Wednesday, February 01, 2006

...Which, come to think of it, sounds like a pretty good idea

[Lawyer Michael] Ramsey described [disgraced Enron head Ken] Lay as "bone-solid, churchbound all his life," and highlighted his millions of dollars in philanthropy. While Lay accepts responsibility for the bankruptcy of Enron, Ramsey said, "Failure is not a crime. Bankruptcy is not a crime. If it were, we would have to turn Oklahoma back into a penal colony." --The Associated Press

And, of course, people who are "churchbound" never commit any crimes, right?

UPDATE: God Is My Codependent notes that Ramsey seems to be confusing Oklahoma with Australia. A quick search turns up no info on Oklahoma ever being used as a penal colony, but speak up if I'm wrong.

2 comments:

unclewilly said...

Well, of course Oklahoma was never a penal colony, but the Indian Removal Act of 1830 made the area a place of exile for a whole gang of pesky, undesirable natives who wanted to go on living east of the Mississippi. Class: which would you prefer--imprisonment or forced migration to a strange land?

punkinsmom said...

You're assuming that the people who currently live there don't regard Oklahoma as a penal colony already.