I recently came across a video of a Bush lobbyist, Stephen Payne, who tells a person that a donation of a hefty amount of money to Bush’s Library private library can guarantee a meeting with Rice, Cheney and even Bush himself.

“I think that the family, children, whatever [of Akayev], should probably look at making a contribution to the Bush library. It would be like, maybe a couple of hundred thousand dollars, or something like that, not a huge amount but enough to show that they’re serious.” (source)

The story gets more interesting when we find out that the person who needs that publicity is Kirghistan’s past president Askar Akayev, who basically wants to use the opportunity as a PR service. It becomes more than apparent from that video, that the representatives from the White House are ready to say “positive statements” in order to give him a shot at the presidency:

“I think the main thing is that he [Akayev] comes, and he’s well received, that he meets with high-level people in the administration and most importantly we send positive statements made back from the administration about ‘This guy wasn’t such a bad guy’, [and] ‘Many people have done worse.’ Those kind of statements from a couple of people in the administration.”

You can see the video here. So, I think that we need a list of requirements for the people who are interested in the many services that the White House provides. This is going to save a lot of time for them, but they can thank me later.

1. You have to be a president who was overthrown by a people’s revolt.

2. You have to be in exile, so people can forget how your government killed six demonstrators.

3. You have to know powerful lobbyists like Payne who have sucked up to people in each of the seven continents and know how to get the job done.

4. The ideal time to use the services of the White House is when money is needed to build a library which will preserve the “legacy” of Bush. (by the way, isn’t it ironic that there is a library carring his name).

5. You have to arrange the details in a trendy hotel in London, while a bunch of grandmas are sipping on their tea.

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