I usually don't reprint articles, but I'm making an exception for this one:
Microsoft Can't Spell R-E-S-P-E-C-T
By James J. Cramer
6/12/00 8:53 AM ET
When lawyers and judges get together
these days -- and they do, because they
have private lives -- they all talk about one
thing: What the heck were the Microsoft
(MSFT:Nasdaq - news - boards) guys
thinking when they attacked Judge Jackson and Joel Klein? What kind
of stupid "tactic" was that?
For the most part, in the press, the trial was presented as being a fair
battle between two opponents. Microsoft had a side, the government
had a side. Microsoft had lawyers, the government had lawyers.
Seemed like a classic battle.
But that was all for public consumption. Behind the scenes, many of
the people in the great complex that is the Justice Department and
the Federal judicial system were appalled at the clan from Redmond.
They were seething. They continue to seethe now that the company's
new PR campaign is trying to depict Microsoft as the victim.
Unless you know some of the folk who work for Justice or the bench in
this country, you might think they are just a bunch of civil servants who
couldn't get a job in the private sector if they wanted to. You might think
they are people who work for the government because it is easy and fun
with good benefits and not a lot of worry about advancement.
I don't know. I went to Harvard and Harvard law school. I did great. But
the people who did better than me at school all went to those
government jobs. They weren't motivated by money. They were
motivated by doing the right thing. They were motivated by working for
the people of the U.S.
They thought guys like me, who were interested in going to
private-sector jobs, were lightweights. They thought private-sector jobs
were for those who didn't understand that some things were more
important than money: justice and fairness and equal opportunity.
These guys wanted to do something that mattered.
They are powerful opponents. They work virtually for free. That's scary to
me. It should have been scary to Microsoft.
What did this fraternity of the smartest people in the country want from
Microsoft? Respect. A recognition of the power of the people. A
grudging understanding that laws, not money, still rule in this country.
This fraternity wanted Microsoft to keep its mouth shut. It wanted
Microsoft to come to Washington and say, "Heck, maybe we were out
of control. What can we do better? What should we be doing?" This
fraternity knew it had the power all along to make that happen one way
or the other. It never wanted things to get to where they are, believe me.
It never expected that it would demand a breakup. It kept expecting that
Microsoft would stop acting like some Dickensian nightmare of a
capitalist enterprise.
But Microsoft didn't. It still hasn't. And now the fraternity, which includes
every black-robed member of the Federal bench, including the Supreme
Court, is angry. It doesn't care that you own Microsoft in your 401(k) or
that Bill and Melinda give away millions. It doesn't care that Microsoft
has created jobs and wealth and happiness. Heck, it wouldn't care right
now if Microsoft broke into, "We are the World" and worked for world
peace, a ban on land mines and a cure for cancer.
To these folks, Microsoft is an outlaw -- the biggest outlaw that has
come down the federal pike in their time working for the government.
Sure, I am long Microsoft. I believe in the stock. But what the heck?
This PR campaign -- this pathetic attempt to gain public sympathy --
ain't flying with the people who matter: the people who wear black robes
to work.
These black-robed workers hate Microsoft. And they like Judge
Jackson. He will do well when the appeals time comes. He is one of
them. Because he represents the U.S. government, as they do. And
because he was just doing his job. As they do. His verdict will be
upheld on appeal. He will win. He played by the real rules, the code of
conduct and respect that everyone must show the government.
Microsoft didn't. And for these folks, the rules are all that matter. |
