Politics in perspective

The citizens of the Russian Federation, the largest remaining republic of an empire that at one point made nuclear holocaust seem inevitable, have seen their country fall from the superpower of the Eastern hemisphere militarily and economically, to a third-world power with a leader whose health is always in question and whose economy has become the butt of jokes from their own people. The fact of the matter is that the people of Russia wish they had the time and the reason to worry about a president who had committed perjury or obstructed justice. It seems these days the ability to focus on such details is a luxury Russia would like to have. Most Russians are just wondering if they'll ever get another pay check.

Corruption and chaos has consumed the region that was once the "guardian of the largest empire humanity has ever known." Indeed, corruption has swallowed Russia to the point where finding a corrupt official or two there is no surprise to U.S. officials.

When the U.S. State Department formulated a report showing conclusive evidence that then Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin was running a corrupt program, Vice President Al Gore returned the folder with an obscenity written on the front. He later indicated he did not want to hear about Chernomyrdin's corruption. He considered the discovery that one of Russia's top officials was corrupt was a waste of time and money.

In other words, the United States needs an investigation to find corruption in Russia's government as much as Russia needs an investigation to find the presence of salt in the Great Salt Lake.

Now to say that the investigations of the independent counsel were a waste of time and money is another topic altogether. I'm just glad that the United States has the ability and a means to create an independent counsel. Russia's government isn't even stable enough to create this counsel. In other words, one should not be fully disappointed if he has athlete's foot on both feet because, frankly, it means he has two feet.

Speaking of bodily ailments, Russia's problems go beyond the confines of the White House - yes, that's what they call it over there as well.

Tuberculosis, that polysyllabic disease you can catch from someone even if you don't date them, has run rampant in Russia. Strains are developing that the guys at the Center for Disease Control have only heard of in tales whose origins rivals those of Paul Bunyan.

Add to this the fact that Murray Feshbach, demographer from Georgetown University, anticipates that the incidence will increase fifty-fold by the turn of the century, ranking TB as the number one killer above cancer and heart disease.

Now, ask yourself, when was the last time you even heard of someone getting tuberculosis in your community?

Now, the problem at this point is confined to Russia's dilapidated prisons. But, if you think that health problems are limited to the dregs of society, think again. Realistically, they're wondering if their current leader will soon be joining former Jordanian leader King Hussein at that great peace conference in the sky.

President Clinton, though not the model of good health, has at least never missed a diplomacy meeting because he was too drunk, as Boris Yeltsin did not too long ago in Ireland.

Your gut reaction is probably that political corruption and character flaws of public officials are endemic world-wide. Your gut reaction is probably right. But, Russia has taken it to a new level and added problems to the mix that the United States will most likely never confront.

Yes, we as citizens of the United States have problems. We have a president who has faced charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Yet, we should count our blessings. For no matter how bad one official may be or how partisan our legislative body may be, we have the infrastructure, the stability and most importantly, a reason to conduct these investigations regardless of their outcome.