Film Noir in Washington

Everyone knows the scene. A frenzied assistant rushes into a sumptuously decorated office where a man in Armani sits awaiting the news he already knows. "Sir, sir! It's in all the papers! They know about the money. WE'RE RUINED." Shady workings of a political underworld are brought to light in the headlines of spinning newspapers, angry murmurs fill a courtroom as a gavel swings and the culprit is stripped of his riches in the name of justice.

What's fascinating, however, is when real life puts a twist on this classic drama.

Norman Hsu, sallow-faced with bags under his eyes nearly as deep as his pockets, disappeared this morning right before his court hearing was to take place in Red Wood City . A heavyweight campaign donor, this now-fugitive who was considered a "hillraiser" by the Clinton campaign has been disgraced for multiple cases of illegality in his practices as a fundraiser. Having donated over $600,000 to democrats around the country, his arrest has created an understandable stir. HIs disappearance today echoes his vanishing act back in 1992 when charged with fraud. The details get shadier and shadier as one digs deeper into hsi backstory. Supposedly working in the Hong Kong garment industry during the respite between his first arrest and his reemergence onto the American political scene five years ago, there is little to no trace of his work there. An article in the New York Times states that "an address [Hsu] has given as his office in New York’s garment district seems to be little more than a mail drop, and people who work nearby have said they rarely see him. This guy is ready for the big screen.

Yet the fact that the political world is this theatrical worries me. Perhaps it's naiive to think so but politics--in particular, a Presidential election--should be a creature of fact not affiliation. Attacks have already been made on the recipients of Hsu's cash. Typing Norman Hsu's name into the youtube search and videos pop up screaming "Fugitives for Hilary" and "HILARY'S CHINESE MONEY." In response, candidates have been throwing the hot money at charities, hoping to assuage the possible public outcry. Falseness for falseness.

And it all makes me a little sad.

(For more info, visit http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/democratic_fundraiser;_ylt=ArAXlf8sCBC2KMwHZk26v_jkbeRF)