http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/01/ivins.haditha/
Creators Syndicate Thursday, June 1, 2006
No excuses this time
By Molly Ivins
Austin, Texas — So, Haditha becomes another of the names at which we
wince, along with Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and My Lai. Tell you what: Let’s
not use the “stress of combat” excuse this time. According to neighbors,
the girls in the family of Younis Khafif — the one who kept pleading in
English: “I am a friend. I am good” — were 14, 10, 5, 3 and 1. What are
they going to say? “Under stress of combat, we thought the baby was 2”?
“We have a Haditha every day,” said Muhanned Jasim, an Iraqi merchant.
“Were (those killed) the first Iraqis to be killed for no reason?” asked
Ghasan Jayih, a pharmacist. Well no, but we Americans don’t count
collateral damage unless we’re forced to. We prefer to ignore collateral
damage, especially if they’re under 5.
Someone else with a greater taste for the ironies of technology will have
to explain why it’s funny that this “Haditha” was uncovered in part by a
solider taking photos with his cell phone. Good work by Time magazine and
Col. Gregory Watt. Apologies are owed by any on the right to Rep. John
Murtha, who warned of Haditha early, though none of us is holding a
breath. The attacks on Murtha’s patriotism were despicable. When will that
tactic wear out?
Meanwhile, back at the full-force fun festival known as Washington, here’s
a moment to cherish.
Two weeks ago, Amir Taheri had an op-ed article in the Canadian National
Post claiming the Iranians have a law requiring Jews to wear yellow
badges. It turned out to be a complete fabrication and has been the
subject of much contempt among bloggers. So Tuesday, Taheri was invited to
the White House along with other “experts” to give the president their
“honest opinions.” With advice like that, our war in Iran will be a slam
dunk.
Speaking of slam dunks, Bud Trillin of the Nation is on a tear about
Bush’s picks for the Medal of Freedom. First, he gave it to old “Slam
Dunk” George Tenet himself, after pushing him out as head of the CIA.
Then, Paul Bremer got the medal. Remember him? Guy who screwed up Iraq
beyond recall in the first year.
We’re lurching into the ludicrous. So we’re thinking, who else belongs on
this distinguished roster? “Heckuva job Brownie” Brown, of course. The guy
in charge of implementing the Social Security drug plan. Rumsfeld! By
golly, there’s a man who never made a mistake.
I think that lets out Tony Blair, who joined Bush in a mistake-admitting-
athon last week. (The Prez is sorry he talked “too tough” to the
terrorists.) Neither of them thought to name “the war in Iraq,” for
example, as a mistake. But, as The Economist rather unkindly put it, their
meeting was “The Axis of Feeble.”
Ever hopeful that some good might yet be pulled from the rubble, the
appointment of Henry Paulson as treasury secretary raises hope among the
never-say-die crowd. He’s good on global warming — how’s that for a
change? But the real irony is that the administration had to bring in
someone who can “soothe Wall Street,” which is said to be “nervous.” This
whole administration has been run to favor, and grant tax breaks to, “Wall
Street.” How dare the ungrateful louses be “nervous”?
—
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060530_molly_ivins_reform_the_system
_or_lose_the_democracy/
Published on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 by TruthDig
Reform the System or Lose the Democracy
by Molly Ivins
A Houston jury convicted both Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling, despite the
fact that Kenny Boy packed his Bible to the courtroom every day.
Since it is a long and noble Texas tradition for the accused to fight
all allegations by finding Jesus, this indicates a major degree of guilt.
(While on trial for murder, T. Cullen Davis, the Fort Worth millionaire,
not only found Jesus but also threw a big party to celebrate at the
mansion, with piles of shrimp and BBQ and a soundtrack that announced over
and over throughout the grounds that night, “The son of Stinky Davis has
found the son of God.”)
Meanwhile, Houston reacted as though the Rockets had won the NBA
championship.
Many a thoughtful analyst has given us to understand that Lay and
Skilling are guilty of arrogance and hubris. Actually, they were convicted
of fraud-massive, overwhelming and monstrous fraud. They also stole money
and looted pension funds. They rigged energy markets and almost drove
California (seventh-largest economy in the world) into bankruptcy.
And all along the way, this monstrous fraud was connected to
government. Enron bought the politicians who bent the rules that let them
steal, con and gyp. Lay and Skilling talked state after state into
following the California model and deregulating electricity. Happy summer,
everyone.
And then, of course, there was the thumbing-the-nose thievery, the
offshore partnerships tricked out with the clever names so insiders would
know how slick they were.
As the late Rep. Wright Patman Sr. observed: “Many of our wealthiest
and most powerful citizens are very greedy. This fact has many times been
demonstrated.”
The interesting thing about Lay and Skilling is they weren’t trying to
evade the rules, they were rigging the rules in their favor. The fix was
in-much of it law passed by former Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, whose wife,
Wendy, served on the board of Enron.
Where does that sense of entitlement come from? What makes a Ken Lay
think he can call the governor of Texas and ask him to soften up Gov. Tom
Ridge of Pennsylvania on electricity deregulation? Not that being governor
of Texas has ever been an office of much majesty, but a corporate robber
wouldn’t think of doing that if it were Brian Schweitzer of Montana or
Bill Richardson of New Mexico.
The extent to which not just state legislatures but the Congress of
the United States are now run by large corporate special interests is
beyond mere recognition as fact. The takeover is complete. Newt Gingrich
and Tom DeLay put in place a system in which it’s not a question of
letting the head of the camel into the tent-the camels run the place.
It has all happened quite quickly-in less than 20 years. Laws were
changed and regulations repealed until an Enron can set sail without
responsibility, supervision or accountability. The business pages are fond
of trumpeting the merits of “transparency” and “accountability,” but you
will notice whenever there is a chance to roll back any of New Deal regs,
the corporations go for broke trying to get rid of them entirely.
I’m not attempting to make this a partisan deal-only 73 percent of
Enron’s political donations went to Republicans. But I’ll be damned if
Enron’s No. 1 show pony politician, George W. Bush, should be allowed to
walk away from this. Ken Lay gave $139,500 to Bush over the years. He
chipped in $100,000 to the Bush Cheney Inaugural Fund in 2000 and $10K to
the Bush-Cheney Recount Fund.
Plus, Enron’s PAC gave Bush $113,800 for his ’94 and ’98 political
races and another $312,500 from its executives. Bush got 14 free rides on
Enron’s corporate jets during the 2000 campaign, including at least two
during the recount. Until January 2004, Enron was Bush’s top contributor.
And what did it get for its money? Ken Lay was on Bush’s short list to
be energy secretary. He not only almost certainly served on Cheney’s
energy task force, there is every indication that the task force’s energy
plan, the one we have been on for five years, is in fact the Enron plan.
Lay used Bush as an errand boy, calling the governor of Texas and having
him phone Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania to vouch for what swell energy
deregulation bills Enron was sponsoring in states all over the country.
It seems to me we all understand this is a systemic problem.
We need to reform the political system, or we’ll lose the democracy. I
don’t think it’s that hard. It doesn’t take rocket science. We’ve done it
before successfully at the presidential level and tried it several places
at the state level. Public campaign financing isn’t perfect and can
doubtlessly be improved upon as we go. Let us begin.
Molly Ivins’s latest book is “Who Let the Dogs In?”
—
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“Our German forbearers in the 1930s sat around, blamed their rulers, said ‘maybe everything’s going to be alright.’ That is something we cannot do. I do not want my grandchildren asking me years from now, ‘why didn’t you do something to stop all this?” –Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst of 27 years, referring to the actions and crimes of the Bush Administration
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