The Peddler

A news item crossed my desk yesterday. A deputy's driver had gotten involved in smuggling cigarettes across the border under the pretext of taking the vehicle in for maintenance. 

At first, I didn't quite believe it.

However, after reading the deputy's official statement, I was stunned.

How is it possible for such fraudsters to nestle themselves alongside a high-ranking deputy?

I went online and found the deputy's phone number on the parliament's website. I called.

Their advisor answered. 

I asked for the deputy's number, but they wouldn't give it to me.

I called another deputy I know.

They didn't answer the phone either.

I called the provincial chair of the deputy's province.

They told me to call back later, saying they were entertaining their child at the park.

This is the second serious incident since the Nizip affair.

The founding party, which has already gone through difficult times with tape scandals, keeps blowing a tire every now and then just as it seems to be recovering.

We certainly understand the pragmatism that dictates these tires. The polarization of the political environment into two fronts can cause conditions to manifest in unfavorable ways.

While the philosophy of the "winnable candidate" over quality ties everyone's hands, reducing the work down to peddling feels like far too much pragmatism.