A political commonplace

[womzilla]

I believe Josh Marshall was the first person to publicly identify the Cheney/Bush governing strategy, in a December 2003 piece for The Hill. When searching for it earlier this evening, I discovered that the piece is now only to be found in Google's cache, so I'm preserving the key point here:

What we're seeing in Washington today has an uncomfortable resemblance to what, in mafia lingo, is called a bust-out.

It goes something like this.

Say you're a gambler and I'm a mobster. I've lent you lots of money. But now you can't cover your debt. I could pursue the matter through your kneecaps or toss you out of an office window, but instead I take a more constructive approach.

You own a shoe store. I take it over your operation, order everything under the sun and fence all the merchandise for as much money as I can get as quickly as I can. I run out every line of credit you have and generally squeeze the place of every dollar I can get out of it. And then when I can't squeeze anymore, I torch the place and collect on the insurance money.

Sure, it's not the most sustainable business model. But I have my money back, and what happens to you is your problem.

Comments

[readwrite.livejournal.com]

"The Sopranos" plotline is in 3 episodes, including one called"Bust-Out," of the 2000 season guest starring Robert Patrick ("Terminator 2") in an excellent role as a degenerate gambler who owns a sporting goods store. It's there and in "Goodfellas" and elsewhere, probably in some Travis McGee novel, because it's for real.

And it really does parallel Bush right on down the line. New Orleans and Iraq would be the bar and sporting goods store...

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure there's a bustout-like scheme described in Joey the Hitman: Autobiography of a Mafia Killer by David Fisher from 1973 (originally entitled Killer). As you say, it shows up repeatedly because it's real.