What Happened to Enron?

July 21, 2002

by Charles E. Perry

Remember when the Enron scandal broke? Remember all the cries for investigations from Democrats? Remember how outraged they all were about the little people being hurt, and how they were going to get to the bottom of it no matter where the investigation led? Have you heard much about it lately? Does it seem to you, like it does to me, that Enron has just dropped completely off the radar screen and is being ignored by everyone? Do you wonder why?

Well, I don’t claim to be omniscient, but there are some interesting facts floating around out there that might give us some idea why any investigation into Enron seems to be as stalled as a Yugo up to its axle in mud. The senator in charge of the committee charged with investigating Enron is none other than our old pal, Joe Lieberman. You know, the champion of the underdog and the little guy. Guess which senator also got huge campaign donations from Enron? Our pal, Joe Lieberman. He was asked to recuse himself, but he refused to recuse, saying he could be fair and impartial even though Enron had given him more dollars than a coon dog has fleas. Do you think it possible that those huge campaign contributions Enron made might have something to do with the slow (read: nonexistent) pace of the investigation?

Not that I would ever think of accusing our pure as the driven snow liberal idiots in Washington of being in anyone’s back pocket. No sirree, Bob! We all know that liberals are driven purely by principle. Why, Lieberman could have taken twice as much money, and it still wouldn’t have influenced him one bit, and it sure wouldn’t stop him from doing the people’s business, getting to the bottom of things, and protecting the little guy. So why hasn’t he? I’m not one to jump the gun, but it sure has the appearance of impropriety. Oh heck, let’s be truthful, it smells as bad as an overflowing septic tank.

Lieberman isn’t the only holdup, of course. I remember all those other Democrats who were hot to trot on the Enron thing. I remember how they all dropped dark hints that Bush might be tied into it somehow. The press went digging a bit, but everything they turned up pointed back to the Clinton administration, not Bush. Suddenly, all those Democrats stopped mentioning Enron, and the press ran away from it faster than Ellie Mae Parker ran from boys at the age of ten. Nobody was interested in Enron anymore, and the Democrats looked for new mud to throw at Bush.

So why isn’t Enron being investigated? I believe it’s a combination of payoffs and partisan politics. I think the Democrats are all out to protect the little guy, but only if they can blame a Republican. If they have to blame another Democrat, it’s going to get swept under the rug. And I think Lieberman is being an "honest politician" in the way Robert Heinlein spoke of them: "An honest politician is one who stays bought." That’s my take on it all, anyhow.

_________________________________________

Charles E. Perry is a freelance writer living in Michigan. He has done a variety of things in his life, including Ward Supervisor at the State of Michigan's Maximum Security Mental Facility. His degree is in accounting, but he discovered writing and now spends his time hunched over a keyboard, hollow-eyed, looking for just the right word. Perry is the author of "How Government Should Work: A Look at the Federalist Papers and the Constitution of the United States," currently pending publication.

Send the author an E mail at Perry@ConservativeTruth.org.

For more of Charlie's articles, visit his archives.