An Open Letter to the Financial Times

To: letters.editor [at] ft.com

Re: "Lay Off The Cuffs"


Dear Financial Times Editor,

Your editorial of July 10, "Lay Off The Cuffs"
[ http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373627221 ]
is remarkably sympathetic to the white collar
"perps" who are given the courtesy of
surrendering themselves to the authorities. And
your potshot at Michael Moore is pointless.

Obviously the "perp walk" is a cynical
political gesture designed to satisfy the
public that even the rich are subject to
justice. And yes, it is a bit of needless
cruelty inflicted upon these blighted souls
for the benefit of the reigning politicians.

However, before we dislocate our spines
bending over backward to show mercy to the
accused, let's stop to recall that men like
Ken Lay are being afforded a courtesy when
they are allowed to surrender themselves.
Their "justice" is not the justice of average
Americans who are arrested for non-violent crimes
such as possession of small amounts of
recreational drugs. SWAT teams with guns, dogs
and tear gas -- often at the wrong address --
are the blue collar equivalent of the charade
we saw enacted for Ken Lay on television.

The fact is, Ken Lay's company, Enron, stole
from millions of Americans. On the West Coast
we now pay permanently higher utility bills as
a result of the Enron-engineered fake power
crisis. Businesses went bankrupt, people
lost their jobs, and the rest of us are
still paying. Given that the U.S. is
most assuredly not a "Socialist Paradise",
this theft amounts to an act of violence,
with potentially deadly results for those
who were harmed and who now may be denied
health care, housing or food as a direct
result of their inability to pay (the
harsh reality of the connection between
having money and receiving health care,
housing and food is quite often misunderstood
by the rich and their political servants.)

Ken Lay's "perp walk" may be the only
satisfaction any of us "average" Americans
receive in the matter. It is the next best
thing to seeing George W. Bush's televised
perp walk. Since we utility payers know
we will not be receiving checks in the mail
to compensate us for the full amount stolen,
we will just have to settle for this Bread
and Circus drama.

Ken Lay should be thanking Almighty God
that George W. Bush is his best friend and that
he is not being treated like average Americans
accused of crimes.