June 09, 2004

"What we need to do is to help in the cause of, ah, downfall of California," an employee is heard saying on the tapes. "You guys need to pull your megawatts out of California on a daily basis." More Enron tapes from CBS. Too bad the Governator wasn't there to fight the bad guys.
posted by homunculus 19 years ago
  • The Justice Department tried to keep these tapes from being released. Classic. Great link, homunculus.
  • We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions. - Ronald Reagan
  • Jeeze, wondcer why they hated us Californian so much. (Gimme your best shot.)
  • In one tape, an employee says, "You gotta think the economy is going to f------g get crushed, man. This is like a recession waiting to f-----g happen." That degree of malice should be considered treason, IMO. They did more dammage to the U.S. than John Walker Lindh could have dreamed of doing.
  • IFU - are you advocating that position? I don't think anyone here has blamed society for Enron's meltdown on "society." We can all go to the source.
  • Never mind.
  • So, how was that prosecution of George's good buddy and campaign contributer coming along, anyway? The animosity, nay, hatred for California and New York in much of the US never ceases to amaze me. Especially since the mendicant states of the mid-West and South depend so heavily of federal revenues garnered there...
  • Perhaps it's because of that dependency, that hatred arises.
  • Who are these employees? They realize something is wrong when one mentions: "I feel like I'm being corrupted now," yet to them it is a moment of humor. Perhaps they somehow attained their jobs without really understanding who and what they are: they seem to have no perception of scale. Their attitude is surprising because: yes, they're employees with enormous power, but the power they wield doesn't seem to be able to give them anything - except maybe a little money. They seem to be pursuing evil for the sake of evil, not for greatness. It seems so miscalculated to me - almost a psychological problem. Perhaps then, criminals are irrational? homunculus, maybe the reason it doesn't feel like treason is that it doesn't make sense. What I mean is that Lindh was wrapped up in ideology - he was the classical villain with a plan. These employees are more like the average person on the street. They're laughing, they are having fun, they don't seem bad - directly... This confusion of perceptions could be suppressing public outrage at this point. It could also be that their crimes are so complicated people don't understand. Everyone understands a traitor, but not everyone has studied accounting. This creates an interesting paradox
  • niccolo, I think it's pretty much a truism learned from Nazi Germany that evil is, well, mundane. The people who shipped the Jews and the Gypsies and the homosexuals to the death camps weren't all Himmlers, they were regular Joes, and I imagine more than a few of them cracked wise about it. Destroying the economy and lives of Californians isn't on a par with wholesale extermination, of course. Alnedra: Probably. It's odd that the concerns of the founding fathers about a tyranny of the majority have created an environment where there is a tyranny of the minority.
  • Except that the Governator is one of the bad guys.
  • Maybe. We still don't really know what went on between Schwarzenegger and Lay, but it's long past time he told the public. But since they don't seem to care, I won't hold my breath. If only Georgy had won. *sigh*
  • Lindh was wrapped up in ideology - he was the classical villain with a plan. These employees are more like the average person on the street... exactly. average persons, wrapped in american capitalist ideology, entrepreneurs, um no, businessmen, um no, villains with a business plan.
  • Have you guys heard that Kinky Friedman is running for Governor of Texas? Not a joke. His campaign slogan is "How Hard Can It Be?"
  • ''If I'm elected,'' Richard ''Kinky'' Friedman, 59, said last week from his ranch in Medina, Texas, ''the first thing I'll do is demand a recount.'' -LA Times
  • Almost too tired of the stupidity we've gone through in Calif. for the last 3 years to say "Fuc FERC." Yes, energy degregulation here was a disaster, but letting the wolves who preyed on the state's ineptitude collect more millions from their illegal shenanigans is beyond belief. But, I guess that, since Enron is a Texas company, they still get a "get out of jail free" card. And, apologies to the rest of the world for making this so territorial, but is it possible that the same could happen to you?
  • CA Attorney general sues Enron for restitution That's more like it. Does anyone know if Schwarzenegger has said anything about Enron or Ken Lay since the tapes came out? Is he still in cheerleading for deregulation?
  • homunculus, Arnold met with Ken when he was planning his campaign. Could be that he trusts the guy, or wanted to know how to fudge numbers.
  • Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay charged under sealed indictment YES!
  • The specific charges remained under seal. Prosecutors from the Justice Department's Enron Task Force presented an indictment to U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Milloy in Houston on Wednesday, and at their request she sealed both the indictment and an arrest warrant, the sources said. Interesting. Enron was Bush's #1 campaign donor.
  • From Daily Kos.
    US President George W. Bush walks away from a briefing with the media, refusing to answer questions after he was asked about Enron and the reported indictment of former CEO Kenneth Lay, who was a close adviser and fund-raiser for Bush and his father, earning him the presidential nickname of 'Kenny Boy.'(AFP/Paul J. Richards)
  • Krugman on DeLay and Enron: The machine at work
  • Former Enron Corp. Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling declared he was "absolutely innocent" Monday as he began to testify in his own defense in his fraud and conspiracy trial. [...] Skilling repeated his twice-made assertion that Enron was in "very good condition" when he left the company in August 2001 and that he never would have jumped ship if he'd known it was going to collapse into bankruptcy proceedings less than four months later. It's the funniest damn thing I've read all day.
  • YES!!!!
  • Out on bail pending appeal + pardon on Bush's last day in office = zero time served What a country!!!
  • yes, its extremely annoying to think that even if a)these two assclowns will never excape the blemish of this conviction, b)they will possibly (hopefully) lose their personal fortunes in swindled millions in civil suits, they still will very likely avoid incarceration, and if they are unlucky enough to serve any time I doubt it's gonna be in some hardcore max-sec penitentiary of doom.
  • Heh, as I'm working for a rather large firm involved in massive amounts of corporate $$, I heard a lot of talk around the office on this matter yesterday. Most of it amounted to this: Can you believe!? 24 years! But Skilling is such a smart man, what a wasted life to be in prison. Hardened criminals get less time that that. Convicted murderers get less time than that! He's not even a real criminal! Well, he did commit crimes, but they were white collar crimes! He should just be made to work 24 years without pay. What was this judge thinking!? Can you believe!?
  • *boggle* This man ruined peoples lives. Stole their life savings. How is that not worth at least 24 years? You tell your coworkers they're stupid and wrong! Tell them koko said so!! I just don't understand people ...
  • Ya know Koko, the person who was very loud on this subject was someone I would have never expected it from. Indeed, I was also quite boggled. *follows Koko's orders*
  • The thing that is da boggle is that just about everyone else in this sorry scam gets away scot-free. Skilling didn't do it by himself. He got lots of help from investment bankers and accountants. Those guys walked. So thousands of people got their lives ruined during the bubble's collapse at Enron and other companies. And let's see, so far we've got Ebbers from WorldCom taking the heat, plus Fastow and Skilling. Oh yeah, and Martha Stewart. Course, you Americans are doing better than we Canucks. We've got Mr Frank "fictional accounting" Dunn of Nortel. And we ain't even charged him yet. on the other hand, investors bear some responsibility too if they had 100% of their savings in company stock
  • I wonder if Ken Lay would rather be alive and in jail too.
  • They could be manbuddies in jail together, holding each other when the other prisoners get rowdy.
  • Thank you, BushCo, for all you've done for corporate Amerika!