Friday, May 26, 2006

My little victory dance

Picture your Grande Enchilada doing a little victory dance in celebration of the Enron verdicts.
I salute the jury. This jury did their homework, and their verdict sends a message not only to the accused, but to every single big cheese corporate executive: we are not morons. You are accountable. You cannot run rampant with impunity.
I'm so happy, glad, full of joy, that at least for now, justice has spoken. And the good news is that experts think that the appeal process is not going to be a piece of cake. Now let's hope that the sentencing reflects the severity of the destruction these two people caused.
I'm not gloating over the destruction of the lives of Skilling and Lay; I am even surprised that there is a tiny space in my heart that pities them for their terrible fall, but after what Enron did to thousands of retirees, shareholders, employees and their families and the entire state of California, they deserve no less. The corporate attitude and psychology of companies trickle down from the top and if you have arrogant bastards at the top, it is felt in every nook and cranny of the place: you get an arrogant bastard company.
For further edification you may want to check out the excellent documentary Enron: the smartest guys in the room. Even if you think that the film may be biased, the cold hard facts of the humongous fraud are hard to dismiss.
Lay and Skilling got the best lawyers money can buy and they may still try to appeal the verdicts, but despite that, to me, this is an example of the American justice system at its best.

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