Too true

It is not all that often that this blog finds itself in agreement with Financial Times blogs. But Tobias Buck's Brussels blog does make one very good point.

Mr Buck deals with the Verheugen and his paramour story that we covered ourselves while pointing out certain differences between it and the Paul Wolfowitz one. The main differences had to do with the fact that Mr Verheugen was secretive about the affair, had actually promoted the lady to be his chef du cabinet, is a married man and has not had to resign. Otherwise, it is all the same.

It seems that the story has resurfaced through some new pictures in Bunte magazine, which prompted the European Commission to declare

that the private life of Germany's embattled Commission Vice-President Guenter Verheugen was not comparable with the scandal over former World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz.

Indeed not. As Tobias Buck rightly points out:

In any case, Mr Verheugen has one key advantage over Mr Wolfowitz when it comes to defending his behaviour. For all his sins, the German commissioner had no hand in invading Iraq. Unless anyone comes up with a convincing theory linking Mr Verheugen to the neo-cons in the White House, his survival looks a certainty.

I am assuming this is all ironic and Mr Buck does know that there are no neo-cons in the White House. He does, doesn't he?

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