The New York Times tonight offers an analysis of the Enron scandal by Kurt Eichenwald (Verdict on an Era: Arrogance and Recklessness at Enron)
http://www.nytimes.com/...
In reading the piece I was immediately struck by the following paragraph. The comments it makes read as an indictment not only of Mr. Lay, Mr. Skilling, Enron and big business corruption, but clearly of the Administration which came to power, fueled in significant part by the mountains of cash it generated and the shared philosophy...to wit.......
Attention to the mundane details of business -- debt maturity schedules, available cash, companywide risk -- appeared to be almost second thoughts among the senior ranks of the company, if thought about at all. Instead, the focus was centered on marketing the image, not only of the company, but of its senior executives. It was an approach that met widespread success and was emulated throughout corporate America.
Compare and contrast Eichenwald's words (with what we know today of this administration):
Attention to the mundane details of business.....(Any concern or attention to matters of policy)
Debt maturity schedules, available cash (uncontrolled spending, massive deficits, lack of accounting controls, hiding true budget estimates, massive corruption)
Companywide risk (ignoring expert forecasts in favor of ideological certainty/ignoring and/or supressing opinions which conflict with yours/weakening our military,/weakening our alliances and strenghening our enemies, damaging our economy and removing democratic rights in the name of war/global warming.)
Instead, the focus was centered on marketing the image, not only of the company, but of its senior executives. It was an approach that met widespread success and was emulated throughout corporate America. (Spin is everything/Image is everything/Never debate the issues - instead attack the opponent/Use carefully phrased slogans and images to create a climate of invincibility and leadership where none exists.)
And note the last part of Eichenwald's text....and WAS emulated throughout corporate America.
Uh Kurt...those practices are still being used today by the Wal-Marts and the oil companies and the big drug and insurance companies. And worst of all they are still being used today by this Administration which views every challenge as an opportunity for spin.
Immigration? Suddenly claim you support the thousands of new bodies on the border your administration failed to fund just months ago and then send the President to the border to be photographed riding around in a Humvee.
Katrina?Send the President to stand in front of a dramatically lit church in New Orleans and proclaim help is on the way. Blame the mayor of the city and the governor of the state for any shortcomings.
The Medicare Drug disaster? Hide the true costs of the bill, and threaten members of your own party to win passage. Make sure there will be no effort to negotiate lower prices with suppliers. Stage meetings with carefully selected seniors, claim everything is rosy and people just need to sign up.
Iraq? Continually claim that military leaders are getting everything they ask for while cutting veterans benefits and failing to provide sufficient protection for troops in the form of body and vehicle armor. Tell us "Mission accomplished" and we're making progress and success is "just around the corner."
Enron may now be behind us, but its legacies and practices and the ethos it represents in both business AND politics lives on and thrives....and nowhere so proudly as in the lies, deceit and increasingly transparent "image" of the bush administration.