MARTHA, IN BAS RELIEF
What It Means To Be "SEC-Guilty"

March 04, 2005 - 00:08 [z-05:00]

       I never did think Martha Stewart was guilty of much.

       From the time she was inferred as guilty by the media of some heinous crime down to today, I still don't see her as guilty. If she is guilty, she's as guilty as Bill Clinton and less.

       What Martha Stewart is, is a comment on the regress of the American justice system. Her conviction was all about winning and nothing about justice.

       The short version of this story: Martha hears news, not quite clean, that her stock will tank. She sells. She's asked by the Feds if she heard ANYTHING about the conditions that would cause her stock to tank prior to her selling it. she says "no." Had she said, "yes," she would have been guilty of a misdemeanor. - paid a big fine-that would have been that. She lied. That turned a misdemeanor into a felony.

       We all want to live lives of pristine virtue. But that goal generally ends the first time we lie to the school bully.

       Is that what Bill Clinton said to himself to justify his actions before Congress. Maybe. Maybe not. But it certainly was the Post Clinton Telling-Lies-to-Power Era in which Martha told her lie.

       Now, if you're under 21 and reading this, please understand that it's NOT ok to lie. This is what we adults call "situational ethics." It's the kind of thing that grownups fall back on when asked what they would do if they were harboring a room full of Jews, and a Nazi officer asks if there are any Jews inside, and we say, "no."

       Martha may or may not have panicked. Maybe she realized the truth - that she was an easy and very big target. Or maybe she was simply exercising her civil right of disobedience toward a set of laws that never should have been passed. The Security Exchange Commission is a poorly thought out, poorly executed idea that never should have been. It has caused more grief over more pretended "evil" than any other bad idea government has ever had. Only the little people within the system get hurt and only the big targets outside the system get stuck. I challenge anyone to prove the contrary. I have lived the horror and it is real.

       And it's not just the SEC. The NASD is much, much worse.

       Added to the insult, is the fact that there existed and still exist laws to prevent true theft and true cheating, but those are almost never invoked.

       And believe it or not, many DA's in the wonderful country are only looking for a stepping-stone up - that means locking up people in very conspicuous ways. In those circumstances, it's about winning, not about justice.

       Anyway, back to Martha. She's out now, and I hope she makes a gazillion dollars and flaunts it in the face of every prig that ever sniffed a nose. I still won't watch her show, because I have always thought they were drivel. But I will cheer her on as she sends a servant to go to her bank and put her cash in. I will glob with glee as she tells her figurehead president what to do, running her company by proxy. I will cheer at the TV every time some jealous, poor person disparaguses her. (disparagus - v.t. [disparage+asparagus] to say cheap, threatening words while turning green with envy)

       So hooray for Martha Stewart! I'm glad she's out. She lost for lying to the school bullies. Now she's out and that suits me just fine.