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You've got to give Samak Sundaravej a big hand for having the guts to utilise the most ancient political time-buying tactic in the most complex of political situations. Like master, like nominee: when in trouble, spend (with taxpayers' cash) your way out of it.

I'm not saying that the economic relief package announced yesterday is bad. In fact, I have begun to wonder if we would be better off if this whole long-standing infamy drags on forever. Who knows? Apart from free bus and train rides and dirt-cheap water and electricity charges, the next besieged government could introduce nationwide free Internet access, and the one after next might have free viagra on offer.

It's time for politics to pay us back. It has caused us mental and physical suffering (When Samak uttered that word "Sat Narok" - "creatures from hell" - on TV, a friend of mine dropped a glass that broke his toe), so cheaper petrol is the least we deserve. Our endurance warrants something more substantial, like dissolution of the Revenue Department, which is totally inefficient anyway.

I have been critical of "populism" before, but this might be the time to jump on the bandwagon. With things collapsing economically around us, I have come to realise that morals can be a hindrance. It's horses for courses now, and we should measure men for their financial shrewdness - because morals not only cannot put food on the table, but sometimes they even take food away from it.

Let Samak bribe us until he is unable to, then we can jump to a new "host". All we need to do is keep the People's Alliance for Democracy well oiled when the Thaksin camp is in power, and facilitate actions of the Nor Por Kor movement when the other side takes political control.  

The idea is to keep the crisis simmering. Don't frown; it's now approaching half a decade of us constantly doubting the government's legitimacy, kept on edge over coup fears, and making business plans in accordance with who's in power. Let's turn it around to our advantage. Instead of letting them hold us hostage, let's hold them to ransom.

Will a trouble-free government, not chased around the clock by everyone from street protesters to senators to militant media to independent investigators, come up with such a generous economic relief package worth Bt46 billion? We don't know but we shouldn't try to find out. Trust me, the more they have to hide, the more they pamper you.

And we can raise our prices. Bt46 billion for six months, as in the current package, surely needs to be adjusted if Samak really wants to amend the Constitution. I for one am hell-bent on joining what promises to be the PAD's fiercest rally against such an attempt, but not for the charter's sake. I will be there to make sure he doesn't have it too easy and forget to increase our incentives. I'll say upping the present package to Bt100 billion, plus a Bt200-billion private-sector layoff compensation fund would be acceptable.

The trick is - and this is rather delicate - we must be what I may call "morally selective". This concept only works when the politicians in power are plagued by scandals. On one hand, we have to be (or pretend to be) non-negotiable and uncompromising when it comes to corruption in order to push the government to the brink and make ransom payments its only option. On the other hand, to lure them into our trap, we have to turn a blind eye when mega projects are developed or joint communiques signed.  

Let's do it together. Let's bring active citizenship, or participatory politics, or whatever they call it, to a new level. Yes, we can question why politicians hide their shares in secret accounts or why they did not pay taxes, but that's old-style democracy. Cynically thinking, Thaksin's universal healthcare and other welfare programmes might not coincide with the share concealment or excise tax scandals; the groundbreaking political generosities might be direct results of the latter.

If we do it properly, the populist innovations from the powers-that-be will have to keep up to our standards. And one day we could achieve political reform through this abandonment of political morals. Politics, like most preachers say, is all about bargaining and horse-trading. No more "Get out you rotten crooks and charter violating thieves!" It's time for "I know what you did, so tell me what I get."