Further to DougJ’s discussion of how the rich are different (or at least differently motivated), comes a NYTimes story averring that “Some See a Cash Motive in Duvalier’s Return“:
Though Mr. Duvalier has long been accused of looting $300 million from Haiti before fleeing nearly 25 years ago, his lawyers and friends have said that much of his money was squandered on a lavish lifestyle of jewelry, chateaus, fancy cars and a very expensive divorce from his ex-wife…
__
But about $6 million still sits frozen in an account in Switzerland, and Mr. Duvalier has publicly vowed to make every effort to get it. Haitian officials, human rights advocates and political analysts believe that Mr. Duvalier came back to the country last weekend for the sole purpose of making an end run around a new law that will make it harder for him to do that.
__
“This was a gamble, plain and simple,” said an analyst, who asked not to be identified because he was close to the Haitian government and was not authorized to speak publicly. “He gambled because his money is low and his health is failing, so what did he have to lose?”
__
The strategy has backfired. In a striking scene, Mr. Duvalier was taken out of his hotel by heavily armed police officers on Tuesday and formally charged with corruption and embezzlement during his nearly 15-year rule…
Further explanation at the link, in what looks to be actual journalism. You’d think $300 million would be enough to ensure a pretty good lifestyle for at least the average lifespan, but I’m told people who think like that seldom get to run the experiment.
MikeJ
Having that much money just proves that he’s more productive and a better person than us.
Ash Can
He’s Ayn’s kinda guy.
David Fud
Wish I could have watched him get stupider during his lifetime of squandering $300,000,000.
He certainly got a lot stupider lately by coming back to the scene of the crime.
morzer
Damn, that guy must be stupid. Surely he would have qualified for a gig at Cato or Reason?
Bulworth
And as Haiti’s former Galtian overlord, I am sure he’s fully entitled to it.
geg6
@morzer:
Heh. Indeedy.
Xenocrates
There really ought to be a law against idiot children inheriting their father’s dictatorships. You’re next, DPRK!
catclub
OT: How long has Eschaton’s Web site said that Duncan Black is 38? It seems like he has been there for more than two years.
morzer
@catclub:
Shhhh.. remember:
“That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.”
The entity you know as Duncan Black is much much older than you suppose.
Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen
The fact that he wasn’t shot on sight is a testament to the restraint of the Haitian people.
Uloborus
I would like to note that this man made way more money than Sarah Painin’, yet now is broke because he spent it all. And he is WAY smarter than The Indoorswoman. I’m strongly hoping that my sense of justice will be gratified as she runs through every cent she’s made in short order – probably gets fleeced out of a lot of it by ‘friends’ – as soon as her gravy train ends.
morzer
@Uloborus:
I suspect Todd will make a snow-machine escape into the tundra with the cash, while Sister Sarah howls and rages at the heavens/God/Obama/Tina Fey/The Great Pumpkin.
Ija
How do you squander 300 millions in 25 years? That is one impressive spending spree.
Tokyokie
Well, he did lose a lot of it in a divorce. Which goes to show you, if you steal $300 million from a third-world country, don’t flee to a jurisdiction with community-property rules.
catclub
@Ija: I blew a fortune on liquor, fast cars, and fast women. The rest I wasted.
I believe it is from George Best.
morzer
I wonder how long it will be before Sally Quinn and David Brooks turn out columns about Baby Doc’s primal scent, his fine table manners, his perfect selection of china,his intellectual interests, his purchase of ponies for their children, and the consequent utter unreasonableness of allowing him to be abused like this by a notoriously corrupt country?
elm
@Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen: Or an urgent shortage of bullets.
scarshapedstar
Okay, can someone explain C.R.E.A.M.for me? It’s not in the lexicon and all I can think of is that Prince song.
Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen
@Ija: Or 250 years. Or 2500 years.
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)
@scarshapedstar: Cash Rules Everything Around Me. Wu Tang Clan.
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)
Watching the news about Duvalier’s return on BBC America, what struck me was that there were still people supporting him, and ready to attack the police for hauling him before a judge. Not a lot of people but sheesh. He and his girlfriend looked fat and well-fed. I hope his assets stay frozen and he spends many years in a Haitian jail, but his arrival complicates things politically, which is just what he wanted. Narcissistic asshole. And is there a more ineffectual president than Rene Preval? I miss Aristide already.
Dollared
but I’m told people who think like that seldom get to run the experiment.
Linkmeister
@Dollared: Amen. That was a really well-turned phrase; I opened the comment box just to say so.
Brachiator
It’s too bad that the NY Times article does not link to background stories on Haiti or Baby Doc, since a reminder might be illuminating. I He of course, did not make any money, but stole it. And it is baffling to even imagine how this little bug (or petit cretin, I should say) could have amassed a fortune of $300 million from one of the poorest countries on Earth. Some background:
This is a shining example of the despicable ways in which oligarchy works: Haiti is desperately poor, and yet a small sliver of connected people find a way to live well.
And it is wild to suggest that Duvalier is smarter than La Palin. As a young man, people thought he was mentally disabled, and he still exhibits all the signs of being a pathetic dimwit. He does not return to Haiti in a last chance at returning to power, but to see if he can find a way to snatch a few more crumbs off the table, like a child who can barely take care of himself looking to see what someone left that he might be able to eat.
And note that his return to Haiti occurs with the aftermath of the terrible earthquakes there as background and context.
And a few words about his former wife, Michele Bennet, the former brains behind the operation. Their 1980 wedding cost over $3 million and there is a story told that Madame Duvalier once went on a one week shopping spree in Paris and spent $168,780 on clothes and $270,200 on jewelry. She had the nerve to tell Barbara Walters, “I don’t believe the money was badly spent,” according to the anecdote.
These are truly despicable people.
By the way, I would urge anyone interested in Haiti to check out the wonderful documentary, The Agronomist, directed by Jonathan Demme, about the life of Jean Leopold Dominique who hosted Radio Haiti-Inter, Haiti’s first independent radio station.
pandera
“You’d think $300 million would be enough to ensure a pretty good lifestyle for at least the average lifespan, but I’m told people who think like that seldom get to run the experiment.”
Killer. You can now die knowing that you have written the perfect sentence. I’m jealous.