Re: What sayest thou? -- Lafcadio T. Lion and Strawberry Sage and Friends Fun Forum

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Date Posted: 17:42:14 02/20/02 Wed
Author: Dah Lion with 3 cents worth...
Author Host/IP: qam1b-sif-86.monroeaccess.net / 12.27.214.87
Subject: Re: What sayest thou?
In reply to: Bunnyhunny 's message, "Re: What sayest thou?" on 20:54:17 02/18/02 Mon

I am a fan of O'Reilly, but that does not mean I am in lockstep with him on all his positions. This is yet another of those times.

Let me preface my coments with one very important comment... IF the government can make a successful criminal case against Kenneth Lay and the other apparent corporate sleazes who were at the helm of Enron as it sank into a sea of red ink, then I wholeheartedly support ostracism and shunning of the man and all his henchmen as O'Reilly suggests. There should be no place of refuge in this society for those who would, and do, prey upon their fellow man whether it be with a stocking mask and handgun, burgulary tools, fraudulent schemes to digest taxpayers of their hardearned tax or caritable dollars for venal purposes or corporate ravaging of common folk. They are all thieves and scoundrels in my mind and they need to know that decent, hardworking people reject them and their machinations as being contemptible.

Now, I diverge from the lynch mob mentality that O'Reilly set forth, though it pains me to do so. I have read his book(s) and watch his program. Usually I find him to be right on the money... not so this time.

Mr. Lay did the ONLY intelligent thing he could do, under the circumstances as they now exist. National Democrats went into a feeding frenzy and smelled what they perceived to be blood in the water. They ramrodded Congressional and Senate hearings onto the ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, PBS and even Fox News Hours, hoping, along with their leftist leaning media psychophants, to tar President Bush and others with political asphalt. They ran roughshod over the Constitutional rights of Mr. Lay and others in their efforts. They ignored the consequences and possible sprayback of their shooting from the political hip, most eloquently demonstrated publicly by United States Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D-SC). Hollings stood before a taxpayer provided podium, faced the cameras and waved pieces of paper in the air in a McCarthy-esque way while claiming to have documented "proof" that he still refuses to show anyone. The tactic is fraught with danger for us all... especially the victims of those who manipulated the system to leave those who planned for tomorrow with empty 401(k) accounts. Arthur Anderson, et al, appear to have stolen trust and integrity with the limited information that is available at first blush. But... it IS limited information.

Mr. Lay, and EVERY AMERICAN citizen and resident, is protected from such a type of government heavy handedness by our Constitution. Yes, it angers me greatly to see sleazy operators hide behind the Bill of Rights that are a concomminant part of that document, but I also am reassured by its use, even if I despise the one who uses it so blithely to shelter himself (or herself) from responsibility for what seems to be blatant wrong-doing. I am disposed to suspect his wrongdoing, but I cherish the need for our legal system to PROVE that he did such wrongs. Should we deny those rights to Mr. Lay and his bandits, we steal them from all of us and I am not prepared to pay that price.

Sadly, Kenneth Lay had no legal choice but to refuse to incriminate himself before a Congressional panel intent on headline grabbing rather than curative actions. No matter what he may have said there, there were NONE of the protections available in a legally constituted court of competent jurisdiction for him to call upon. Political hacks of the ilk of Tom Daschle, Bonoirs, Nadler and John Lewis can state anything they wish, unchallenged by legal requirements for accuracy or relevance, in such carnivals of casuality of conscience as we see in myriad sound bites on the idiot box or on the pages of mostly liberal newspapers and news magazines. He did what our Constitution and basic beliefs say he ought to have done. As much as I despise his alleged wrongdoings, I fear the consequences of stripping any citizen of those rights, even in the heat of what appears to be righteous rage.

I wish to see Kenneth Lay and all his henchmen indicted, tried and LEGALLY convicted for their heinous arrogance and crimnal acts. I want to see them incarcerated in squalor for a long time and forced to divest themselves of Mrs. Lay's $13,000 watch, their multiple mansions, luxury vehicles and all the other inappropriately acquired perks of monetary worship with the proceeds of the liquidation of those assets going to the real victims... the investors, the employees who allowed them to pour non-existent, on-paper-only funds into their company-managed (and thereby worthless) 401(k) investment accounts consisting solely of Enron stock. Mrs. Lay is not a "victim" in this case. Neither is her husband or his hirelings, including Arthur Andersen's getaway drivers.

I personally would shun Kenneth Lay and call him a liar and a thief to his face. I would wish to see him prevented from ever holding a position of authority with any firm, anywhere, ever again and being forced to do meaningful menial labor. I long to hear him ask through a distorted fast food speaker, "Would you like fries with that?"

Mrs. Lay has a lot to learn about the "poverty" and financial "destitution" she whiningly proclaims on television while flashing baubles on her wrist that cost more than some poor people make in a year. I pray for her rapid and long term introduction to that educational curriculum. She is a spoiled, pampered, self-centered arrogant blemish on humanity who needs to learn from harsh reality and firsthand experience what the likes of her and her husband have done to others.

Finally, we must confront the reality that they do not bear the guilt alone, by my thinking. For many years now I have felt greatly abandoned in my warnings to fellow citizens about the course our ship of state follows. Enron's sole product was, for the most part, paper profits. They manufactured, mined, developed or created nothing except financial finagalings. Our nation became strong and independent through self sufficiency. Despite this, the lessons of our own nation's history (and that of others, i.e. No Longe Great Britain), we have allowed our nation to become mired in a service based economy. Manufacturing, mining and the production of products no longer drive this nation's financial engine. Greed does. Sloth does. Machinations for money do.

Anyone who has studied economics, and I have, knows that the multiplier effect of a dollar from manufacturing and production is eight times. That means that every such dollar changes hands and creates additional financial health and wealth eight times in the normal course of business transactions. Meanwhile, the multiplier effect of service oriented dollars is only two or three. In the case of Enron and other similar schemes touted by our misguided social liberalists for a generation, it is most likely only one. Only the one who takes those dollars gets the benefit of them. Notice I said "takes" and not "makes." I chose my verb carefully here. Pure avarice, such as appears to have been the case with this mega-monetary monolith, has predictable results.

Our pursuit of monetary air castles is hurting us all. Try to find steel manufactured or processed in America. You can't and have not been able to do so for many years now. Try to find a videotape player/recorder, sound system or television set made in the U. S. A. in any store. You can't because they don't exist any more. We are exporting our destinies and financial well being at our own peril and our citizens are marching in lemming-like lockstep into the sea of second class economic existence behind the Pied Piper daydreams of those whose only allegiance is to self and self enrichment.

After September 11^th many began mouthing self-comforting patriotic drivel while continuing their pursuits of mediocrity for our nation. Patriotism is more than words to an anthem sung at public gatherings. True patriotism calls on each of us to see ourselves as part of a much more significant whole... a people (NOT A PERSON) united in a common purpose, the spiritual, economic and personal well being of our nation.... for all the people who built it for us and those who live here today and will have to do so tomorrow. It is more difficult and less self rewarding to work to find ways to accomplish self enrichment at the same time that we improve, protect and enhance our national needs, but it can be done. I worry that "we the people" no longer wish to invest that kind of effort in our common good. It is much less stressful and difficult to find a way to wealth, power and comfort if the only criteria we apply to our efforts are mostly self serving disregard for national consequences.

I am disgusted by both Democrat and Republican venality in our political power structure. Like Mark Twain and Will Rogers before me, I think they are all scoundrels. Why won't Congress investigate their own individual pecuniary predispositions and let the legal system go after the Kenneth Lays of this world? They need to stop grandstanding for the cameras and get serious about resolving these problems... OUR problems! The only answers I have seen from this debacle so far are as tangible as the so-called campaign reform laws they are trying to sell us currently. Take away the smoke, mirrors and grandstanding and nothing has changed. Should any political creature of any politcal party be legally found and convicted of having acted improperly in exchange for money, power, perks or any reward, he or she should be the one frying the fries for Kenneth Lay and friends.

If we are to shun Kenneth Lay and his family now, Mr. O'Reilly, we ought to include all 535 members of the House and Senate and be honest and fair about it. I don't have to speak with Mr. or Mrs. Lay - luckily for them - until they have had their guilt adjudicated under our legal system, with full attention to all their rights as citizens of this nation. But, neither do I have any right to convict them without granting to them every single right I consider to be sacred to me and all of my fellow citizens. I do have a right to speak with my elected representatives about my thoughts and opinions and I have and will continue to do so so long as I draw a breath.

That's the unspinning of this position from my viewpoint. What do YOU think? I wonder what O'Reilly would think. Is all our "freedoms" (including Mr. Lay's)really that important to you? To him?

They are to me.

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