispatch, one of the usual clangers appears:
"the government of Pakistan filed charges against power combine executives and canceled the contracts. That"s the rule under international law: companies can"t collect on contracts they obtained by pay-offs.

But these weren"t just any companies. One was a Tony Blair favorite, Britain"s National Power. The other was Entergy International, a sudden big-time player in the international power market based out of, oddly, Little Rock, Arkansas."
It struck me oddly, because Entergy is well known in New Orleans as the only Fortune 500 company left in town. So I did a little Googling, and here's the link to an SEC filing from 2000:
http://www.secinfo.com/d2Zef.5f89a.htm

[LBA7895]

She was a beautiful human being, on the inside and - yes - also on the outside. Definitely someone I would have wanted to meet.

American Airlines used to ask prospective flight attendants: "If you were on an overnight flight to London, who would you like sitting next to you, so you could talk to them for hours?"

My answer would always have been Benazir Bhutto. I hope she's sitting in the lap of whatever God she worshipped...

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

*

"If man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

-- Martin Luther King

*

[Steve]

UPDATE: "And, in response to those commenters who've recycled the corruption allegations against Ms. Bhutto, try this: [reference]
And this. [reference]
Have we traded a democrat with a corruption problem in her family for a military dictator with a corruption problem in his office?"

Hey, I'm certainly the last one to defend the Musharraf regime and I think you're aware of that, Mr Shearer. If that's not clear then let me state it explicitly -- the Musharraf regime is illegitimate and as corrupt as any on the planet. It is a dangerous and destabilizing influence on the region and isn't even close to pulling its weight in the "war on terror" (whatever that means). Okay?

Perhaps I'm mistaken about the late Ms Bhutto. If so, I'll take my rhetorical lumps and apologize to her memory. Whatever her transgressions, I certainly did not wish violent death or suffering on her, nor do I wish that for anyone. I find today's events to be repugnant in the extreme and completely undeserved.

As for *recycling*, well, I suppose that's in the eye of the beholder. The stories are indeed nearly a decade old but that's when she was in power, so I believe that some relevance pertains.

I find it odd that this is being cast as some sort of binary choice -- either idolize Ms Bhutto or ally oneself with General-President-President-General Musharraf, when it might be that there is a third (or fourth or fifth) alternative outside of the "my way or the highway" position. One can dislike corruption for its own sake.

Now I shall retreat to the safety of the basement and await Mom returning with a fresh bag of Cheetos and a sixpack of Diet Coke.

Oh. Wait. I don't have a basement and I'm afraid Mom's long gone. I guess I'll have to fend for myself, as usual.

[factanonverba]

Harry, come on! Intelligence, wit and charisma? No doubt, she was a scion of one of Pakistan's wealthiest families. These traits hide corruption well.
HARRY RESPONDS: Your points below about dining with Imelda and the Shah are well taken. But I'm amazed at the alacrity with which we apply old-style Progressive (as in 20th-century) critiques of corruption to certain folks, while excluding, just to take an example, the Saud family. It's a nutty old world, and sometimes our choice is between a corrupt democrat and a corrupt autocrat, or worse. Your choice?

[factanonverba]

Great, I had dinner with Imelda Marcos once and with the Shah as well (my mother was a diplomat at the UN, Belgium, Switzerland, Ecuador). And yes those dinners clouded my judgment on both the Philippines and Iran. It is time that we in the West stop getting bamboozled and hoodwinked by those who promise much and deliver little. Ms. Bhutto, when all is said and done, is no different than the Ms. Marcos, a corrupt politician who only curried flavour with her pocketbook.

I don't dispute that this is a crisis, after all, Pakistan is on the verge of civil war but if you think Ms. Bhutto was an answer to the long-term problems of the region, think again. The problem is that Pakistan is an artificial legacy state of colonialism. But for the British, it would have never existed. Iraq is in the same class of legacy artificial colonial entities that need to be allowed to conform to the desires of its components. If you haven't heard about Baluchistan or the Sind, you will soon.

facta non verba
San Francisco, CA