Ken Lay And Jeff Skilling – Good Bye And Thanks For All The Campaign Contributions

This week when "Kenny Boy" Lay and Jeffery Skilling were convicted my friends expressed surprise. They expected the Washington political machine to somehow delay the trial for so long it would be irrelevant or that Bush would pull the right strings and let them walk. Though I am still not convinced that Bush in his final days might not pardon both of them, I was not surprised by the guilty verdicts. Their appeal chances look slim as well.

Lay and Skilling are damaged goods to the GOP. They are no longer powerful, and they are tainted with the stench of scandal. The GOP and more specifically Bush has dropped them like hot potatoes. That was evident when the Enron scandal first broke. Bush, who had been so chummy with Lay as to give him the moniker Kenny Boy, acted as if he had only met him at a cocktail party.

Why the cold-shoulder? Because Bush and Company are opportunists and power brokers. You are only as useful as your money and votes. If you no longer serve their purposes, you are persona non-gratis. They are in it for the money and power and there to make more money for their backers. Those backers, Halliburton, Carlyle Group, Boeing, Mobil/ Exxon and the other companies should take note. Make one big mistake and you are gone. Thanks for the money and help, now swim for yourself.

Jack Abramoff was a regular visitor at the White House, but the scandal makes him suddenly a nobody. His leverage is that he has rolled over and is spilling the beans on the whole gang. Had Ken Lay disclosed what really went on in those energy policy meetings at the White House, he might have leverage too. Blackmail, money and power all speak in the Bush and company world. I suspect that all these wiretaps and phone record probes will eventually reveal that the administration has been using them to blackmail lawmakers and keep them in line.

The more I look at the situation in Washington, the more I think Bush and Company has modeled their administration on the family of Don Corleone. And now, they kiss Lay and Skilling, whispering in their ear, "you will keep our secrets or you sleep with the fishes."