I'm reminded of an expression I came across in a history book that was supposedly popular in medieval Italy to describe husbands whose wives the Pope had taken a shine to: "blind in one eye, and knows when to wink the other". Back then it was a simple matter of self-preservation, as any fellow objecting to His Holiness getting his hole was likely to end up in the Tiber; nowadays it's the self-serving act of the rich and well-connected.