Syriana & Charlie Wilson's War
If you haven't seen Syriana; see it. If you haven't seen Charlie Wilson's War; you should see it too. I saw Charlie's War yesterday, and watched Syriana for the umpteenth time again as well. I love movies that try to represent the intricacies and subtleties that define the world around us (particularly US foreign policy).
There's a scene in Syriana where some relatively low level oil exec (Danny Dalton in the movie) is being pulled out on the carpet by the DoJ as the fall guy for a questionable deal done overseas with an Eastern European country. His lawyer just got done explaining the charges against him, and he responds with...
Some trust fund prosecutor, got off-message at Yale, thinks he's gonna run this up the flagpole, make a name for himself, maybe get elected some two-bit, congressman from nowhere, with the result that Russia or China can suddenly start having, at our expense, all the advantages we enjoy here. No, I tell you. No, sir. Corruption charges! Corruption? Corruption is government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulations. That's Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the streets. Corruption is why we win.
So poignant.