Overturn of Ken Lay's verdict on appeal

:popcorn:

...but I don't think he'll get far with an appeal. That's just my gut feeling. As for a pardon, Lay is too damaged now-- I think Bush might have considered a pardon if Lay had something to offer Bush, or even if Lay was simply well regarded enough among the rich bastards Bush wants to be in with. That might have been true before the Enron collapse-- certainly was true during the hay days of Enron's bogus success-- but now, Lay is a pariah and pardoning him will simply taint Bush without offering anything to compensate. So I think Kenny boy is going to actually do some hard time sooner or later.

It's not as though we can VOTE THEM OUT OF OFFICE or anything like that.

I totally agree that whether or not Bush pardons Lay has absolutely nothing to do with public opinion-- I think it has everything to do with the opinions of a select group of very rich people who Bush wants to spend the rest of his life playing golf with. I don't think THEY give a rat's buttocks about Ken Lay any longer, or if they do they don't see much advantage in raising public ire by getting him off the hook. Lay screwed up badly and he got caught, so he is a convenient sacrificial scapegoat for that group (I don't mean to suggest that he's not genuinely culpable-- just that real culpability isn't the issue for the folks whose opinions matter to Bush).

Bush would pardon Lay in a minute if there is any long term benefit to him in doing so-- I just don't think there is anymore, so he won't.

Under clinton enron went corrupt, under bush we nailed em.

Food for thought really. This is how 'they' see it:
Enron was screwing people in the 90's.
bush comes into power.
They are nailed and prosecuted.

For the record: I worked for Enron in the late 90's and saw it's corruption first hand. I am happy those assholes got what was coming, but they were not the only ones screwing us over. There are still quite a few left who will never be prosecuted. Anyone here hear of zond?

So I voted for option 3 even though it isn't very close.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

by the judge. And I *think* I heard that that that same judge will hear the appeal on the jury verdict.

So I bet his chances are pretty slim -- at least to get off on everything. Even if some of the charges were reversed on appeal, just one of them -- just the one decided by the judge -- could put him away for a long time.

I don't think an appeal will be sucessful, nor do I think there will be a pardon, nothing in it for Bush.