If This Guy Turned You Down...

Another busy day here on the farm, but I can't complain too much...

But, onto the post--once again, courtesy of Ben, this obit for Edward "Von" Kloberg (Kloberg added the "von" to make him more europeanish, I guess)...

Geez, if sleeze counted for a nickel, this guy was a millionaire. Kloberg lobbied in DC for some of the worst humans to walk the planet in modern times:

A legend of sorts in public relations circles, he counted as clients Saddam Hussein of Iraq; Samuel K. Doe of Liberia; Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania; the military regime in Burma; Guatemalan businessmen who supported the country's murderous, military-backed government; Mobutu Sese Seko of the former Zaire; and, in a figurative coup of his own, the man who overthrew Mobutu and renamed the country the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Von Kloberg embraced the slogan "shame is for sissies" as well as an unabashedly Edwardian style of living. He arrived at balls and galas wearing black capes, and he traveled with steamer trunks. He added the "von" to his name because he thought it sounded distinguished.

In a life full of flamboyance, his end followed form: The District resident, 63, leapt to his death Sunday from "a castle in Rome," a State Department spokeswoman said. Von Kloberg's sister said a lengthy note was found on the body, and U.S. Embassy officials in Rome told her that he committed suicide.

Apparently the leap was due in good measure to severe health problems--I guess, in public relations terms, you could call it a preemptive strike. So, good riddance.

In the early 90's Spy magazine did a send up on Kloberg, assigning a writer to approach him with the aim of improving the image of a "client" who was pro-Nazi. I vaguely recall reading the resulting article, as Spy was on my list back then.

And, this actually made me laugh--Kloberg apparently had some standards:

He said he once turned down work for Somali warlord Mohamed Farah Aideed, who offered $1 million shortly before he was shot to death in 1996. Von Kloberg said there was no potential for "turning around" that country.

Honor among thieves...