[Dialogue] Don't Make A Martyr Out of Moussaoui

[Harry Wainwright]

Published on Thursday, April 20, 2006 by TruthDig <http://www.truthdig.com>


Don't Make A Martyr Out of Moussaoui 

by Molly Ivins 

 

"Compare and contrast," read the directions for essay exams in the old
college blue books. Compare and contrast the trials of Zacarias Moussaoui
and Jeffrey Skilling. 

Moussaoui appears to be headed for the death penalty, despite having an
alibi of the lead-pipe-cinch variety. He was in jail on Sept. 11, 2001, so
we know he wasn't out hijacking jets and killing people. He also appears to
be seriously crazy, or at the very least a chronic liar, but that's a
separate argument. Although Moussaoui is a member of Al Qaeda, there is
evidence that they thought he was a crazy screw-up, too. Peter Bergen,
author of two books about Osama bin Laden, told The Washington Post, "Even
al-Qaida tried to cut this guy loose." 

In Texas, we are quite accustomed to seeing people who haven't actually hurt
anyone sentenced to death. One classic case featured a kid whose entire
contribution to the annals of crime consisted of holding open a screen
window. Another kid crawled through said window to burgle a house, surprised
the householder, and fatally shot her. The perp then rolled on the
screen-holder, who bought the death penalty for abetting in the commission
of a felony with firearm. 

Nor would Moussaoui's mental state draw much note here. Where's Dr. Death
when you need him? Dr. James Grigson testified in hundreds of capital murder
cases in Texas and was always certain that the defendants were going to
commit more violent crimes and should be executed-even though he never met
with some of them before testifying. 

If I were to make an argument against the death penalty for Moussaoui, it
would be on grounds of practical public relations. Why let this guy have
martyrdom and world fame when we could just put him away? 

Meanwhile, back in Houston, we have our laughs, too. Jeff Skilling was
testifying along about the great rip-off that almost pushed California into
bankruptcy when he observed that the state formerly called "Golden" had a
regulatory environment like that of Brazil. 

Prosecutor Sean Berkowitz stared at him. "Do you think it was funny what
happened in California? You're smiling." 

Skilling backtracked and said he regretted joking about it. But isn't it
almost funny, what happened in California? Remember the Enron energy traders
who thought it was so funny they joked about ripping off "Grandma Millie,"
the citizens of California, and how unfair it was that Californians wanted
their money back? All that madness when California was caught in this
hopeless bind, having to buy energy at grossly inflated prices? 

If the California legislators had been stupid enough to deregulate
electricity in such a disastrous way on their own, they would deserve being
laughed at. But they had help-from Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling. Enron spent
more than $345,000 lobbying in California. 

Skilling himself testified to utility commissioners that deregulation could
save the state $8.9 billion: "You can triple the number of police officers
in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and San Diego. The stakes are huge,
and every minute that we delay bringing competitive markets to California
allows the meter to keep ticking." 

Enron was very busy creating the regulatory climate of Brazil nationwide in
those years. From 1997 to 2000, 24 states adopted energy deregulation, and
Enron repeatedly sent Lay and Skilling to testify. The company spent more
than $1.9 million in campaign contributions to more than 700 candidates in
28 states since 1997, according to the National Institute on Money in State
Politics. 

Enron had a huge fleet of lobbyists and even enlisted George W. Bush,
then-governor of Texas, to call Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania to lobby for
deregulation. According to the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, "In early
1998, Enron Corp. secured a $750,000 contract for political operatives tied
to (then) House Majority Whip Tom DeLay to secretly conduct an aggressive
grass-roots campaign pushing energy deregulation.... The contract was
awarded after DeLay personally recommended to Enron officials that they hire
the team of strategists who make up the inner circle of his political and
fund-raising machine." 

I doubt it will startle any citizen to read that the quality of justice in
this country is deeply affected by how much you can afford to pay for it. If
Zacarias Moussaoui could afford the jury coach whom Jeff Skilling has
sitting in the courtroom, he'd doubtlessly be less at risk. 

But in both cases there is the same feeling that maybe we've missed the
point-the real culprits in the Moussaoui case were the FBI higher-ups who
stifled the investigation and have never paid any price. In the Enron case,
our political system should be a co-defendant-campaign contributions,
lobbyists, sellouts and all. 

Molly Ivins is a nationally syndicated political columnist who remains
cheerful despite Texas politics. Her latest book is "Who Let the Dogs In?
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400062853/commondreams-20/ref=nosim
> " 

C 2006 TruthDig.com, LLC 

###

 

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