Lay recalled as an honest man by friends and family
Ken Lay was remembered as an honest man dedicated to his family and to God today as more than a thousand friends, former employees and dignitaries packed the First United Methodist church for the former Enron chief’s Houston memorial service. Lay, 64, who earlier this year was convicted on six federal counts of fraud and conspiracy in connection with the company’s collapse, died July 5 while vacationing in Colorado.
That sucking sound you heard is my already-tenuous grip on reality forcibly leaving the building. Jeebus, sheeple…what part of “CONVICTED FELON” do you not understand? How in the world can ANY reasonable person utter the words “an honest man dedicated to his family and to God” to describe a man who was “convicted on six federal counts of fraud and conspiracy”…and contend with a straight face that Lay was a good and godly man? How out ot touch with reality must one be in order to seriously believe that Ken Lay was anything but a corrupt corporate greedhead would fleeced the retirment accounts of his employees so he could continue living the high life in River Oaks and Aspen?
That Lay died an untimely and unfortunate death hardly diminishes the gravity and scope of Lay’s crimes. Despite the attempts to whitewash Lay’s criminality, he was not “an honest man dedicated to his family and to God.” No, Ken Lay was a common, garden variety thief who cared more about his own enrichment than taking care of business
It seems that his Republican friends are so deeply in denial that they cannot admit to the reality that was Ken Lay. Or perhaps they’re worried that the sources of their own wealth might be open to question if people begin looking in the wrong places?
Reverence for Lay — and flashes of anger — marked the service as speaker after speaker painted a verbal portrait of a business visionary and moral, loving family man.
“There are different things he meant to me,” David Herrold, Lay’s stepson, told those gathered. “Ken was not my biological father, but was in every sense of the word my dad. He was the major person who raised me in Houston. He has given me a lot.”
Herrold said Lay loved his wife, Linda, “with all his heart and soul.”
Herrold read lines from Psalms 18:19 that were among the last entries Lay wrote in a notebook he carried with him regularly. “I call to the Lord who is worthy of praise and I am saved from my enemies. He brought me out in to a spacious place. He rescued me because He delighted in me.”
“I’m angry because of the way he was treated in the last five years of his life,” Herrold added. “I think I’ll leave it at that … I’m glad he’s not in a position anymore to be whipped by his enemy.”
I find it fascinating- and quite disturbing- that the anger was directed at those who knew the truth about Ken Lay. No, there was no sorrow expressed for those thousands of employees and investors irreparably harmed by Lay’s overarching greed. No recognition of the fact that Lay was a convicted felon whose wealth came in large part via fraud and deception
Oh…and here’s where things get really wacky. I suppose it was just a matter of time before someone recommended Lay for martyrdom, and we should be thanking Rev. Bill Lawson for not disappointing:
Lawson, pastor of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, likened Lay to James Byrd, an African-American man who was dragged to death in a racially motivated murder near Jasper eight years ago.
“Ken Lay was neither black nor poor as James Byrd was,” Lawson said. “But I’m angry because he was the victim of a lynching.” Lawson, who also spoke at Lay’s Colorado memorial service, likened the businessman to President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Jesus — all of whom, the minister said, were wrongly victimized.
Wow. Un- f@#$&%g-believable, eh? How out of touch with reality, how arrogant, how completely devoid of anything resembling perspective must one be to compare Ken Lay- with a straight face- to JFK, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jesus. If Ken Lay is a martyr, then I’m the Queen of England. What, no comparisons to Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, or Mother Teresa? Jeez, listening to these maroons, you’d think that Lay was the second coming of John Paul II. Get a grip, willya??
If I were to compare Lay to anyone, he’d be more robber baron than saint, more Jeffrey Dahmer than Jesus Christ. OK, so that’s a bit hyperbolic, but so is comparing Lay to James Byrd and JFK. Jeebus, people…can you think about the words that are coming out of your mouths? Thousands of people have suffered because of the criminal actions of Ken Lay…and you’re still holding him up as some sort of saint and hero? Saints and heros don’t bankrupt their companies and empty the 401k accounts of their employees. Saints and heros don’t continue to live off their ill-gotten gains while their employees are wondering where their next Big Mac is coming from. Saints and heros own up to their faults and wrongdoing. Ken Lay was neither hero nor saint, merely a common criminal completely devoid of a functional sense of decency.
Lemmee just lay it out for you: there was nothing good, godly, or honest about Ken Lay, In the end, he was just another sad corporate greedhead who cared for little but his own enrichment. If Lay can reasonably be compared to Jesus Christ or Martin Luther King, Jr., then we indeed are so far down the rabbit hole that there’s no turning back.
More than anything else, I’m incensed that an ordained minister, a so-called “man of God”, can mention Jesus Christ and Ken Lay in the same breath and not realize just how arrogant and truly, insultingly absurd that sounds. If you believe in Hell, then Ken Lay is in it, stripped naked, covered in honey, and staked to a fire ant hill.
Now can we lose the self-delusion that Ken Lay is in ANY way comparable to Jesus Christ or Martin Luther King, Jr.? Jeebus, sheeple…get a grip….
‘Nuff said….
