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Non-Tech : The Enron Scandal - Unmoderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (1189)	2/3/2002 12:18:38 PM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3602

Dear Ray, thanks for the kind words. I consider myself a conservative/libertarian who thinks independently. Is there stench coming from both sides of the aisle? Sure, but rarely do you see it coming from conservative Republicans. Most of the conservatives in congress and the white house are upstanding people who went into politics in the hope of changing the direction our nanny-state was headed. Their success has been limited due to not having a majority in both houses of congress. But, their voices did save the nation from HillaryCare. Recently, when I asked who you thought would be a better President, you said John McCain had a more sincere view of the average American and wouldn't sell out to corporate suits (or words to that effect). Let's take a look at McCain and see if your view will be changed by a few facts. Did you know Senator McCain is the son of an Admiral? Did you know Senator McCain married Cindy Hensley the daughter of a large American beer distributor? Did you know he is connected to a multibillion-dollar corporation Anheuser-Busch, which is the world's largest brewing company? That he sits on the board of that company? Did you know McCain's 1997 financial disclosure reveals that he owns more than $1 million in Anheuser-Busch stock. That his wife Cindy is listed as an employee of Hensley and Company, with an annual salary mysteriously labelled "more than $1,000"? Did you know Senator McCain is ranked the 26th wealthiest member of Congress by Roll Call magazine. Ok, that's enough for now... The point I'm making with all this is not to suggest that John McCain is evil or anything of the sort. But simply to demonstrate by using your criteria of "fitness for office", he would fail miserably. He is not a joe-six pack kinda guy of the people, anymore than Bush is. His image of a maverick who works for the average american has been carefully built by the media because they would love to see his version of campaign finance reform succeed. His version would greatly expand the influence "Big Industrial Media" has over our electoral process. But more importantly, McCain/Feingold is unconstitutional. My conclusion is therefore that you are simply a pessimistic cynic, who instead of looking for the good in people, looks for the bad. The mental models you've built are practically entirely based on innuendo and rumor. Nothing President Bush has done in regard to Enron's bankrupcy has been ethically wrong. If anything, he's gone out of his way to demonstrate impartiality and a willingness to get at the truth. Every politician who accepts campaign donations from a company is not evil. Every director of a billion dollar public company is not evil. And everyone who sits on the board of directors of a major American company does not automatically have the integrity of a Clinton, or the morals of a Bin Ladin. And I'm sorry, but it's just plain silly to think that way... By the way, I'm curious, how do muster the energy to get up in the morning with that pessimistic view the world is coming to an end, led by the growth of the internet?