Shit, piss, and corruption

This is what happens when you allow national security to become hostage to the greed of corporations.

Exhibit A: David H. Brooks, founder of unfortunately-named body armor manufacturer Point Blank Solutions. No, this isn't the nimrod who writes for the New York Times, alas. This guy is worse:

America's most ostentatious war profiteer is no longer a free man. In a long-anticipated move, FBI agents arrested bulletproof vest maker David H. Brooks in his Manhattan apartment at dawn on Thursday. In the tradition of Al Capone, Brooks was nabbed on allegations of financial shenanigans, despite strong suspicions that the defense contractor has much more serious crimes on his hands.

Brooks emerged as the poster boy for shameless war profiteering in November of 2005 when he blew some $10 million in profits from military contracts on a celebrity-studded party for his daughter. Leaked details of the bash drew national attention, including a description of Brooks' pink suede suit and photos of his daughter on stage with the rapper 50 Cent. A New York Times editorial compared Brooks to the ill-fated Marie Antoinette.

And indeed, while Brooks won't face a guillotine for his greed, he could spend up to 70 years in prison if convicted of all charges. The 71-page indictment (PDF) alleges that while Brooks was chief executive of DHB Industries, a leading provider of military body armor, he pocketed more than $185 million from insider trading, fraud and tax evasion. He is also charged with using millions of dollars in DHB funds for personal expenses.

A sampling of the charges authorities say Brooks concealed from shareholders and the IRS:

• $7,900 for a facelift for Brooks' wife
• more than $1 million for expenses related to his 100 trotting and breeding horses
• $101,190 for a belt buckle studded with diamonds, rubies and sapphires
• $101,500 for an armored vehicle for his family's use
• more than $1 million for numerous family vacations, including frequent stays at the Bellagio in Las Vegas and various Caribbean and European villas
• $31,802 to transport one of his daughters and her college friends to Halloween parties in Madison, Wisconsin, using a private jet
• hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonus checks drawn on a DHB bank account handed out by Brooks at a company Christmas party to non-DHB personnel, including his horse trainer
• and of course the predictable $10,000 here, $5,000 there for purchases at Luis Vuitton, Gucci, Gianni Versace, and Prada boutiques around the world

What makes Brooks' greed particularly obscene is that the bullet-proof vests that boosted his fortunes in the first place turned out to be not so bulletproof after all. In May 2005, the U.S. Marines recalled more than 5,000 DHB armored vests after they failed ballistics tests for stopping 9 mm bullets.

There's a special place in hell for guys who not only embezzle money but embezzle money made by providing faulty products to the U.S. military; products that put the lives of American soldiers at risk.

And speaking of putting the lives of American soldiers at risk, Exhibit B is our good friend Blackwater:

Federal agents are investigating allegations that the Blackwater USA security firm illegally exported dozens of firearms sound suppressors — commonly known as silencers — to Iraq and other countries for use by company operatives, sources close to the investigation tell NBC News.

Investigators from various federal agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the State Department and the Commerce Department, are digging into the allegations that the company exported the silencers without getting necessary export approval, according to law enforcement sources, who spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity. The sources said the investigation is part of a broader examination of potential firearms and export violations.

Coincidentally, the company’s main responsibility in Iraq is protecting officials of the State Department, the agency that regulates exports of arms. The firm had more than $500 million in federal contracts in 2006.

Every time I see numbers like this I think of Michelle Malkin stalking the Frost family of Bethesda, Maryland looking for evidence that their children don't deserve help with their health care. And I wonder what the fuck kind of country we live in where we're sniffing around the parents of two brain-damaged children and we don't give a rat's ass about the mind-boggling sums of our taxpayer cash being shoveled into the pockets of the most corrupt companies in the country.