1. Anonymous says:

    Hats off to the US attorney team that prosecuted these guys and the Houston jury that displayed their common sense.

    EW, expecting the corporate media to ask Snow about how Bush feels considering his top fund raiser and bosom buddy has been found guilty is like expecting to the sun rise in the west. The media will draw no connection between the Republican culture of corruption in DC and the Bush Rangers & Pioneers.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Sally

    Oh, I think he waits until after the election and then he just does it–voila, get out of jail free card. Though honestly, if Bush pardons Lay, Texas may turn Democratic. There are so many people who have been personally ruined, I can’t see Texans looking too kindly on Bush short-circuiting their revenge.

    ab initio

    Yes, hat’s off to the prosecutors, who managed to make Lay reveal his assholeness on the stand, which really did him in.

    I’m hoping maybe Helen will have some fun with this. But you’re right. The rest of the media is too smitten with Snow Job for the moment to ask this…

  3. Anonymous says:

    I just heard a snippet of an interview with a juror on CNBC, but it seems that Lay had the demeanor of someone who always had to be in control, and that doesn’t square with â€inadvertent blindnessâ€.

    Bush might have reason to be nervous, and all the other control freaks in this Admin. Control freaks don’t let subordinates run wild.

  4. Anonymous says:

    EW, Mimikatz,

    There’s a good reason why â€state secrets†is the legal pillar for Bush and Cheney. They are working hard to prevent any case where discovery into their decision making will be made. They can hold back the tide until a conscientous judge decides to review the â€state secret†and verifies its validity. And if it turns to be like the US Air Force crash case then the dam breaks.

  5. Anonymous says:

    EW–If the shoe is tight, you must indict.

    On pardons, it may depend on whether they are free on bail pending appeal or not. if the former, pardons can wait until after the 2008 elections, the traditional time for difficult pardons. But if they have to go to the slammer, and Club Fed is out if the sentence is longer than 10 years, then I would think the pressure for pardons increases, although it won’t sit well before the 2006 elections. Sentencing is in Sept.

  6. Anonymous says:

    I just don’t think pardons will sit well with Texas (or California) in any case.

  7. Anonymous says:

    http://www.gregpalast.com/deta…..#038;row=0

    Don’t kid yourself. If you think the conviction of Ken Lay means that George W. Bush is serious about going after corporate bad guys, think again.

    First, Lay got away with murder – or at least grand larceny. Like Al Capone convicted of failing to file his taxes, Ken Lay, though found guilty of stock fraud, is totally off the hook for his BIG crime: taking down California and Texas consumers for billions through fraud on the power markets. Lay co-convict Jeff Skilling and Enron did not act alone. They connived with a half dozen other power companies and a dozen investment banks to manipulate both the stock market and the electricity market. And though their co-conspirators have now paid $3 billion to settle civil claims, the executives of these other corporations and banks get a walk on criminal charges. Furthermore, to protect our president’s boardroom buddies from any additional discomfort, the Bush Justice Department, just days ago, indicted Milberg-Weiss, the law firm that nailed Enron’s finance industry partners-in-crime. The timing of the bust of this firm – the top corporation-battling law firm – smacks of political prosecution, and is a signal to Big Business that it’s business as usual. Lay and Skilling have to pay up their ill-gotten gains to Enron’s stockholders, but what about the $9-plus billion owed to electricity consumers? The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Bush’s electricity cops, have slapped Enron and its gang of power pirates on the wrist. Could that have something to do with the fact that Ken Lay, in secret chats with Dick Cheney, selected the Commission’s chairmen? Team Bush had to throw the public a bone, so they threw us Lay and Skilling for the crime – note – not of ripping off the public, but of ripping off stockholders – the owner class. This limited conviction, and the announcement of only one more indictment – of the crime-busters at Milberg-Weiss – is Team Bush’s â€all clear!†signal for the sharks to jump back into the power pool.