Ken Lay: Justice Denied

Ken Lay is dead.

Ken Lay died in his cushy retreat in Colorado while waiting for his sentencing hearing for his multiple convictions.

Ken Lay died too damned soon!

Ken Lay started up, ran, and then destroyed Enron. This company got fat and powerful, supporting pretty much every politician in and from Texas. It manufactured an energy crisis in California that cost residents and businesses there BILLIONS in higher bills. It was partly responsible for provoking the incompetence of California’s governor of the time, Gray Davis, and led to his unceremonious ouster at the hands of the voters.

Ken Lay ran the company that destroyed lives and livelihoods when it went under. Back then it was called “business as usual”. Today it’s called a federal offense.

Ken Lay went to trial for his role in that gross destruction. He claimed that he was ignorant of the destruction and proved it by buying his wife a new yacht even though he was in the hole by two million dollars… no doubt using the same accounting methods that hid Enron’s financial black hole. The jury obviously didn’t buy it.

Now Ken Lay is dead, before he could even set one foot inside a prison cell. He made the ultimate escape from any kind of accountability this world could require.

Once again, justice has been denied.

Some people are speculating that Ken Lay’s death was orchestrated, or that he simply faked his death. Maybe he’s really sitting on an island over in the Bahamas, laughing at the pathetic peons as he sits on his uncounted billions sipping a rare cognac and smoking cigars made of $100 bills.

I’m sorry but I don’t buy it.

First of all, corporate criminals don’t fake their deaths when facing prison. They buy better lawyers and get their convictions overturned on appeal.

Remember Charles Keating? He ran Lincoln Savings & Loan until it went under in 1989. He was convicted and sent to prison. Did he fake his death? No. He hired better lawyers and got his conviction overturned.

If the Bush Imperium wanted to help their “good buddy” Ken Lay out, they would have quietly manipulated the system so that his sentencing would be delayed pending an appeal, or that any sentence given would also be delayed pending that appeal. The appeal process would be painstakingly long, taking several years to run its course up the legal system. Then in January of 2009, on the eve of his departure from the White House, President Bush would sign the papers to pardon “Kenny-boy” for any and all crimes he may have committed.

THAT, my friends, is how the Imperium would have handled this problem. They wouldn’t have to resort to mystery drugs or faking someone’s death. They have all the tools they need to at their disposal right in front of them, and they would be able to use that to help not only their “good buddy” Ken Lay, but also Jeff Skilling and any other Enron executive facing prison time.

No, my friends, if there really WAS a conspiracy to take Ken Lay’s life, it would be by Ken Lay himself. It’s very easy to fake optimism in front of friends and loved ones, and then quietly contemplate one’s own death. Remember, he started out with nothing. He certainly wouldn’t want to end his life with nothing as well.

Of course Ken Lay’s death doesn’t bode well for Jeff Skilling. Any kind of leniency that could be given to him is gone. After all, Lay was the big dog in charge; Skilling was just an underling. Now that Ken Lay has forever avoided justice, Skilling will get the brunt of the rage and fury over it.

Still, it’s hard to feel sorry for either person over that. I feel sorry for the thousands of people who will not get the feeling of satisfaction for the injustice foisted on them. The system didn’t let them down… the whole damned universe did.