flipper:

Wouldn't it be simpler if everyone were simply required to divulge up
front where the money comes from?

They were. That's why they ended up in jail.

Politics seems to consist mainly of promising a wonderful world and
don't bother your pretty head with the details.

Yes, aversion to responsibilities is a form of lazyness.

And, if you are a very high added value (I design and build trivial
embedded systems) "company" with mostly "habitual exporters" (mostly to
perfectly italian ships) customers, you're screwed.

Sounds to me like maybe another argument against FAT.

FAT in the sense of VAT?

Yes, but he was able to run (= collect donations and receive political
endorsements) mostly because of his father. Well, you may say, better
because of a father that was a President than an alcohol smuggler.

Maybe but I don't recall that being an issue and I would have thought
that would have been an 'accusation' if there were much of it.

That's the problem. If even you were not disturbed by this, well, there's
something wrong. Or maybe not.

I watched the hearings on C-SPAN, which simply sticks a camera in the
room. There is no 'commentary' or pinheads 'explaining' what you just
heard for yourself.

I did watch it a couple of times, but, besides the legendary boredom, they
spoke about problems that I did not know and care enough.
But I believe that's an essential service. Even if, without proper
explaination of some non-trivial points it can be "dangerous".

But the disparity between what I watched live and what was 'reported'
made me wonder what country's Congress they were listening to.

They were listening to what their whips ordered.