Demand Integrity
By Bill Burkett, Jul 18, 2002

'Right' and Law and Order

America recently reached a point of understanding within her World of denial. When finally confronted with the dilemma of right versus wrong we hid behind the cloak of national security and 'terror'. Within our collective conscience, we decided that right was prevailing and that somehow we had to deny what our subconscious confronted us with in order to maintain our international posture.

We lost the facts of our national security situation within the clamor of nationalism; yet our international neighbors did not lose perspective. To protect business and economic relationships, some World leaders accepted that the great America had been wounded, but they chose to remain officially silent in a show of support. The facts of the case were, of course developed by these great friends and passed to the US bureaucracy where they were bungled either from ineptitude or plan.

The Congress just this week chose to complete the final step of the cover up by sharing blame. But what did they say? They said that the agencies lacked funds and technology.

Yet the NSA has seven times the budget of any other intelligence and surveillance agency in the World. The FBI and CIA have more agents and a bigger budget than any of our counterparts. The Germans, French, Brits, and others gave us official warnings which were sufficient for the State Department to broadcast the warning to its entire network.

The Israeli intelligence network Mossad dispatched two agents to Washington to hand over evidence of the threat of 9-11, and even gave a timeline within the week of 9-11. Instead of saying, "We Blew it, America, and it won't happen again," we have again chosen denial and excuse.

"The sun got in my eyes" is an old little league excuse. It seems on par with our official reaction from the President and all of the executive agencies and the Congress.

Only one Democrat chose to step forward and openly place blame, which was deserved, squarely on the shoulders of high-paid professionals who were armed with every advantage other nations would die for. She was castigated and called every named. She is now ostracized from her own party as well as the party of the President. Where were her defenders? More important, where were the defenders of the Constitution and this nation?

It was more acceptable to defend the politics of the President and the collective incompetence of his executive appointees, than to defend the Constitution and the nation. The Congress has opted to still try to gloss-over this horrendous failing and blame it on budget or technology - anything but accepting responsibility.

History has already exposed the facts that the Bush energy policy was not only developed within a vacuum allowing and possibly designing collusion and price fixing; but the president and Vice President Cheney have openly defied the law while exalting executive privilege. They have arrogantly thumbed their noses at this nation, the Congress. Their strategy was based upon the belief that Congress and the Democrats were weak; and they were right.

The bubble finally collapsed on Wall Street and the scams which had inflated value for the past twenty years; principles also uncovered within the real estate and savings and loan scandals of the eighties, were uncovered. The truth is relentless and no scam can remain covered forever. There is no perfect crime.

We have known for better than a decade that CEOs were inflating their salaries and remuneration packages and manipulating or 'cooking the books". The past administration of another President tried to make changes and those changes were blocked by a powerful lobby. The CEOs and corporations had so much money that they now owned Congress, the White House (both Republican and Democratic) and each of the branches of government.

Special deals became the meat of ongoing quid pro quo relationships. In Texas, a governor who made his fortune on the backs of the poor now spoke of the poor and disadvantaged while padding the pockets of his financiers and benefactors.

As President, his past was not subjected to the same levels of scrutiny of a press and an opponent party which had been quieted by the same benefactors playing both sides of the street. So when his benefactors wanted to gain unfair advantage on the backs of California energy consumers; they not only allowed but participated within the game planning. Enron's collapse seemed like a shock to most Americans. How could this happen. Where had all of this been hidden. Please say it isn't so.

Stanley Tools became the poster boy for corporations trying every tax dodge including an extension of NAFTA. Under NAFTA, we allowed the open export of American manufacturing jobs in order to compensate the large corporations. Cities and States sold out in order to maintain job promises with these mega giants. But the loss of America's manufacturing sector only further knocked our economy out of synch.

A strong and viable economy must be based within a 'diversified' approach of manufacturing, service, finance, agriculture, transportation and consumption. Only service, finance, transportation and consumption remain as viable sectors today.

And again we woke up in a state of denial about our Stock market. How many shoes must drop before we get the message that the small investor has indeed fueled this nation's economic recovery. But their hard-earned dollars and investments were ransacked by the Boards and executives of the companies.

On one side of the political spectrum we have heard two generations of debate about family values. We have heard the law and order rhetoric. We have watched as the pendulum swung in favor of the antics comparable to "hang 'em high" justice in courts, with law enforcement and with politicians. Only a strong economy would decrease crime in our neighborhoods - not more prisons, more brutal approaches - just more jobs.

But now when the thieves of Wall Street are unclothed like a John Ashcroft statue, they are to be cleared or slapped on the wrist. Why is it such a big deal to send a corporate executive who has the ability to hire the best lawyers and mount the bests defense to a country club prison for 6 months to 5 years for planning and conducting actions which bilk millions of dollars from investors and allowing a large part of that to end up in their pockets.

We don't pay any attention at all to the number of poor people who suffer with court appointed attorneys who get 2 to 10 years for "theft by check". We don't think anything about sending someone to jail for 5 to 20 years for robbery or assault or 10 to 40 years for armed robbery.

You see, the system is stacked to defend that wealthy and positioned FROM the poor. Keep them broke and hard at work. Make sure they are deep in debt and unable to rise or compete. Silk Stocking Row deems poor people crimes more seriously than their own. If its "White Collar," it's one of them or their friends.

The nation has collectively chosen to deny her plight. The collective conscience has allowed the powerful to control the nation as well as the message and the conscience. And by such allowance, the collective voice has been stifled.

The looting of America's investors stands as America's strongest opportunity within a decade to regain balance of thought and balance of true value and ethics. But it cannot be achieved either through denial or through a rhetorical approach. It means that thieves must be exponentially punished on the basis of the total IMPACT and VALUE of their crime.

CEOs like Kenny Boy deserve to spend 20 years to life for their crimes and forfeit their assets in return to the stockholders and investors. There must be a statute of limitations of 12-15 years to allow the facts to uncover themselves. Yes, that would mean that GW Bush would be prosecutable for his crimes at Harken. It would also mean that Dick Cheney would be held accountable at Halliburton.

It is only through these levels of punishment that ethics will return without government control and regulation. The Congress and the President are in bed with these CEOs and Boards of Directors. They cannot make realistic law nor common sense of the solutions required, nor the extent of the problem. Let's face it, they are not reacting to the crime, they are reacting to what it will take to remove the crime many of them have participated in from the front pages.

We must demand integrity. But that demand begins with severe penalties when integrity is not delivered. The fox can no longer guard the henhouse. Nor can we expect the culprits to sit in judgment of each other.

Yes, we may have been able to deny it for some time. But sooner or later we have to come to grips with the facts. We are ruled by a den of thieves.

---------------

You can contact Bill Burkett at BBurkett16@aol.com

© Copyright 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 by MikeHersh.com and identified authors. MikeHersh.com invites you to broadcast any material at this site, provided you identify the source as MikeHersh.com. All print, Internet, email and other summaries, excerpts or other written reproductions must include this blurb and a link to http://www.MikeHersh.com.