|
February
10, 2002
Walt Brasch
Synergizing
America
February
9, 2002
John Blair
Criticize
Cheney, Go to Jail
February
8, 2002
CounterPunch
Wire
Ashcroft
the Bigot
Molly
Secours
Racism
and Real Estate
Wole Akande
World
Economic Forum:
The Aftermath
Cockburn/St.
Clair
Dita
Sari Tells Reebok
to "Shove It"
February
7, 2002
Patrick
Cockburn
Taliban's
War on Chess
John Chuckman
Howdee,
Dick!
Tariq
Ali
Mullahs
and Heretics
February
6, 2002
Amira
Hass
On
the Edge of the
Non-Violent Demonstrations
Vivian
Berger
Sentenced
to Rape
Vladimir Georgiyev
Russian Intelligence:
War on Iraq Begins in Sept.
Tom Turnipseed
"Axis
of Evil" a Cover for Corporate Corruption?
David
Vest
The
Enron Creature
February
5, 2002
Norman
Madarasz
Dispatch
from Pôrto Alegre
Tom Malinowski
What
to do with
Our "Detainees"?
Dita Sari
Why
I Rejected the
Reebok Human Rights Award
February
4, 2002
Eric Miller/Beth
Daley
Five
Weapons Systems
That Bilk the Taxpayers
Kenneth
Roth
Dear
Condoleezza,
You've Misstated the
Geneva Convention
Robert
Jensen
The
Occupation Must End
Shahid
Alam
How
Different Are
Islamic Societies?
David
Vest
Everybody
Says I Loathe You
John Chuckman
American
Politics of Grief
February
3, 2002
Zoltan
Grossman
War
and New Military Bases
February
2, 2002
Francis
Schor
Carlucci's
Strange Career
February
1, 2002
Dr. Susan
Block
The
Great Ashcroft Cover Up
Jeremy
Voas
Why
We're Suing Ashcroft
David
Vest
10
Things I Know About Him
January
31, 2002
Rahul
Mahajan
The
State of the Union:
A New Cold War
Dave Marsh
Miles
Copeland, War
and the Future of Music
John Pilger
The
Colder War
Alexander
Cockburn
American
Journal:
Killer Dog, Weird Couple
Dr. Susan
Block
Blowback
and Daniel Pearl
January
30, 2002
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Linda
Lay, Hill and Knowlton and the Tears of a Clown
Jack McCarthy
Free
Noelle Bush!
Michael
Ratner
Memo
to Bush: Adhere to
the Geneva Convention
Jay Moore
Proud
to be an American?
Susan
Block
The
Great Pretzel Swallower
and Guantanamo Porn
January
29, 2002
Gary Leupp
Why
This War Was, and Remains, Utterly Wrong
Alexander
Cockburn
The
Birds of Kandahar
Patrick
Cockburn
Afghan
Opium Trade
Back in Business
January
28, 2002
Larry
Chin
Brosnahan
for the Defense
Mokhiber/Weissman
Tyranny
of the Bottom Line
George
E. Curry
Civil
Rights Nominee Called Affirmative Action "Racist"
Sen. Russ
Feingold
Campaign
Finance Reform?
Think Enron
John Chuckman
Liberal?
Media?
A Photographic Journal of Life
in an Afghan Refugee Camp
By Judith Mann
Resources:
100s of Links
About 9/11
CounterPunch:
Complete
Coverage of 9/11 and Its Aftermath
Five
Days That
Shook The World:
Seattle and Beyond
By Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
Photos by Allan Sekula
(Click Here to Order from CounterPunch
Online at 20% Off Amazon.com's price!)
INSIDE
EXCLUSIVE
TO
COUNTERPUNCH
SUBSCRIBERS
Published Oct. 15, 2001
8-Page Special Issue
War Diary
CIA's Assassination Plan a History of
Torture in US Prisons
bin Laden and Bush
Business Connections
Aisha Ikramuddin on the Hidden Hype
of US Food Bombs
Peter Linebaugh on
Pakistan
Christopher Hitchens' Love for Mrs. Thatcher
Jiang Zemin Tells Bush:
Nuke 'Em
Search
CounterPunch
Read Whiteout and Find Out
How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The New Crusade:
America's War on Terrorism
By Rahul Mahajan
The Memphis Blues Again:
Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs
Photos by Ernest Withers
Text by Daniel Wolff
The New Intifada:
Resisting Israel's Apartheid
Edited by Roane Carey
A Pocket Guide to
Environmental Bad Guys
by James Ridgeway
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The
Phoenix Program
by Douglas Valentine
Al Gore:
A User's Manual
by Cockburn
and St. Clair
Buy
This Explosive
New Book at an
Amazing Discount!
Reviews of Gore:
a User's Manual
|
February 11,
2002
Media Insider Reveals Enron Correspondence
By John Troyer
Cherished and dearest of readers, I have a wonderful
surprise for one and all. Before I open the Pandora's box
upon which I sit --plunging us all into the rabbit's hole
and through the looking glass --I must confide a secret.
Many people do not know I spent some
time working on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. I have incriminating
photographs of myself standing next to various political leaders
and wearing a suit without any irony as proof. After re-reading
Goethe's "Faust" at the end of my power-hungry legislative
assistant internship in the land of the great white father,
I decided to avoid the business of brimstone and work instead
as an arts administrator. I still sold my soul, but for significantly
less money.
All of that, however, is not the point.
Even though I chose not to work in Washington, D.C., I have
maintained several contacts --people burrowed deep within the
governmental system. My contacts, or "Deeper Throats,"
as I call them, have provided me with important information
regarding the current Enron bankruptcy.
Brief pause: Does anyone else find the
term "bankruptcy" somewhat inadequate when used in
conjunction with the Enron Corporation's complete and total
financial implosion -- liquidating the personal finances of thousands
of employees who loved their (CLAP-CLAP-CLAP) deep-in-the-heart-of-Texas
employer? Why the categories "confidence scheme" and
"money laundering" have not been used more widely
is somewhat of a mystery. But then again, the American Indians
were just "relocated" in the 19th century, so maybe
Enron can as well be "bankrupt."
What my collective of Deeper Throats
handed me this week are copies of the secret "meetings"
between Vice President Dick Cheney (I still prefer the term
"prime minister" or maybe even Il Duce) and various
former, mostly living, executives of the Enron Corporation.
I know it sounds far-fetched that somehow
a pesky columnist with an FBI file the size of Antarctica could
somehow receive documents the General Accounting Office director
David M. Walker (a Republican, no less --GO TEAM GO!) is suing
in federal court to examine. I know the proverbial numbers don't
add up, but since I use the Florida Method for Computational
Certainty, trust me, I have the documents.
As a public service, I will now present
excerpts from a sampling of the various memos, e-mail messages
and faxes I received last week from my sources.
Item 1:
E-mail Message Sent May 2001.
Recipient: Dick Cheney
Sender: Ken Lay
Subject: Man am I hung over
Message Text:
Mr. President, oops, I mean Dick (HA!
HA!), I've got a hangover the size of Ted Kennedy this morning.
The boyeeeez in the House and Senate sure know how to kick it!
I didn't think Strom was ever going to settle down last night.
And that Lieberman --what a comedian!! Too bad he's not the
VP (J/K Big Guy).
By the way, I wrote a list of names down
on a napkin and gave it to your boss at a weekend barbecue.
Make sure he didn't lose it ... I should have given it to Laura.
Anyway, just some names/good people to know WHEN THINKING ABOUT
ENERGY POLICIES. I'm not saying these people should be on any
REGULATORY COMMISSIONS or anything, because we both know that
would potentially be illegal and I know you love Enron so maybe
you want to SELL YOUR STOCK NOW to invest in some other companies.
Just a thought out of left field. XOXOXO. KL.
Item 2:
Excerpt from a Fax sent by Ken Lay
at Enron headquarters to the White House, June 2001
Dear President Bush,
I am growing increasingly concerned with
the energy crisis in California. No one likes knowing rolling
blackouts are keeping vital electricity from hospitals, nursing
homes and schools. The children, Mr. President, my concerns
are for the children of California.
My company has prepared an easy solution
for the energy problems of California; we call it the "Out
of Sight/Out of Mind Contingency." The plan involves pushing
several nuclear power facilities sitting on or near the San
Andreas Fault to critical mass, causing massive core meltdowns
that would sever California from North America. The entire state
would then sink into the Pacific Ocean and cease requiring
electricity. Our plan is guaranteed to make our shareholders
happy, including YOUR MOTHER, as the nine-hundred-pound gorilla
that is California would finally be off our backs.
Please advise when and how the operation
should begin. As well, I have taken the liberty to purchase
some LARGE GOURMET PRETZELS for you to EAT while relaxing in
the White House. Please accept the gift as small token of thanks.
The pretzels will begin arriving in the fall ....
Item 3:
E-mail memo sent from President Bush
to Vice President Cheney on September 10, 2001.
From: W
To: Tricky-Dicky
Hey there Number 2:
Boy oh boy, am I tired of looking at
all these notes from Enron. Here's plan #2: We'll take the money
from the Social Security Administration and invest it in Enron
stock --boy do I love these free markets. Just keep signing
the checks; that's what I say.
I'm heading down to Florida for a book
reading tomorrow. I love spending time with the kids --keeps
me out of the office. I hope they have a "Curious George"
book at the school. Keep an eye on the shop for me. And I still
don't know why you said to make sure everyone I knew was away
from New York tomorrow but you're the "boss." {;)Will
do Buckaroo. [:) I do love flying in Air Force One --sometimes
the stewardess gives me the whole can to drink. WHOOPPEE.
--The Big W.
Item 4:
Phone message from Ken Lay taken by
assistant to Vice President Cheney in a Secure Location, December
2001:
Dick: Call me soon. All the business
about insider trading information and offshore shadow companies
being peddled in the LIBERAL MEDIA ESTABLISHMENT is all WRONG.
It was all for fakesies, not realsies. Tell Aschcroft to remember
whose been buttering his bread. And the PRETZELS Dick, make
him
eat the PRETZELS. Ken
Item 5:
E-mail from Ken Lay to Vice President
Cheney, January 2002:
Recipient: Dick Cheney
Sender: Ken Lay
Subject: While I'm out of the office...
Message Text:
Hey there Dick, old buddy, old chum.
I'll be leaving for a business trip soon, very very soon to
France. I hear the extradition treaty agreements are lovely
over there. Wink-wink. Anyway, I'm outta here until the whole
people-lost-all-their-money business is done and over with --
Linda and I are barely squeezing by with our 18 or so properties
for sale in Texas and Colorado.
Sorry about the pretzels; we'll try beef
jerky next time. I love you like a brother, man, so I would
hate to see any of the PRIVLEDGED CONVERSATIONS between us go
public. Just because YOUR NAME AND PAW PRINTS are all over my
company should be of little CONCERN. Kenny.
John Troyer
is a columnist for the Daily Minnesotan. He can be reached at:
troy0005@tc.umn.edu
|