shameless self-promotion, number 264 in a series
February 26, 2007
One of the colleges at which I teach is on break this week. This is exactly what I needed. In fact, did some writing this morning and chilled out during the afternoon by catching up on long neglected Netflix flicks and watching the snow.
Or rather I thought I was chilling out -- but I just finished watching Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, which was probably not the best choice, granted, and am now filled with a white-hot rage. What the heck is wrong with people?
So while I toddle off and mutter obscenities to myself, a much more pleasant link for your reading pleasure: my latest column for Austinmama. This one is about princesses and love.
I watched the Enron documentary a couple of months ago and oh, I remember that white-hot rage. Then I watched all the extras on the DVD and got (if possible) even angrier. So much smugness and greed and Teflon-like blame avoidance.
Posted by: Melanie | February 27, 2007 at 09:33 AM
I loved that piece. So cute. Well said.
Posted by: Catherine | February 27, 2007 at 09:47 AM
What's wrong with people? A lot of them are finding ways to justify cheating. Next time you need a blast of white hot rage, see David Callahan's book "Cheating Culture" http://www.cheatingculture.com . The truly frightening thing is how pervasive the cheating thing is these days.
Posted by: Trish | February 27, 2007 at 10:32 AM
Melanie -- not only did I watch the extras, I also looked up the Houston Chron's continuing coverage (www.chron.com/enron). White. Hot. Rage. Seriously (and I know this makes me a very bad person), if Ken Lay could die again, this time in a more lingering sort of way, that'd be swell.
Catherine -- thanks!
Trish -- I think some of them did justify cheating -- but there were a lot of other things that fed into the whole mess. Usually, the system of checks works. Here, it didn't. A lot of that is, yes, from rationalized corruption. There was also, however, just an inability to believe that what was happening actually was happening.
Posted by: Adrienne | February 27, 2007 at 03:08 PM
See, when Ken Lay died it was...too convenient for me (and I am not typically patient with conspiracy theories or their proponents). I would be unsurprised to discover that he's alive, well, and living it up somewhere.
I can't tell if that's a reasonable reaction or engendered by my desire to see karma come and stomp him hard--which is tricky to pull off if the intended recipient is, in fact, already dead.
Posted by: Melanie | February 27, 2007 at 03:54 PM