U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder knows a lot of important people. In particular, he knows a lot of successful African-Americans, starting with his ob-gyn wife, Sharon Malone. Together the couple has an impressive set of friends with enough lofty credentials and titles to fill up a few boardrooms. To name a few: Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick; Sutherland Asbill & Brennan trial attorney William "Billy" Martin; former U.S. Department of Labor secretary Alexis Herman; and Antoinette Bush, a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, whose stepfather is another of Holder's friends: Vernon Jordan Jr., former adviser to President Bill Clinton and now senior counsel at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. "All black people that finish college know one another," jokes Jordan.
Given Holder's social circle, it was perhaps inevitable that soon after Barack Obama became the lone African-American in the U.S. Senate, they would meet. In 2004 Holder was invited to a small dinner party hosted by Ann Walker Marchant, a niece of Vernon Jordan and a former Clinton administration White House aide. The gathering was planned to welcome Obama to Washington. Obama and Holder, seated next to one another, found that they had a lot in common. The two men, both tall and thin, each had immigrant fathers, went to Ivy Leagues schools (both attended Columbia College as undergraduates), played basketball, and, of course, believed passionately in public service. "We just clicked," says Holder matter-of-factly.
http://connect.in.com/vernon-jordan/connections-279425-1.html
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I used to work for Elliott Mincberg, Esq. at Hogan & Hartson. Elliott Mincberg now works for Congressman John Conyers on the House Judiciary Committee. John Conyers is connected to Vernon Jordan. Small world!
Vitamin P?
Israel, many argue, was built upon the premise of what we call in Nigeria "man know man": Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours back. In short, the act of granting favours and preferential treatment to either (1) people whom one knows personally - by blood, marriage, friendship or other, less immediately tangible connections or (2) People in a position to reciprocate the favour in due course, in short providing a reason to tilt a decision in one's favour.
Some call it nepotism; others, less kindly, describe it rank corruption. Everyone, apparently, refers to it as Protekzia or Vitamin P.
Why is it so prevalent in Israel? Who knows. My guess is that, given the heavily centralised organs of state pre and post independence, combined with a natural (?) dichotomy between the participants in successive waves of Aliyah and the differing "ethnic" origins of each wave, this was pretty much inevitable. You know: The Russians viewed the Poles with suspicion. The Poles thought the Yekkes, with their ties and jackets in the noon-day sun, insane. The pre-1939ers felt a combination of pity and condescension to the post 1945ers. And as for the post-1948ers from North Africa and elsewhere in the Middle East...
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