A friend writes:
"When I heard the news the other day that Benazir Bhutto had been killed, my second or third thought was: which member of the Bhutto family are they going to put in now? Two days later I read a headline: 'Bhutto’s husband, son to lead party.'
"Benazir herself had of course been put in after her father was hanged by the military in 1979. Just as in India when Nehru died they put in his daughter, Indira, and when Indira was killed they put in her son Rajiv, and when he was killed in turn they put in his Italian-born wife, wrapped in a sari. That’s how these Eastern dynasties work. Good thing it’s not like that here in the United States, where you would never have two people from the same family holding or seeking the presidency.
"If Ms. Bhutto had a tragic flaw, it was her lack of thrift. Had she and her husband not squandered the money they stole during her first administration, she would not have been forced to seek power a second time in 1993, and recently for yet a third time. This was a clear case of returning to the cookie jar one too many times. One and a half billion dollars, carefully managed, can be enough for a couple to retire on, even comfortably. With budgeting, avoidance of credit-card debt, and a little common sense, this story might have had quite a different ending."
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