esrosedotblog

MARTHA SKEWERED

There is some bipolar back spin to the Martha Stewart guilty verdict that is interesting. One side says that they went after her and it is unfair that she has been pilloried. The other is that she is another example of greed run riot and should be made an example of. No one has asked me what I think; but I believe the whole deal is just a little more mundane.

As I get it, the Feds were running some checks on the Waksal family and the ImClone situation; and there, in the middle of the brokers' records, was Martha with her hand in the cookie jar. No one exactly hunted her down. There she was. Hand in the jar and crumbs on her face. I read that they gave her a chance to plea bargain and she refused. (MSNBC)

Some say that it was not that big a deal; what is 55,000 to someone who has so much money? Well. It IS a lot. It would keep us going here in PS for awhile. It is also interesting that for some big poo-bah to risk her neck for that sum, it has to be important to HER. So, let's not write the amount off as trivial. Besides, it is not about the money it is about the lie. Is that OK?

There is no doubt that the celebrity spin has some momentum. Here is a woman who is the tastemaker and role model of a big slice of the populace. Are we going to let her be a role model for lying and cheating? Include me in a discussion of role models and their responsibility to society. This would go for the doped athletes, the tit barers and other people who should know better and have a responsibility to give back to where they got it from.

Now, the other extreme; the one about making an example of her. Kick her ass. Well. It is too late for that isn't it? It has been kicked as hard as it is going to be. I have had enough of the insiders getting 'their's' while us outsiders get 'our's'. 'Our's' is the extra hidden fee, the convoluted book keeping, the misleading advice. Time to even out the playing field, yes. Maybe this will be a spur to the regulators and lawmakers. But I doubt it. They have been there taking 'theirs' all along, eh? A little of Martha is a diversion. Oh. Someone said they went after her because she is a well known Democrat. OK. I doubt it. There is enough to go for without making it political. Even the bushers wouldn't waste their time on that one. Would they?

So what is the bottom line? Laws were broken willfully. Ignorance of the law is no excuse (did you know she used to be a stockbroker)? Perjury is not OK. If you play you pay. Life is not fair. What goes up must come down. We are all equal under the law. There is the right of appeal. What else?

Well, I never saw her on teevee and I would not buy or do anything because she said so. I am not in the role model business, myself. It is amusing to see how people who do need a 'martha' in their life will respond to this. Few, will be in a position or be able to emulate the cookie jar trick though.

OH. About the picture. It is legit; a 'good thing' about her; not some nasty parody. Someone lasered a portrait of Martha on a gourd and she is examining it. Obviously pleased to be out of her gourd. (Couldn't help it).