It occurred to me this morning, that Senator Barack Obama is a lot like the late Enron founder and CEO Ken Lay. Ken Lay, when you examine his life, was man who seemed to do everything right and best in everything he did. Lay went to the University of Missouri, where he was the president of the Zeta Phi chapter of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Lay earned a PhD in Economics from the University of Houston, and went on to work at Exxon Mobil. Lay was enormously successful and in short order served as a federal energy regulator and became undersecretary for the Department of the Interior before joining Florida Gas. Lay was experienced and in perfect position to build his new company, originally named Houston Natural Gas but renamed Enron in 1985. Basically, for decades Ken Lay had the golden touch, never putting a foot wrong and succeeding at everything he did.
Until he finally found a situation out of his control. And rather than deal with Reality and accept the damage needed to survive, Lay instead drove the company into the ground all the harder. Lay never meant to hurt anyone, I do believe that. But he did hurt a lot of people, anyway, precisely because he could not deal with a situation out of his control. Lay had never accepted that he could lose at something, and when he was faced with that reality he started lying and cheating, anything to evade the scenario he could not control.
Barack Obama is turning out to be like that, himself. Obama has enjoyed a fortunate role in every major undertaking of his life. His education included the prestigious Punahou Academy, Occidental College in Los Angeles, then Columbia. Immediately upon graduation, Obama was mentored by major political figures in Chicago, and he joined the Trinity United Church of Christ, whose pastor, Jeremiah Wright, became a defining influence for Obama by his own account (prior to his recent run for President). Obama then entered the Harvard Law School, and graduated magna cum laude. Obama was then hired by Miner, Barnhill, & Galland. Obama has been involved in politics since his community activist work in the 1980s, and his volunteer work for Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign for President. Overall, like Ken Lay before him, Barack Obama has worked hard and been tremendously successful at everything he tried, never tasting defeat at all. Obama's meteoric political rise to the top of the Democratic Party ticket has been nothing short of Enron-like in its speed and scale, given his thin resume and lack of accomplishments. Just a few weeks ago, it seemed that nothing could stop Barack Obama from becoming the next President of the United States.
Enron, however, was never as solid as its image. Accountants inside the company warned of serious, fundamental, problems with the company's structure and cash flow, warnings that were ignored or out and out quashed. So, when Enron finally came crashing to earth it did so with little hope of financial survivors; even half a decade later, forensic auditors have been largely disappointed in their efforts to find a functional sector or salvageable property or resource. It is now become apparent that the Obama campaign is similarly hollow and rotted-out. Initially, there were some questions about the details of Obama's policies, and inconsistencies between what Obama had said in different places. Rather than clarify his position and expand on his plans, Obama became evasive, even dismissive. The problem was made worse when Hillary Clinton's eighteen million supporters demanded he show public respect for her efforts and the historical significance of her campaign. Obama was so busy making sure he got props for his own campaign (which was not, by the way, the first, second, or even third time that a black candidate had run for President), that he spent no real effort at all praising the significance of a major female presidential candidate. Obama then ignored a promise he made to help Clinton clear up campaign debts, and refused to even extend the courtesy of vetting Clinton for the VP nominee short list.
Then McCain tapped Sarah Palin to be his running mate, and the cracks in Obama's campaign became gaping holes. All those PUMAs Obama insulted and ignored began to rethink their support for the Democrat, and a bunch of women who thought this election had nothing of meaning for them decided that Sarah Palin made their support important.
The collective thought in Hopeychangeland?
"Ooops".
Or various phrases with similar meanings.
- continued -
You can learn some things about a person by their triumphs and victories. But you also learn about them, by how they address their mistakes, their setbacks, and their difficult times. John McCain screwed up his first marriage, he's been very honest about that. But while he and Carol did not remarry, they did reconcile and she is very supportive of him. John McCain lost a bitter primary battle to George W. Bush in 2000. But he and President Bush worked out their differences and are solid allies who respect each other on many issues, even where they disagree. And John McCain spent over five years in a virtual hell, where he was physically and psychologically tortured, but during which time his fellow prisoners have said he was an outstanding leader and symbol of courage. That tells us some important things about John McCain.
Barack Obama has enjoyed many opportunities and advantages in his life, and there's not a thing wrong in that. But we have not seen how he deals with his mistakes, how Barack Obama handles defeat, or how he faces serious adversity. But we can see what happened when a similar 'golden boy', Ken Lay, finally came face to face with something greater than his capabilities; Lay was just not up to the moral challenge.
The funny thing about Lay, is that he left Enron once, in pretty good shape. He came back to it when things were getting bad, and at that time he could have made a difference, when he actually could have saved the company and the investments of so many people.
But he could not handle a crisis of that type and scale, especially since it would have required him to admit that mistakes had been made, and that lies had been told. Instead, Ken Lay tried to cover them up and to protect his buddies. Ken Lay was inadequate to the task. His behavior over the past week indicates that Barack Obama is also inadequate for the role he desires to assume. When he found out that Sarah Palin had been nominated for Vice-President by the Republican Party, in spite of McCain's congratulations the previous week Obama could not return the favor at first. Obama's first impulse was to insult and attack, a practice he has repeated over and over again as he falls in the polls. Despite sending lawyers to Alaska to try to dig up something he could use to smear Palin, Obama's campaign has only found lies and insults to use, and these only work against Obama. The promise of rising above petty bickering has been forgotten as Obama desperately seeks a way to slap down his opponent. Like a bad swimmer drowning in a riptide, Obama becomes more and more frantic in his behavior, first spewing puerile insults, then feigning innocence when called on it. He obsesses with his inability to counter the opposing party's Vice-presidential nominee to such a degree that he completely ignores the issues and debates between himself and the GOP's top-ticket nominee. The Democrats can do little more than stand by and watch in despair as their self-anointed Messiah proves no more than just another charlatan. When the test came, for all his expensive suits and crafted speech, Barack Obama was simply unready and ill-suited.
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Comments (26)
Fascinating paralell betwee... (Below threshold)1. Posted by langtry | September 10, 2008 5:31 PM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Fascinating paralell between Ken Lay and Barack Obama, DJ. I had never really thought about it that way.
Also, I know P.U.M.A.s refer to Hillary's supporters, but what exactly does the acronym stand for?
1. Posted by langtry | September 10, 2008 5:31 PM |
Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 17:31
2. Posted by DJ Drummond | September 10, 2008 5:33 PM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
'Party Unity, My Assistant!'
(last word modified)
2. Posted by DJ Drummond | September 10, 2008 5:33 PM |
Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 17:33
3. Posted by WildWillie | September 10, 2008 5:33 PM | Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Party Unity My Ass. ww
3. Posted by WildWillie | September 10, 2008 5:33 PM |
Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 17:33
4. Posted by jp2 | September 10, 2008 5:37 PM | Score: -16 (20 votes cast)
Funny, I see parallels to McCain - the rise of power and its corruption. And similar to Lay, the punishment for his bad judgment (one of the Keating 5) was minimal.
Lang:
PUMA = party unity my ass. Classy, no?
4. Posted by jp2 | September 10, 2008 5:37 PM |
Score: -16 (20 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 17:37
5. Posted by DJ Drummond | September 10, 2008 5:38 PM | Score: 10 (12 votes cast)
The stress from the disgrace killed Lay, jp2. That's still not enough for you?
And I showed where McCain has endured and learned from mistakes and adversity. While your toy candidate - like Lay - has run rather than dealt with it.
5. Posted by DJ Drummond | September 10, 2008 5:38 PM |
Score: 10 (12 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 17:38
6. Posted by carly | September 10, 2008 5:43 PM | Score: 12 (12 votes cast)
Thank you, DJ, for excellent insight about Obama's flaws that are coming into the public eye, and their origins.
Isn't it amazing that with Obama's recent statement to Stephanopolous that Republicans throw rocks and hide their hands, that he is doing the same thing re the lipstick attack.
Also, it brought to mind how the press excoriated President Bush on numerous occasions for NOT ADMITTING when he was "wrong"? What a drumbeat that was for a long time! I doubt we will hear them request him to back down from his outlandish and horribly boorish comment.
As a seasoned mom experienced in kids trying to pull one over, I believe he not only knew what he was doing, but then lied about it afterwards. The body language tells it all. I would think most moms in America picked up on this.
Thank you, you are always a pleasure to read!
6. Posted by carly | September 10, 2008 5:43 PM |
Score: 12 (12 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 17:43
7. Posted by Dave | September 10, 2008 5:58 PM | Score: -12 (14 votes cast)
DJ what your saying is totally absurd. I can draw as many comparisons between McCain and Duke Cunningham, the republican vietnam war hero/pilot who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes.
7. Posted by Dave | September 10, 2008 5:58 PM |
Score: -12 (14 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 17:58
8. Posted by Mac Lorry | September 10, 2008 6:01 PM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Last Friday the left was trying to float the idea that McCain's pick of Palin for his VP showed he had poor judgement. Well, McCain has been vindicated as evidenced by the polls. Now some on the left are finally seeing that Obama didn't make the best pick for his on VP. That might be easily dismissed if it wasn't Biden himself who's admitting it.
As I said before, Obama searched the entire nation for the best VP he could find and he picked an old white guy, like it wasn't important to demonstrated his "change you can belive in" claim with his choice of VP. Even Biden realizes that Obama's first executive decision was a big blunder, which shows Obama doesn't have the experience to be President.
8. Posted by Mac Lorry | September 10, 2008 6:01 PM |
Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 18:01
9. Posted by Mac Lorry | September 10, 2008 6:04 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Better link for post #8
9. Posted by Mac Lorry | September 10, 2008 6:04 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 18:04
10. Posted by Dave | September 10, 2008 6:42 PM | Score: -5 (5 votes cast)
It still remains to be seen if the bump in the polls will last. McCains lead in the polls is starting to diminish and Obama is still ahead in electoral college polling. Don't count your pigs until they're out of the oven.
10. Posted by Dave | September 10, 2008 6:42 PM |
Score: -5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 18:42
11. Posted by Clay | September 10, 2008 7:03 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
McCains (sic) lead in the polls is starting to diminish
Oh, do tell.
11. Posted by Clay | September 10, 2008 7:03 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 19:03
12. Posted by DJ Drummond | September 10, 2008 8:15 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Yes Dave, where exactly are you seeing that, seeing as no poll has yet done more than one report since the GOP convention?
12. Posted by DJ Drummond | September 10, 2008 8:15 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 20:15
13. Posted by Oyster | September 10, 2008 8:18 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
"DJ what your saying is totally absurd. I can draw as many comparisons between McCain and Duke Cunningham,..."
Then you don't deny the parallels to Obama.
13. Posted by Oyster | September 10, 2008 8:18 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 20:18
14. Posted by GarandFan | September 10, 2008 8:24 PM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Obama's attitude towards Governor Palin is to be expected (see his treatment of Hillary!). He appears to have a problem in dealing with women who have power. (Freud could have so much fun with Barry and his relationship with his Mom).
14. Posted by GarandFan | September 10, 2008 8:24 PM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 20:24
15. Posted by Mac Lorry | September 10, 2008 8:36 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
McCain doesn't have to win the election for his pick of Palin to be vindicated. The shift in the polls is all that's needed. As for electoral college polling, Obama is now down to 228 to McCain's 227. Nothing for an Obama supporter to brag about.
15. Posted by Mac Lorry | September 10, 2008 8:36 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 20:36
16. Posted by Dave | September 10, 2008 9:08 PM | Score: -2 (2 votes cast)
I dont know where you get your figures from but according to RealClearPolitics.com:
ObamaMcCain
217189
Obama is ahead 28.
16. Posted by Dave | September 10, 2008 9:08 PM |
Score: -2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 21:08
17. Posted by Dave | September 10, 2008 9:45 PM | Score: -7 (7 votes cast)
I'm not claiming that McCain has the same lack of morals as the once great Duke Cunningham. It would be just as absurd as DJ.
Just because Duke and McCain share some remarkable positive things in common. That does not mean they share the same flaws.
However, I will point out that Obama graduated magna cum laude while McCain graduated at the very bottom of his class at the Naval Academy. Out of 899 students in McCains graduating class, 893 had a better GPA. Seems he had/has difficulty grasping milatrary training at the academy. Do you really want a president dumber than Bush?
http://www.nndb.com/people/914/000023845/
17. Posted by Dave | September 10, 2008 9:45 PM |
Score: -7 (7 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 21:45
18. Posted by DJ Drummond | September 10, 2008 9:47 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Dave, you appear to be trusting an aggregation.
If you have been following the discussion on polls this month, you'd understand why that is unreasonable.
But some folks prefer a pleasant delusion to sterner facts.
18. Posted by DJ Drummond | September 10, 2008 9:47 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 21:47
19. Posted by is it true | September 10, 2008 9:54 PM | Score: 0 (6 votes cast)
Berg vs. Obama, Civil Action No. 08-cv-4083, in Federal Court
What is going on here! Is it true that Obama was born in Kenya Africa. Is it true that there are no records of his mother giving birth to him at any hospital in Hawaii.
What Hospital in Hawaii was Obama born at?
Who was the Doctor that delivered him?
Who was the Nurse that cared for him at his mothers delivery?
What are their names?
Is it true that his Grandmother, and half-sister have said he was in fact born in Kenya.
Is it true that Republicans have records to prove Obama was born in Kenya.
And is it true that he was registered as a citizen of Indonesia as a Muslim.
Is there any truth to any of this. Where is the major media on this story. Have they investigated this. Has any of the above been proved untrue.
If any of the above is true this is very serious.
What's up!
19. Posted by is it true | September 10, 2008 9:54 PM |
Score: 0 (6 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 21:54
20. Posted by DJ Drummond | September 10, 2008 9:55 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Dave: "Do you really want a president dumber than Bush?"
Of course not, that's why Gore and Kerry lost, one reason at least.
So, how do you feel about your 'magna cum latte' idol losing to the 'very bottom' guy whose heroism is apparent to most of the voters?
20. Posted by DJ Drummond | September 10, 2008 9:55 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 21:55
21. Posted by Dave | September 10, 2008 9:58 PM | Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
If you guys are really any different than the DailyKos you would do something about post 19. Otherwise stop your winning.
21. Posted by Dave | September 10, 2008 9:58 PM |
Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 21:58
22. Posted by Dave | September 10, 2008 10:44 PM | Score: -5 (5 votes cast)
DJ,
He's not losing, according to RealClearPolitics.com Obama is and has always been ahead in the electoral polls. Since its the electoral count that matters and McCains bump appears to be subsiding, Obama is still winning.
22. Posted by Dave | September 10, 2008 10:44 PM |
Score: -5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 22:44
23. Posted by Dave | September 10, 2008 11:09 PM | Score: -8 (8 votes cast)
DJ,
If you were hiring a doctor would you choose one that graduated in the bottom of their class?
Only in America(republican party) can someone who graduated at the very bottom of his class become a presidential nominee.
Although Palin has not released her GPA or transcripts she had an unusual college experience.
She started at Hawaii Pacific College, transferred to North Idaho College, then transferred to the University of Idaho, tranferred next to Matanuska-Susitna College, then tranferred back to University of Idaho where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism.
This will be my last off-topic post.
23. Posted by Dave | September 10, 2008 11:09 PM |
Score: -8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on September 10, 2008 23:09
24. Posted by epador | September 11, 2008 12:28 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Dave, we're not going to open the pod bay door for you once you leave topic again.
Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true...
24. Posted by epador | September 11, 2008 12:28 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on September 11, 2008 00:28
25. Posted by Cara Ellison | September 11, 2008 11:29 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Hi,
Your facts about Enron are not only wrong, they're terribly insulting.
Ken Lay didn't know defeat? How would you even quantify that? He had plenty of deals that didn't work, notably, the Dynegy merger.
He did not "drive the company into the ground all the harder." If you believe he did, how about an example?
Lastly, he did not resort to lying or cheating. Enron collapsed because of the market conditions that we see today with Lehman, Bear Stearns, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Enron was one of the best companies we've ever known - and the fact that you use it to compare Obama is revolting.
25. Posted by Cara Ellison | September 11, 2008 11:29 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 11, 2008 23:29
26. Posted by Just John | September 11, 2008 11:57 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Obama is still married to his first wife.
26. Posted by Just John | September 11, 2008 11:57 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on September 11, 2008 23:57