Letters: Feb. 25, 2002

The Enron Mess

I am perplexed that the Enron situation is considered a scandal [THE ENRON SPILLOVER, Feb. 4]. It seems to me this is the epitome of Republican philosophy and policy: remove resources from the worker bees of America as quickly and efficiently as possible and concentrate them in the assets of the wealthy. The Enron collapse just continues what deficit spending and tax breaks for the wealthy have done to widen the income gap since the 1980s. PAMELA MULLER St. Petersburg, Fla.

Enron is not an aberration but the tip of a special-interest iceberg endangering Americans’ future economic security. This is not a time for political rhetoric and blame placing by the White House and Congress. There is a growing corrupt and evil collaboration between government and business leadership in Washington. It involves many Republicans and Democrats in the Legislative and Executive branches who provide regulatory protection to U.S. corporations, unions and associations for campaign money. It’s time to dissolve this corrupt capitalist partnership. CRAIG KAISER Arroyo Grande, Calif.

Statistics tell us that harsher penalties have little deterrent effect on a holdup man. Top executives, however, understand penalties. If they were sure that criminal fraud would get them 10 to 15 years in a penitentiary, they would think long and hard before committing the kind of deceit that went on at Enron. BILL RICHMOND Carmichael, Calif.

Your article danced around the idea of a possible White House scandal while offering the weakest support of the allegations I have ever read. So five years ago, while George W. Bush was Governor of Texas, Karl Rove recommended Ralph Reed for a job at Enron. How is that illegal or unethical? And a few sentences in a government report may have been altered at the suggestion of Ken Lay. But that is unimportant, because the energy policy the report advocated was never enacted by Congress. You need to focus on fair and balanced reporting. DAN LONG Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

I am frightened for our domestic security and financial safety when the White House holds secret talks to protect the robber barons who pillage us. Are our elected leaders protecting the American people, or are they only looking after their friends in Big Business? RANDY E. HENDERSON Romney, W.Va.

Call me cynical, but the Enron house of cards is an example of modern American capitalism at its “finest”: elected officials being influenced by huge sums of money, top executives making off with millions of dollars and having cozy political relationships, the White House refusing to talk, and regular folks left holding the proverbial bag. For my money, fraud, greed and corruption certainly should bring down a government–but they won’t. JAMES P. MORGAN Gardnerville, Nev.

You haven’t found anything connecting the White House with Enron in any meaningful way. People won’t be fooled by the Democrats’ attempt to smear this Administration. The Dems might just shoot themselves in the foot. MARY S. BELL El Cajon, Calif.

I have sympathy for all shareholders of Enron who lost so much in the company’s collapse. A point to consider for future investing: Warren Buffett, unquestionably a savvy investor, follows a simple rule of never investing in a business he doesn’t understand. My guess is that only a small percentage of Enron investors understood the energy-trading business the company was in. How many losses could have been avoided if these investors had just adhered to Buffett’s easy-to-follow rule. DANIEL MCADAM Poultney, Vt.

–Some of you were taken aback by the cover image of the White House illuminated against an apparently ever darkening shroud of dusk. “I had to double-check the date on the cover,” wrote a Colorado reader after experiencing a sense of deja vu. “For a minute there I thought we were back at the Clinton White House.” “Your cover would have passed the bias test if it had substituted the Capitol building for the White House,” suggested a New Jerseyan, “as both Democrats and Republicans were beneficiaries of Enron’s greed.” A Nebraskan pressed her charge more bluntly: “The article is about Enron, but the picture is of the White House. You’re learning from the tabloids, huh?”

EDS Responds

Your article “Under The Microscope” [THE ENRON SPILLOVER, Feb. 4] did a disservice to EDS [Electronic Data Systems] by implying that our company has hidden liabilities. We do not. EDS does not engage in off-balance-sheet debt transactions. The contingent obligation you referred to relates to a small part of our business in which we arrange financing on behalf of our customers with third-party financial institutions for capital assets. We use third-party financing principally to reduce EDS’s risk. The financial institution assumes all credit risks associated with the repayment of these customer obligations. The only exposure for EDS is in the unlikely event of nonperformance by our company, which would permit the customer to terminate the contract. We have never had to repay a loan because of contract termination for nonperformance. SCOTT KRENZ, VICE PRESIDENT AND TREASURER, EDS Plano, Texas

Unlawful Fighters or POWs?

I am an instructor at France’s war college and a colonel in the reserves. I agree with law professor Ruth Wedgwood that the detained al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters are not combatants as defined by international law and should not be treated as POWs [VIEWPOINT, Feb. 4]. I am sure the U.S. Army respects these detainees and is treating them in compliance with the laws governing the conduct of war. I am also sure the Army knows they are fighters who have a fascination with death. Even so, a just trial and good treatment must preclude the death penalty. Their punishment must be redemptive. JACQUES MARTIN-BERNE St.-Cyr-l’Ecole, France

Hairsplitting over the distinction between POWs and unlawful combatants is overshadowing the larger issue of eradicating terrorism and rooting out terrorist cells. What a colossal waste of money and effort it would be to fight the war in Afghanistan if the rights of the criminals who violated all the rules of war were given more importance than those of innocent victims. DINA AUSTIN Brampton, Ont.

According to the Geneva Convention, classification as a non-POW is done by an independent third party, not on a whim. And if those who are detained are not pows, they should be charged with a specific crime. LEIF STORM Regina, Sask.

A Somber Birthday

I appreciated Patti Davis’ poignant article about her father Ronald Reagan, his Alzheimer’s disease and plans for his 91st birthday [FIRST PERSON, Feb. 4]. I think I speak for many Americans who miss seeing news about our former President. Although out of the political arena, Reagan will always be a public figure. By opening a window on his medical condition and life today, you have made us feel closer to him and more able to share the family’s pain. EMILIO SCHLABITZ Culver City, Calif.

Apparently nothing is too sacred for Davis in her endless quest for publicity, not even her father’s fragile condition. She was quite happy to profit by writing self-pitying accounts of her childhood when President Reagan was in the public eye and she could churn up interest from the media. Now, at a time when he is losing his battle with Alzheimer’s, Davis has reinvented herself as the caring daughter, using trite images plucked from some sentimental novel. Next she will be wangling television appearances as an Alzheimer’s-patient caregiver. ANNE CAMERON Glendale, Calif.

The Global Village of New York

Kudos to Michael Elliott for his down-to-earth description of New York City as the champion of globalization in its most positive form [ESSAY, Feb. 4]. As a displaced New Yorker and the daughter of immigrants, I read his piece several times. Elliott captured what makes the city work. It is loving one another’s food, celebrating one another’s holidays (even if we’re not sure what they are about), riding the subways like sardines packed in a can and working together–and dying together, as Sept. 11 proved. It is a living U.N. The macrocosm of the world should be more like the microcosm of New York. CLAIRE LISSANCE Albuquerque, N.M.

Loved Elliott’s celebration of New York’s diversity. This joyful view of our world communities in America was such a blessing! My thanks to Elliott for embracing our present and future. ELAINE JOE Oakland, Calif.

First Amendment Fracas

RE your report on the firing of Muslim professor Sami al-Arian from the faculty of the University of South Florida because of his anti-Israel stand [SOCIETY, Feb. 4]: This firing is a violation of First Amendment rights, to say nothing about al-Arian’s being a tenured professor. When self-righteous citizens like the university president who dismissed al-Arian disregard the law and ignore the Constitution because they disagree with an individual’s opinion, they become the very terrorists they profess to abhor. PHIL WILT Van Nuys, Calif.

To call al-Arian’s views pro-Muslim is slightly wrongheaded. One who rants “Death to Israel” and attracts notorious leaders of Islamic Jihad is not pro-Muslim but a militant hatemonger. We want our teachers to be positive role models for our children. Diabolic creeps like al-Arian do not belong in U.S. institutions of higher learning or any educational institution at all. PAUL HARDY Tacoma, Wash.

Sweet Severance

At a time when millions of people are seeking employment, I was sickened to read of singer Mariah Carey’s $28 million buyout from EMI’s Virgin label [PEOPLE, Feb. 4]. Where but in America would someone get this much money not to work? This must really impress the refugees elsewhere who are cold and hungry. Is this the picture of the U.S. we want the world to see? RUTH SWANSON Millersville, Md.

Corrections

The credit for the cover photo of the White House [Feb. 4] should have read, “Photograph from SuperStock.”

Our item about the Taliban and nuclear-weapons-construction documents that were uncovered at an abandoned al-Qaeda safe house in Kabul [TIME.COM, Dec. 3] said the humor publication the Journal of Irreproducible Results is defunct. It is not, and interested readers can visit its website at www.jir.com