Office of the Independent Blogger

Kenneth Lay has died. Lay, for those of you living in the White House, is the man who claimed that the frauds he was accused of in the Enron Scandal and Trial were the result of neglect and bumbling accounting instead of unmeasurable dishonesty and active, monstrous greed. Nobody really believes that he was innocent and merely negligent, and most people know that he was a money-loving crook who scammed the public for as long as he could before getting caught. When he did, he took to going on vacations and enjoying old gay outings with his male golfer buddies. An OJ Simpson of the Wallet he was, but nobody on Earth could’ve called him an innocent. There is no Mark Fuhrman in the case of Lay; there is just unequivocal dishonor, and shame.

I’m sad to see that he died before he could be brought to justice for his monstrous actions as the head of Enron. From the White House perspective, it’s a shame that he denied the President the chance to pardon him next year like his father did for Weinberger, Clinton for the Rich, and Reagan for the Watergate burgulars. If you expected Bush to, at a bare minimum, honor Kenny-Boy’s legacy, you’re mistaken, as it’s denying its relationship with the Hussler of Houston. Funny, I thought he was a man who admired loyalty?

I don’t like to talk like this about anyone, but this short-sighted and power hungry man has played a role in the oppression of the impoverished for all of his life, and he helped kick even more people to the financial curb by the time he was done. He was a pervert, and a brutal one, at that. He was the President’s friend, too, and while this White House pretends that he wasn’t, remember that it was his jets flying people into Florida to mob the recount boards, his money that funded Bush’s first campaigns for office, and his lobbying that killed Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill’s attempts to really, truly, make corporations and CEOs accountable for their financial records and the products they put onto the market. The wallop of his wallet destroyed the lives of millions, and that’s really all there is to it.

Browsing about the Internet, I came across this article about English-only laws, and I thought I’d weigh in on the issue. I am a believer that these types of laws should be allowed up to each state. If Pennsylvania wants to make its state English-only, then let them; likewise, I’m proud to see that my state is more lenient toward other languages, primarily Spanish, and is so kind as to provide translators for those that need assistance. It’s a matter of being respectful to others and treating them with dignity. There’s no need for any such law, and it’ll be terrible for something so reactionary and unneeded passes.

It reminds me of the story from Philadelphia a while back, where a sign was put up in a famous restaurant saying, “This is America: when ordering, speaking English!” and warning that management “reserves the right to refuse service.” You know how comically absurd that is? I can imagine a man coming to the counter, looking at the sign, and because he doesn’t speak English continue with his order. “Unas papas fritas con una nievesita y hamburgesa, por favor!” And, maybe I’m just a big old softie, but I can’t imagine it’s very good business to turn away a paying customer over something minor. I don’t think it’s good morality, either, to push a hungry person away when they are hungry and merely trying to get through their day.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 5th, 2006 at 4:38 pm and is filed under Outside Retort (Current Affairs), Righteous indignation.