Peggy Noonan writes about her involvement with Enron — and why the Republicans in particular have a special obligation to make sure that those who abuse the free market system get “one big Texas whippin’.”
I am a conservative, and so a Republican. I believe that conservatives and Republicans have a special responsibility, as the party that stands for free markets, to see to it that free markets work, and are not abused, gamed or finagled. Republicans and conservatives have, I believe, a special responsibility to come down hard on people who cheat their shareholders and their employees.
Amen.
Noonan’s article is — how do I put this — sort of sad and touching. The poor dear is a True Believer having a hard time dealing with an ugly reality. Something like a naive, trusting Catholic getting an inside look at how a typical Cardinal of the the Borgia Pope era did business. And then she wants, expects even, Pope Alexander to enforce Truth, Justice and the Right. Yes, the Bush administration could just waive executive privilege and shine some light on the way its energy policy was fashioned. But don’t hold your breath.
Most Republicans don’t want to know how money gets made; sort of the same way most folks don’t want to see how meat is processed. Too squimish. Since most wealth involes labor (not necessarily from the folks who make the money), I think they have some aversion to watching.