Thank you Roger for the thoughtful post.
We have all known that Tony has powerful good and powerful bad in his psyche. A very very unusual and extreme guy.
That said, I will rally to his defense until he is convicted. How many of the posters here remember that a person is innocent until proven guilty. How quick we are to convict.
I'll make these suppositions:
I think these are isolated offenses, if true, in a much larger picture of uncovering fraud, doing much good, doing much research and hard work, and of course trying to make money.
I think if Tony were better behaved, born in America and of Northern European extraction, he would not have been indicted. I think there is a lot of racism and jingoism at work here, particularly in tying Tony to 911 stuff.
I think if 911 hadn't happened, the government would not be interested in prosecuting Tony.
I think it reasonable to speculate that Paul Brown, Sulphco people, Liviakis, maybe Tyson etc may have joined together to damage Tony. Tony has lots of enemies and was definitely hurting pumper dumpers in the pocketbook.
I think Tony may not have known the information was illicitly obtained.
I think FBI gives out confidential information all the time. Why else would Lynn have done this - and released on her own recognizance. Didn't FBI give info to reporters on this story already?
I think Cleveland is Royer's long time friend and sending money is no big deal and does not prove it was money for info.
I think the press is really sensationalizing this, and the Attorney General is pumping that sensationalism, and they are prejudicing a future jury.
I'm not sure where the extortion line lies, versus a business deal. Violence wasn't threatened, just information distribution, if any threat at all.
I think Tony is a very powerful force for good (altho not purely good) and has saved many people millions of dollars.
I think Tony does have fundamental psychological conflicts and has a difficult time staying within the boundaries of acceptable behavior. I believe his good actions go a long way to atone for his less savory actions (such as being a penny pusher himself).
I think the confiscation of non-evidence property without conviction is horrendously unjust, prejudicial, violent and disgusting. In the future, we will shake our heads at having allowed it to occur, as we view slavery today.
I try very hard to be an open-minded person, and try to stay away from premature conviction, jingoism and racism. Innocent until proven guilty.
Anyone who lived through the Vietnam era is well aware how far the government can go to mislead, suppress information, and frame people.
Ok, bash me boys!!!
Peter |
