[cross posted]
A Moral From The Enron Trial: 'I Don't Remember' Is The Disease, 'Responsibility' Is The Cure
As Americans across the country celebrate Memorial Day, I want to take a minute to talk about the amnesia epidemic afflicting America. This silent plague has become the number one killer of 'responsibility' amongst U.S. citizens, and unless we deal with it boldly, amnesia will spread to every man, woman and child--destroying everything in its path. In recent years, a few bold New York trial lawyers who have dedicated their lives to the fight for a cure. But they cannot win this battle alone. They need our help.
What is 'Amnesia in America' and how can we stop it?
Stage -1 Amnesia: 'I Forgot'
'Amnesia in America' is a disease that afflicts corporate and government leaders who commit crimes.
First, these leaders steal money from shareholders, or manipulate accounting books, or violate finance laws, or willfully subvert The Constitution, or leak classified information for political revenge, or lie during testimony to Congress--or generally violate the public trust. Then, when they are caught, instead of taking responsibility for their actions, they say, 'I do not recall' doing anything wrong. It is a terrible, crippling disease.
Steve Martinused to tell a joke about Amnesia that was called 'You can be millionaire and never pay taxes.' It went something like this:
"You say, 'Steve, how can I be a millionaire and never pay taxes?' Two simple words. Two simple words in the English language ... 'I forgot.' How many times do we let ourselves get into terrible situations because we don't say, 'I forgot'? Let's say you're on trial for armed robbery. You say to the judge, 'I forgot armed robbery was illegal'."
Believe it or not--this strategy of knowingly saying 'I forgot' to avoiding the consequences of committing a crime--this is only 'Stage-1' amnesia.
To break the law and then pretend to not know the law, is a form of early-onset amnesia. In this condition--we know that we have acted immorally. The cure is intervention--a quick moment of confrontation where we are are told, either by a judge or by a friend, that the law is no joke.
The cure is the confrontation. Stage-2 Amnesia is much much worse because the strategic aspect starts to give way to real forms of forgetting. The sufferer of Stage-2 Amnesia truly believes it when they say, "I do not remember."
Stage-2 Amnesia: 'I Do Not Recall.'
Consider the following cased taken from the recent headlines, featuring high-profile cases of Stage-2 Amnesia in America:
Jeffrey Skilling, convicted criminal and former Enron Executive. Said during sworn trial testimony, "I really don't know if I knew that."
Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States. Said during unsworn Congressional testimony about abuse of Presidential power, "Sir, I don't recall having conversations with anybody in Congress about it."
Karl Rove, top advisor to President Bush. Said during sworn testimony to Grand Jury that he 'did not recall' revealing state secrets to a reporter.
I. Lewis Libby, top advisor to Vice President Cheney. Said during sworn testimony to Grand jury that he 'could not recall' details of the case where he leaked secret information to the press.
These are just a few cases, obviously, from a list that is much, much longer. What all these patients have in common is that Stage-2 Amnesia has taken over the part of their brain that produces moral behavior based on American values of personal responsibility. In the case of the Corporate Executive, he breaks business laws and swindles shareholders and employers out of their life savings, but Stage-2 Amnesia prevents him from remembering. In the case of the Attorney General, he violates The United States Constitution that he is sworn to uphold, but Stage-2 Amnesia prevents him from remembering. In the case of the top advisors to the President and the Vice President, they breach national security, but Stage-2 Amnesia prevents them from remembering.
It is plainly a crippling disease--worse in many respects than polio or childhood diabetes.
As we can see, Stage-2 Amnesia festers and spreads so long as it is left untreated. The best way to discover if someone has Stage-2 Amnesia is to require the patient to undergo extensive Grand Jury testimony and court room prosecution. The treatment is criminal conviction.
But the problem with this approach to Stage-2 Amnesia is that it deals with the symptoms, but leaves the disease to flourish. This leads to the much more deadly form of the disease: Stage-3 Amnesia.
Stage-3 Amnesia: 'I am Truth'
Like Joseph Merrick and elephantitus, Stage-3 Amnesia has its celebrity victims.
Richard Nixon suffered from Stage-3 Amnesia and he embodies its characteristics. At this advanced stage, the Amnesia no longer destroys the patient's ability to take responsibility for just one act, but impairs the ability to take responsibility for any act committed at any time.
In this advanced stage of Amnesia, the patient believes that he or she not only has forgotten that a crime has been committed, but is unable to recall that they are capable of committing crimes or immoral acts. The Stage-3 Amnesia patient, thus, becomes deeply convinced that they are the living embodiment of truth and virtue--despite leading a life of criminal behavior and total lack of personal or moral responsibility.
Years after the Watergate scandal virtually brought our system of government to collapse, Richard Nixon still believed that if the President did something--if he did something--then it could not be illegal.
In the current moment, we have several prime candidates suffering from what appears to be acute case of Stage-3 Amnesia.
President Bush believes that any act he commits during a time period that he alone defines as a 'war on terror'--is legal. Stage-3 Amnesia has taken him over to the extent that he can no longer recall that he is capable of committing immoral acts, the he too can break the law.
Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Rice, Attorney General Gonzales, Ambassador Negroponte, Secretary Rumsfeld--all suffer from the same, late-stage symptoms of Stage-3 Amnesia. All are unable to recall, as a result, their legal, moral and personal fallibility. They have become, in their own eyes, the living embodiment of truth.
'Amnesia' Is the Disease, 'Responsibility' Is The Cure
The great danger Amnesia presents in all of its stages is that it will become airborn--and in so doing, leap from the diseased-ridden executive and government offices in places like Washington, DC and Houston, to locations not previously infected, such as schools, the home, and America's quiet streets. If Amnesia were to become airborn, the damage would be catastrophic as the moral foundation of our nation would collapse.
The cure, of course, is large doses of responsibility. But not just personal responsibility.
When the disease of smoking addiction had taken hold of and threatened to destroy America, the cure did not come in the form of individuals alone chosing not to smoke. The cure took the form of a cure for the disease pushed at the highest levels of government and industry.
We live in a moment, however, where it is tabboo for corporate and government leaders to discuss Stage-1, Stage-2 and Stage-3 Amnesia. It has become such a shameful disease that, like the early stages of the AIDS epidemic, it is difficult for people in positions of power to talk about for fear of embarassment or stigma.
But we must talk about it.
As a nation we must talk about the problem of Amnesia and we must confront it.
Our role model on this Memorial Day 2006 are the courageous jurors who returned the verdict in the Enron trial. Jury duty is a difficult task--often a thankless task--but the Enron jury lived up to the great American value of responsibility and took the first important step to cure the disease before it reaches its deadly, airbone stage.
What can we do to follow the leadership of the Enron jury?
Anytime we hear leaders in America claiming not to remember or recall the crimes or immoral acts they committed, we must identify them as suffering from a disease.
And we must demand that our candidates for office be dedicated 100% to fighting this disease.
We can cure Amnesia in America through swift and fearless enforcement of corporate laws.
We can cure Amnesia in America through fair and balanced tax policy.
We can cure Amnesia in America through publicly financed elections.
We can cure Amnesia in America by removing its victims from office--and giving them immediate treatment.
And we can cure Amnesia in America by talking about it relentlessly with our families, our children, our students, our co-workers, our employees--our fellow citizens.
The time has come to acknowledge and to end this terrible disease.
Let's work together to make Amensia in America a thing of the past.
© 2006 Jeffrey Feldman