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WSWS : Correspondence

Letters on Bush, Enron and the New York Times

11 January 2002

Use this version to print | Send this link by email | Email the author

Dear WSWS,

What did I tell you about the New York Times?

Kenneth Lay and his co-conspirators are criminals and should be in prison, all of their assets confiscated and returned to the employees they ripped off. I’ve discovered what the Bush administration and these corrupt capitalists have in common with Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda: a longing for a return to the thirteenth century. You know, that romantic time when the populace were illiterate serfs—no money, no education, no power, no nothing—and the robber barons ( there’s a fine old expression!) owned everything and ruled with absolute power and ruthlessness.

How else to describe the boundless greed of the Enron mob and their complete lack of concern over the fates of the people who worked for them? Their total belief that if they wanted millions of dollars, they had a right to have millions of dollars whether they had to lie, cheat, steal or (in effect) murder to get them? And now their mouthpiece (said Times) ventriloquizes their outrage that anybody should have the effrontery to call them to account for it.

C

San Francisco

10 January 2002

In regard to Enron, the attitude of the New York Times, and every other boojwah big bunny whore soft pedaling this mess: they aren’t anything but a bunch of thugs, gangsters, nazis and barbarians. The future is with the proletariat, or there is no future.

MHP

New York City

10 January 2002

Having never been interested in politics until the Clinton bash began and wishing I were not now, I would just like to tell you that a few of us ordinary citizens are and have been protesting all along—every chance we get. In addition, there are a lot of anti-Bush sites that keep us all informed. Important sites like BushWatch and BuzzFlash and several others.

Seems like a century since the New York Times and the rest were pounding into our heads that Gore was a liar, a man who changed his clothing style every few weeks and other real important stuff. And you know what, people would not be convinced otherwise, even when you told them the real facts behind Gore’s so-called lies. I know you think the Democrats are not much better than the right.

And that “new war” has turned everybody else on to wars. What can you do? You of course do much. What is happening is scary.

HW

10 January 2002

Your article on Enron and their ties to the Bush Administration are accurate and correct, but not sure I totally agree with your assessment of the New York Times’ position on this scandal, and I did read the article you referenced, but I also read other columnists like Paul Krugman, [Frank] Rich, and [Bob] Herbert who have been taking aim at this scandal and are not trivializing it at all. This is especially true for Krugman who has been hammering away at Bush’s fiscal policies despite 9/11. In other words, while some of the editors at the Times might not take the same position as we have, certainly not all of their staff is doing this. I think it is not accurate nor fair to criticize the whole paper for what a few people write, and even the other position has merit even if we don’t agree with it. A good perspective includes all of these other voices too.

Keep up the good work and research.

JS

10 January 2002

The understatement of the day, week, year, decade, century was made yesterday by Enron attorney Robert Bennett!!!

After “welcoming” the Justice Department’s investigation, and saying “the company counted” the investigation to “bring light to the facts,” Bennett said, “It’s important that we not let the Washington scandal machine take over, which will have as a consequence that every move will be politicised and the facts will be trivialised.”

On a more serious note, the question is: Can American citizens trust the Justice Department to be tough on the BIG guys, when record shows otherwise? When the record instead shows unjust toughness on LITTLE guys, including use of barbaric “capital punishment,” conceivably, a sophisticated form of race- and class-based genocide?

Can citizens trust the intentions of the Justice Department, or is this just a move by administration to save Enron and administration, and who knows what other BIG guys involved?

Can citizens trust the “rule of law” when EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW is almost nonexistent, and there clearly appears to be a two-tiered set of laws, one for big celebrities in the top ring and another for everyone else?

Can citizens trust this administration and their appointees when EVERY action they have taken thus far clearly shouts they value only an entitled few within their own oil and war ring?

This administration should not be allowed to use an “Enron investigation” as a smokescreen to build blind trust, preventing citizens from taking action now to further examine: (1) what other companies may be involved in similar activity; (2) who are the mastermind organizers; (3) who are the domestic and international officials in government whose silence has been “bought” and who must come clean; (4) who has benefited from not permitting total public campaign financing and free media legislation to be considered and passed; (5) who has acted to prevent the powers of citizens to address government abuses; and (6) who has benefited from giving free reign and access to OUR tax dollars to military, CIA, FBI and Federal Reserve; and (7) WHEN is Congress going to take REAL action to prevent government-industry abuses with development of citizen watchdog networks over military, CIA, FBI, and Central Bank...?

It is time citizens demand our government and politicians get tough on the BIG guys, in support of current “deterrence” arguments.

Best wishes,

TS

9 January 2002

See Also:
New York Times defends Bush on links to Enron corporate fraud
[10 January 2002]