Even in death Ken Lay inspires rancor
By John David Powell (07/07/06)
The story of Ken Lay and ENRON is Shakespearean in its tragedy. It brings to mind Marc Antony's eulogy from "Julius Caesar" in which he said, "The evil that men do live after them / The good is oft interred with their bones."
Shakespeare may have borrowed from Euripides who noted, “When good men die, their goodness does not perish, but lives though they are gone. As for the bad, all that was theirs dies and is buried with them.”
Therein lies the rub for those who like things in their places, all tidy, nice, and neat. Ken Lay was a bad man in the eyes of the law; some would even say he was evil incarnate. Yet his bad deeds and good will not perish nor be interred with his bones.
Comments regarding Lay consume Houston’s talk-radio shows these days. By far, the most common comments either drip with acrimony or promote the conspiracy theory that Lay faked his death. Or both. It is easy to envision the village peasants, armed with torches and pitchforks, marching to the castle to demand the master produce the body of the monster so the good people may see with their own eyes the lifeless corpse before they set it ablaze in a fruitless attempt to assuage their anger and allay their fear.
One can easily appreciate the anger, the hatred, and the bitter sense of betrayal felt by those who tied their personal careers and their families’ financial futures to ENRON. It is harder, though, to understand the unbridled rancor expressed by those not touched by the actions, or inactions, of Lay and his associates. The verbal, personal attacks upon a dead man would be more palatable if preceded by statements of condolences for his children and grandchildren, victims not only of the family patriarch, but also of those who feel an unconstrained desire to vent without thought or feeling.
There is nothing wrong with using compassion to balance contempt.
I think about these things more than I used to. It is one of the reasons I chose not to continue a career that allowed me to write about crooked public officials and university administrators who stole public funds and cheated students out of a proper education. I would write my stories, then fret about the collateral damage to their spouses and to their children who involuntarily shared in a printed pillorying because of the person they loved and trusted.
“It is not your fault their dad is a crook,” I was told (and told myself).
Nor is it the fault of the talk-show habitué who has a face to place on corporate greed. And that’s important, to place a face on what you hate. It is what helped us win two world wars. We placed faces on evil and kept those images before us on the frontlines and on the home front.
This is why we will not win the war on terrorism. We cannot define the enemy. We cannot place a face on evil, because terrorism has many faces: the white supremacist; the gansta in the ‘hood; the murderous, religious radical who beheads or bombs abortion clinics.
But the evil of corporate greed has a face. And today, that face belongs to Ken Lay. His death robbed many of the satisfaction of seeing him pulled down from a life of luxury to a life of concrete and iron bars. Their only recourse now is verbally spitting on the face of corporate greed.
Other Houstonians, many of them with stock in ENRON or personal relationships with Lay, chose the compassionate route. They remembered him as a civic leader who helped improve and promote the city. They cited him as a generous supporter of local charities, service organizations, and higher education. They mourned him as a man who did good and decent things for others.
They also know that one should not embrace the bad and ignore the good. Ken Lay, his family, his foundation, and his corporation, contributed greatly in many ways to Houston and to its people. And the city and its people will continue enjoying the benefits of his largesse for many years to come.
They benefit when they attend an Astros game in the new ballpark. They benefit when they cash their paychecks from a corporation that moved to Houston because of the contributions he made to help make the city economically and culturally competitive. They benefit when their children attend college on a scholarship or enroll in programs funded by Lay or his associates. They benefit when they use the services of a charity, or a community organization, or a church that accepted gifts and contributions from Lay.
To continue the Shakespearean theme, let me say that I am not writing to disprove or to lessen the bad things that happened. As with those compelled to stand up and shake their fists and pray that he burn in Hell, I am compelled to point out that they did love him once, and not without cause.
“O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason.”
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