Does anyone really think that George W. Bush has any place lecturing anybody on corporate ethics? Does he really think that self-policing can be effective after all of the problems? He showed in Texas that voluntary compliance with environmental regulations just doesn't work, but then the beneficiaries of that policy got him elected Governor as well.
Mr. Bush's questionable character is easily poited out by an examiniation of the whole Harken deal. First, it was the focus of an SEC investigation over the timing of his stock sale, which hapened just before Harken posted a huge loss. Now it has come out that the timing of his sale violated an agreement he signed that said he would not sell the stock for six months. He sold it after 2 and a half.
And additional issue with this is that Mr. Bush and spokesman Ari Fleisher seem to be mixing up the concepts "didn't prosecute" and "exonerated". Just because the SEC decided they didn't have evidence in 1990 to prosecute the then President George H.W. Bush's son, doesn't meen they found him innocent or didn't have outstanding questions regarding the transaction. It means that the =y didn't pursue the issue.
The current Bush Administration would have us believe that this is old news, and none of our business --- personal issues. They are taking this tack with Dick Cheney's Haliburton problems as well. Claiming that they have nothing to do with the President, Vice President, or their suitability for public office. From this arises the question: if these deals that encompased over $800,000 is the President's case and millions in Cheney's are none of our business, what was the hullabaloo over the Clinton's Whitewater deal? Why was that worth over $50 million taxpayer dollars to investigate?
According to right-wing harpy Ann Coulture's interview on Good Morning America, "it just is". Nice to know they have some logic, reasoning, and facts to back that up. Of course, she, and the rest of the Republican party like to ignore the fact that the only thing President Clinton was guilty of was trying to keep his personal life (involving an intern) just that, personal. Which leads to another question, for another time...why the uproar of President Clinton's affair, but not over Newt Gingrich's. At least the President didn't leave his wife.