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Kwame Pianim topped the media chart yesterday as his infamous assessment of President John Evans Atta Mills resonated across the political landscape, drawing a lot of flak. What are friends for? That was a cynic�s conclusion after analyzing the import of the economist�s impression about his very good pal, President Mills. If the Pianim rating for Mills is intended to give a much-needed succour or even a political lifeline for a distressed President at this time, he has misfired, missing the bull�s eye by a wide margin. There is no denying the fact that these are choppy moments in the political career of President Mills and he would need a sapper to wade through the political minefield put in place by angry cadres. The Pianim approach has rather thrown the Prof to the sharks, both within the NDC and outside it and placed a legal strain on him. The uselessness of Pianim�s helping hand, if indeed it passes for one, lies in the fact that its legal implication is too complicated to be papered out under the highly-charged political circumstances we find ourselves in today. If indeed President Mills declined a bribe offer, what did he do thereafter? Did he just ask the giver to walk away with a �sin no more� admonition? Mr. Pianim has exposed the underbelly of the man he considers his pal for political marksmen to fire at. Should a President, a lawyer at that, behave the way the Number One Citizen did if Mr. Pianim�s unwarranted remark is to be taken serious? President Mills has been pushed to make a statement on the issue which is set to maintain its number one position on the political chart, with devastating repercussions on his image for some time to come. The law, we are told, is clear about the sore subject of corruption. The giver is as guilty as the taker and the person who is made the offer should not just walk away but take action. Such action is like the responsibility imposed on a citizen to report a crime to the law enforcement agencies when he or she notices one. For the President to witness a crime being committed and just ask the suspect to go away is by all standards an action unworthy of a head of state, more so at a time when the issue of corruption has taken centre stage in the country�s catalogue of woes. Various interventions have come and many are still in the pipeline suggesting the implication of the Pianim corruption assessment of President Mills. We could not agree more with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) position that the President should expose the criminals who have tempted him with bribes. If people have been so emboldened as to walk confidently to the President with bribe in envelopes, then corruption has undoubtedly reached a dizzying height in the country�s political establishment. More worrying is the fact that this has not pricked the conscience of the President to act so far. The development, coming at the heels of the unresolved Mabey & Johnson bribery conundrum, is a major source of concern for all of us. Silence on the part of the President at this stage cannot be helpful. We are waiting for a response.