the enron verdict

the verdict is in: ken lay and jeff skilling are guity as hell. they're both going to be spending a lot of time in prison. the story is in just about every media outlet, so rather than link to one i'll just direct you to google news where you can take your pick from 2,000 or so links on the subject.

enron is, in many people's minds, the most corrupt company ever, the archetypcal evil corporation, so it was vitally important that the government get a guilty verdict. the president's long-standing friendship with "kenny boy" lay only made this more important.

as a former enron stockholder myself (though i had only a piddling amount of stock, so i didn't lose much in the collapse), i heartily congratulate the government for finally convicting these guys.

some of the media coverage is lauding the message this conviction sends to other corrupt corporations. but it's kind of a mixed message. yes, the government is willing to go after corporates if they're corrupt enough... but it takes five years to get a conviction. it's fantastic that these guys are going to jail, and all over the country lots of people will be pleased about the verdict, but they would've been happier if it had happened three or four years ago. and how many corrupt corporations can we really prosecute if it takes this long (and costs this much)? ¶