I haven't been posting much due a a back problem, but now with the help of some stratigically placed steriods, I hoping to get back to what passes as normal.
Kudos for Robert Scheer to helping me break out of my drug induced stuper. I dont' know you, but I owe you one!
On my afterwood walk amoung the bloggy fields, I came across this. It may be old news for all I know, but my pain addled brain doesn't know better. Link are mine. as are the comments.
Robert Scheer, over at
truthdig has this to say, which I've shortend to save precious and few electrons. You can read the full article
here.
Enron Kenny Boy Lay couldn't have fleeced California without Bush help
The Bush family consistently acted to put Enron and its longtime CEO, Ken Lay, into a position to rip off investors and taxpayers. Why are the mass media ignoring that fact now that Lay has been convicted in arguably the most egregious example of white-collar fraud in U.S. history? Until he hooked up with the Bushes, Lay was just
another mid-level energy trader complaining endlessly about being hemmed in by onerous government regulations and those terrible consumer lawyers who prevent free market hustlers from doing their thing. But after he and his company became top supporters of the Bushes -- eventually giving $3 million combined to various Bush electoral campaigns and the Republican Party -- doors opened fothem in a big way.
I'm reminded on Robin Hood right now. While the good King Albert, wrongfully rousted, has gone off to fight for for the glory of home and hearth, some Robber Barrons by the name of Bush have conspired with minor Robbers and Highwaymen to rape and pillage the land all in the name of freedom. To keep the serfs happy, handouts are tossed and troublemakers and sent away with a hardy "fie-on-thee, thou wretched leftist scoundrel!"
In particular, once Bush the father got rid of key energy industry regulations, Lay was a made man and Enron's fortunes soared. This program of corporate welfare led Lay to dub the first President Bush "the energy president" in a column supporting his re-election because "just six months after George Bush became president, he directed ... the development of a new energy strategy," which, in effect, compelled local utility companies to carry Enron electricity on their wires. It was, Lay crowed, "the most ambitious and sweeping energy plan ever proposed." Another huge gift from the first Bush regime came in the form of a ruling by k, head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, that permitted Enron to trade in energy derivatives, making possible the company's exponential growth.
Hmmm..41 does all the work, 43 gets all the credit. If you ask me this presidential legacy appointment thing goes a little to far.
Five weeks after that ruling, Gramm resigned and joined the Enron board of directors, serving on its subsequently much criticized audit committee. Six years later, Gramm's husband, U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, further enabled Enron greed by pushing through additional anti-regulation legislation
After the Enron crash, Bush attempted to distance himself from the "Bush Pioneer" who had sent more than $2 million in Enron funds George W.'s way, as well as supplying him with the Enron company jet on at least eight occasions.
More with pictures and Monty Python singalong is crossposted at
bluecatlair