JUST FOLLOW THE MONEY
The 1976 film All the President’s Men tells the story of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s investigation into the Nixon Whitehouse Watergate scandal. I must admit the whole thing seems rather quaint in light of our current political machinations. Of all the memorable scenes and performances, maybe the most enduring is the phrase, “JUST follow the money”. It’s uttered by Woodward’s shadowy contact who surreptitiously feeds him information in a dimly lit parking garage. This clue, of course, is what leads to the discovery of the whole story. Since being uttered by the actor Hal Holbrook in the film, the phrase has come to engender the principle that if we really want to know what is motivating things, know who is pulling the strings and calling the shots, we need to know who is supplying the money. But there’s another way we can understand this cliché, one that comes not from Hollywood, but from scripture, although it would still make a damn fine movie. Let’s dig in this week and see what we can find.
