Skilling Me Softly With His Song

Many years ago, the great composer, Cole Porter, penned a long-forgotten tune for the show, "Anything Goes". The song, which became a minor hit, was called "Friendship". Since it was always sung as a duet, one might speculate that it could very well have served as the theme song for the once very close relationship between George W. Bush and Ken Lay....

George: If you're ever in a jam, here I am!
Ken: If you're ever in distress: S.O.S!
George: If you ever get so happy you land in jail, I'm your bail!
Both: It's friendship! Friendship!
Such a perfect blendship!
When other friendships have been forgot,
Ours will still be hot!

Beautiful! Unfortunately for Lay, the only song the Bush administration seems to be singing these days is: "Oh, Kenny We Hardly Knew Ye, Hurrah! Hurrah"!

No one, and I mean NO ONE - Not Karl Rove, not Poppy Bush, not the Supreme Court, not even a hideously ill-informed American electorate - is more responsible for George W. Bush's ascendancy into the presidency than Ken "Kenny Boy" Lay. Here's a nasty little tidbit for you to munch on, kiddies: He's expecting a pardon. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that he's blackmailing the administration at this very moment.

What's to stop him from going public with the minutes from Dick Cheney's infamous Energy Task Force meetings of early 2001? If you'll remember, the Veep was adamant that the details of that little get together be kept classified. In fact, he even went to court to keep it so and then defied a federal judge who ordered him to make it public. Why? Oh, call it a hunch but what they had planned was probably not in the best interest of the American public. As a matter of fact, given the history of these dirty old dingbats, it was more that likely criminal. In the months that followed, Lay and co-defendant, Jeffrey Skilling, were able to take advantage of ENRON's virtual monopoly over California utility companies by creating a phony energy shortage which sent electricity rates in that state into the stratosphere. The result of all of this was the recall of democratic governor, Grey Davis, and the installation of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hasta la vista, baby!

And you thought that Bill Clinton's 11th hour pardon of fugitive financier, Marc Rich, was outrageous? Just you wait, Henry Higgins, just you wait! In the final hours of this administration (which I predict to be late next summer - Bush and Cheney will be impeached long before January 20, 2009) Dubya's pardons will make Bubba's look frivolous by comparison. I'd love to be in the room the moment Alberto Gonzalez gently tries to explain to him that a president cannot legally pardon himself. Oh boy! The disgusting little bastard is going to go right through the roof!

Ken Lay has this administration over a barrel right now. It's going to be a laugh riot in the next few months watching the machinations of the Bush White House privately trying to do everything humanly possible to keep Lay from cracking and publicly trying to keep their distance from him at the same time. This is just too funny for words!

The conviction of Lay and Skilling is just one more in a series of disasters for this nightmare of an administration. Watch in glee as their house of corruption starts a'crumbling! The chickens are coming home to roost - with a vengeance! This is, no question about it, the beginning of the end of the Bush presidency.The next year and a half is going to be very interesting. Very interesting, indeed.

I'm positively giddy!

Pray for peace.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

tomdegan@frontiernet.net