Part of me doesn't believe it. It's far too easy to fake a death.
All that money won't do him no good where he is now, whether that be heaven, hell, or oblivion.
Nice job rocket88. THE CONSPIRACY STARTS NOW.
I bet they put a check for $1,000,000 on each eye.
Seriously, though, I feel for his family. It's got to be rough to lose a loved one and have it all over the press, too.
Think of it this way, taxpayer doesn't have to pay for the guy's incarceration, & we get to piss on his grave a lot sooner.
If you want to think in terms of a conspiracy, I wouldn't go in the direction of him having faked his death so much as who slipped him the poison which caused heart failure and why?
Why? Cos he knew too much.
Anything to avoid prison...
As I Lay Dying? I wouldn't mind drilling holes into his head...
pics or it didn't happen
How it unfolded.
Lay: If you don't get me out of this I will tell them everything.
Cheney: Don't worry Kenny Boy, we will take care of everything!
Lay:!
He was doing cocaine in Aspen awaiting being sent to jail for life and had a heart attack?
pics or it didn't happen
This thread is useless without pics.
Hey! Who threw that?
If that dude's dead, then I'm Elvis. And available for bookings at very reasonable prices.
It got picked up by Reuters, so I'm assuming it's real.
I'm with Chyren on this (sans the wee, though). Additionally, this is a mental health bonus for me, since I won't waste energy being angry when I see his name in the news anymore.
"I won't waste energy being angry when I see his name in the news anymore."
Unless, like me, your body runs on anger.
Oh Chy! I'm sure something just as infuriating will take Ken's place shortly.
It was best for the GOP that he died. I think he took the honourable route.
Well, anyway, if indeed he did have a massive coronary, I hope it really hurt.
he took the honorable route
well there is a first time for everything ;)
If only his (real, faked, swift, painful, whatever) death could fix the mess he and his smart friends inflicted on so many people...
I thought there was no honor among thieves?
Regardless of what he did, he was still a man, still part of life.
.
Yeah. He did bad things, and he'll be remembered for them, but the corpse he leaves is the same as anyone else's.
If you prick him, does he not leak priveleged insider stock information?
and just yesterday I saw "Dick and Jane"; Baader-Meinhof thing again!
Either that, or the conspircy thing. Sixty years from now we will be making a movie about Bush, Lay and Monkeyfilter's influence on world politics.
If only this was the beginning of a trend for unscrupulous CEOs.
I want independent verification of this. Fingerprints, dna, etc.
I see no reason to believe he is dead.
How much property and influence does he have in Aspen?
Ken Lay: Not dead.
And if he is dead, I want his body dumped at 1600 Trannsylvania Avenue.
Seriously, though, I feel for his family. It's got to be rough to lose a loved one and have it all over the press, too.Lay testif[ied] that "there's only so much he could do for the employees."Lay was referring to the fall of 2001, when he encouraged workers to buy more Enron stock while selling off his own. Enron's eventual collapse vaporized $2.1 billion in company pension plans and retirement savings, along with 5,600 jobs and $60 billion in company market value.
Fuck his family. Fuck his family again and again until they have less than $500,000 in assets, property, bank accounts, etc.
I am tired of allowing white collar criminals to enrich their families for generations while Daddy and Mumsy go off to jail.
I apologize for my non-Monkey sense of seriousness at the moment.
Why do bad things happen to bad people?
I had forgotten the whole inheritance thing.
I <3 Monkeyflitter
But not in teh gay way, teh gays are North Korean spies, that's why they want to ruin marriage.
From a comment in the blue:
Lay's death extinguishes the criminal case against him under appeal, preserves his estate against the forfeiture action, and may even create an estoppel argument that plaintiffs in the civil case cannot use his conviction as any evidence in the civil case against him (now, presumably, against his estate).
I want to hear what Bush says about Lay now. Does Lay have a nickname like Brownie did? "Kenny, he was a good man, an honorable man, and we at the White House respect a man who lays down and dies when we ask him to."
Yeah, he had a nickname: "Kenny-boy".
I hate it when a nickname is just variation of a name. A nickname for Edward is not Ed or Eddie or Ward or E or Ted. It is Squirrel or Blacktop or Suntan or Lefty.
Or Pickles.
Turd Blossom, now that's a nickname!
Couldn't have happened to a better guy.
Dear Friends of Jesus:
The passing of Ken Lay grieves us. We do not understand God's ways, and therefore do not know why He has chosen on this day to take Ken "The Layman" Lay from us.
What we do know is that I, as well as Mrs. Robertson, had a significant long position in Enron equities during the early part of this millenium. Like Ken, we "believed". Like Ken, we "dollar cost averaged".
Jesus was not happy with Charles Schwab on the day that the first quarterly investment review statement arrived in the ole 700 Club mailbox following the collapse of Enron. I believe I heard God right when He said to me "That fuckity-fuck-fuck-fuck Ken Lay! What a douchebag!"
And so today, my friends, God has taken Ken Lay from us, and it is not to Heaven that He has taken him. No, He has taken Lay to the proverbial Laundry Wringer of God, into which Lay's coprse will be squeezed until Jesus delivers unto to me every fucking goddamned penny that I ever entrusted that fuck-wit Lay and his Enshit company with, that pissaholic asshole.
Good Lord! Save the abortion of my assets, the sin of my securities, the evil of my equities! Top me up, Jesus!
Sincerely,
The Reverend Pat Robertson
Near Heaven, USA
Lay was bad, sure, but the real bad guy was Andrew Fastow. And I'm torn between wanting him punished hard, and just shaking my head in awe at the sheer balls of the stuff they did. Chewco, say. Fastow and Michael Kopper were just breathtaking
Regardless of what he did, he was still a man, still part of life.
Yes, that's a good thing to remember. Rejoice in no man's passing.
And for other reasons I wish he hadn't kicked off--it would have been nice to see the expression on his face when he got the 40 years-to-life he deserved, it would have been nice that he could have presented an ongoing example to other thieving corporate kings, and it would have been nice if he would have been around to be stripped of his stolen assets. Betcha there would have been some way the little people could have brought civil suit.
I don't rejoice that he's dead, but I won't miss the bugger, and if there's an afterlife, I hope he gets his.
Who said "Rejoice in no man's passing?" Why the heck should I not be happy? What good does it do me not to be happy?
I can think of dozens of people we would be better off without, not starting with but definitely including Ken Lay. I'll take joy in every single one of their passings. There's too little joy in life, less in death. Grab all you can.
I'll be the one dancing on his grave, with all the other ones.
Why the heck should I not be happy?
Oh, I don't know. If you want to confine your view, go ahead and rejoice in something small to distract yourself from the horror of transcendent immensity. I can't. Death freaks me out.
He would've been pardoned anyway, at least now he's dead.
What good does it do me not to be happy?
You know who else said that?
Hitler
It was only a matter of time before the H-bomb was dropped...
Hey, I'm happy he's dead too. So there.
:p
Oh, and I think Buddha might have said something about pointless grief as well. Just because a madman says it too doesn't necessarily mean he's wrong.
My grieving for an a-hole isn't going to make anything better.
Buddha would probably say hey, mind your business. But these are the internets and everybody's business is our business. Maybe we can assume there's an afterlife just so that the karmic wheel can turn and therefore Lay is getting his special spot squished under the rump of Hades.
How many theologies did I just reference?
Right, Ken Lay is simply moving to a higher spritual plane. We should be happy for him. He no longer suffers the tremendous guilt of ripping off thousands of investors.
Hey, I'm not saying grieve for him. I'm not exactly grieving over here, just finding myself more geared toward metaphysical contemplation than the usual material anger Mr. Ex-Bastard usually inspires. Don't worry Mord, it'll pass.
So, Ken Lay gets to die a free man, and his estate gets to keep all the pension money he stole. In other words, he completely got away with everything.
And we're supposed to be happy he died.
Not necessarily. The civil suits are ongoing. He got away with the criminal suits.
And the other bastard is apparently healthy enough, so we'll have our object lesson for would-be corporate thugs.
Yeah. He did bad things, and he'll be remembered for them, but the corpse he leaves is the same as anyone else's.
Strictly speaking, this is untrue, Nick. His corpse is demonstrably funnier than most.
*hearts rocket88, underpants, wingnut and all of you*
So, what other criminal acts let you holiday in Aspen after conviction? I'm kinda feeling inspired here....
um, I don't think Hitler actually said that, did he? I was just using a cliche.
But they'll still sell the potato chips in the shops right?
This news has been everywhere and I have to confess I had to search to find out who he was. I didn't realize how passionate some people were about what happened.
Lots of people get pasionate about getting royally screwed over by a thieving bastard, gomichild. Imagine everything you worked for over the course of your life gone, because some ass cooked the books and lied about it. Imagine that happening to you and everyone you know and work with. Times like this I hope there is an afterlife, and that karma kicks in big time.
Yes I probably didn't articulate that very well caution live frogs. Not knowing the background of what happened I was surprised to see the reactions of people until I found out more what had happened.
There's no afterlife for the personality, it is a thing of the physical body, so Ken Lay the man will not be punished; he is already deleted. Maybe there is a continuum for the consciousness-proper, but certainly there is no afterlife locale where such souls are punished for misdeeds in life.
Lay made his own karmic reality in the life he led. No doubt his final months were painful & scary for him; maybe his whole adult life was - it must be a great insecurity indeed to drive a man to such overweening greed.
Now his punishment is over. Those left behind find some method to tend to their emotional reaction to his deeds. This is natural.
The wind blows over the water, and clouds fade in the West.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my love for The Underpants Monster.
The monkey.
Not the metaphorical object.
Necessarily.
On topic, please note the relevant Snow Job:
Q: What has been the President’s reaction to the death of Ken Lay?
SNOW: I really have not talked to him about it. I will give you my own personal reaction, which is that when somebody dies, you leave behind those that grieve, and I think that they deserve our compassion. But — I don’t know, what do you think would be the appropriate thing to say?
Q: I do not know. I don’t know him. The President was his friend, not me.
SNOW: No, the President has described Ken Lay as an acquaintance, and many of the President’s acquaintances have passed on during his time in office. Again, I think that it is sort of an interesting question but not answerable by me.
Comments:
Does being in on divying up Iraqi oil fields pre-war count as “aquaintance”?
Comment by Kieth — July 5, 2006 @ 3:17 pm
Also, please see the mountain of correspondence between POTUS and "acquaintance".
Although I'm also digging the "everyone is human" angle this thread wants to take too.
Every time I see the title of this thread on the sidebar, I think of the mournful tune from Oklahoma - "Poor Jud is dead, poor Jud Fry is dead."
I also grieve for every lost person. Not in a whole-box-of-tissues-and-throw-myself-down-their-graves way. But there were no doubt people that loved him, no matter what he did, and those people will feel his loss. Money or no.
What he did was horrible. Reprehensible. But a life is a life and I acknowledge the end of one.
> No, the President has described Ken Lay as an acquaintance
and in one of the smoking gun letters pete linked to, we find a birthday note from george to ken:
One of the sad things about old friends...
Laura and I value our friendship with you...
Your younger friend
George W. Bush
And I think pete is the best.
*sings*
"Ken Lay's fingernails have never been so cleeeeean..."
When attempting to explain to someone that Lay and Bush were close friends, and here's a pile of correspondence to prove it, how, hypothetically, would you respond to skepticism that TSG is a reliable news source and didn't just photoshop up some letters?
I dig TSG. I've been visiting the site for years. But I don't know if I can convince a skeptic who's never seen the site before that they're real journalists who do real reporting and pass along actual documents.
they could research the claimed actual documents. Not that there are any documents anymore. Y'know, internet-photoshop-wise.
Hitler also used cliches.
So what does that make you, Mr. Knickerbocker? Huh?
Do not confuse everyone with facts.
Reality is what is dictated to us by our govnernment.
Check your powers of observation at the door.
That is all.
One word: Plastics.
Bush has two close friends: Mr. Power and Mr. Money.
I hope Snow gets dizzy from all the spinning.
... but it's summer an' we're running outta ice!
How many people did his actions affect? How many people went bankrupt, sick, or even die because of his actions? Lay, Skilling, Fastow, are all dangerous criminals. The same rules that apply in Texas, that a dangerous criminal must be put to death, should be applied to this kind of disgusting predators.
And of course, Bush would sign his death edict happily, just as he did with 152 others.
Not true, Camilo. He's only truly happy signing the death edicts if the recipient is mentally handicapped. All the rest, he is merely slightly amused by.
He's only truly happy signing the death edicts if the recipient is mentally handicapped.
Isn't that the pot putting the kettle to death?
Not necessarily. The civil suits are ongoing.
They will get nothing. Even if they manage, at the end of the day, to win a now much more expensive civil trial (because they can't just point to his criminal conviction, he's "innocent", after all), they are at the end of the line when it comes to payouts. His lawyers and the family will get everything.
As usual, justice will not be served.
/rests head on hand
hmmm. I wonder when the Americans will revolt?
Many Americans are revolting.
Take my word on that.
No way. We like our Skinner boxes.
More pellets, please.
*tap* *tap*
I'm with you, petebest.
*presses lever frantically, awaits reward*
*twirls around, chasing tail
Heh . . heh heh . . mHehehah . . MwuHAhhaHhahAHaAAAAaaaaa!!
The Ken Lay conspiracyBut did you notice how fast that autopsy took place?
The ceremony started slightly late after former Houston Mayor Bob Lanier collapsed in the aisle as he entered the church. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital, and an announcement made later in the ceremony said he was in stable condition.
Like FLIES I tells ya!!
compared Lay with civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus Christ,
"He's not dead, he shall rise on the third day soon!"
Just so nobody gets surprised if he's seen someplace in the tropics or so...
By way of comparison, I have been similarly likened to Annabelle Gurwitch and Rocky the Flying Squirell.
Reverend Dr. Bill Lawson...
See you in Hell, Bill!
Lawson: making the Baby Jebus cry
For Enron so loved the world and its energy resources that it sent its only CEO, Ken Lay, to be among us, Greed made flesh...
He had a dream that the brotherhood of all the $1,000,000 bills in his wallet would become a reality in this day, with this faith.
His eyes have seen the glory! Of a hundred thousand dollar bills!
Lay: If you don't get me out of this I will tell them everything.
Cheney: Don't worry Kenny Boy, we will take care of everything!
Lay:!
doing cocainein Aspen awaiting being sent to jail for life and had a heart attack?on the third daysoon!" Just so nobody gets surprised if he's seen someplace in the tropics or so...