“Better than Gore,” snickered Sunday.
“No kidding,” said Ruben.
“Gore?” Then Kipp asked, “Didn’t he invent the Internet?” They all broke out laughing. Warren was in serious thought about something.
“It really is sad,” he said, his smile gone. “When we were in Iraq I saw a soldier on CNN all excited when he was interviewed. He said that this is what he had been training for all of his life, and he couldn’t wait to use his training.”
Beau took a deep breath and sighed. “Actually, we trained to be ready for war but with the hope we would never need to use it.”
Ruben, Sully, and BJ nodded and Kipp said, “Aye, mate, that we do.”
“Whether or not Bush did any good or not, you can’t deny the fact that Rumsfeld, Cheney, and others in his cabinet, especially Karl Rove, had their own personal agendas,” said Beau. “And the people weren’t part of that agenda.”
“Did Rove ever tell the truth?” Ruben said more than asked.
“He had to be that way for security,” snapped Pickett.
“Security?” steamed Warren. “Tell that to Valerie Wilson.”
“That was treason,” said Ruben.
“Rove didn’t commit treason,” pushed Deberg.
“And there are WMD’s in Iraq,” quipped Sully.
“That wasn’t President Bush’s fault,” said Natasha.
“He surrounded himself with greedy men that lied to accomplish what they wanted,” said Beau. “I never understood how Rove made two war veterans like McCain and Kerry look stupid and appear like cowards after fighting for their country.”
“The WMD and the Rove CIA thing with Wilson made the military lose confidence in Bush,” said Sully.
“True, but what bothers me most was the men in his cabinet actually running this country, and we didn’t vote for any of them,” Beau noted.
“Yeah, and somewhere along the line money and oil were a big, big factor,” Ruben added. Again many of them nodded.
Warren shook his head. “Rumsfeld scared me.”
Krysti agreed. “He scared me a little too. He didn’t seem to care about Iraq or our soldiers.”
“He was not a man you would want to run a country,” said Beau.
For a moment Natasha shook her head too. “It is important to trust the people running this country.”
With a nod Krysti said, “I agree with Natasha.”
“I know you’re right, Honey,” said Sully. “But they never do anything for us that will instill our trust.”
“Ethics,” said Ruben, smiling.
“Ethics?” Natasha asked.
Ruben continued, “Yeah, there were no ethics. The Republicans changed the ethics to accommodate their crooked friends; just look at Tom Delay.”
Sully laughed. “Yeah, old Delay. Every time he did something unethical he just changed the ethics code.”
“It would be nice to trust them but just look at the condition of our country now,” Warren sighed.
“Goes double for me,” chimed Ruben. “The CEOs of America did their share to create this situation.”
Most were nodding in agreement to Ruben’s words when Krysti flared up, which also brought out more of her accent. “I lost my retirement and my father was forced to go back to work. He’ll never be able to retire now.”
Resentment was reflected in Warren’s words. “Tyco, Global Crossing, WorldCom, and Enron were what really killed my father.”
Sunday added, “It did the same for my parents. My mother had been retired only a few months when they lost everything on their stocks. She had to go back to work and died a few months later. My father died not long after her. I know the stock fraud killed her.”
Looking at Sunday, Beau said, “I remember the executives saying they knew nothing and Congress would pass fraud laws, but if it was fraud why weren’t they prosecuted?”
“Simple,” said Ruben. All eyes turned to him as he continued, “Why do you think Martha Stewart went to jail and the others didn’t?” No one ventured a guess. “She didn’t contribute to Bush’s re-election campaign.”
A few groaned and shook their heads, while Ruben’s words brought a chuckle from Beau and Warren.
“Their accountants helped,” said Beau.
“Yeah, Arthur and Anderson called it creative accounting, but fraud is the real word to describe it,” said Ruben. “That was about the time I figured out how to buy stock.”
“Hey mate, tell me. I never figured out how.”
“Neither did I,” said Sully. “Tell us.”
With a smile and a wave of his hand Ruben said, “First of all, see if the company you want to buy stock in has a CEO. If they do then don’t buy any stock in that company.”
Warren shook his head. “Ruben, they all have CEOs.”
Ruben beamed. “Bingo. That’s the same thing I figured out.”
Sully, Beau, and Sunday laughed. Even Natasha chuckled, while Krysti and Warren nodded sadly in agreement.
Sully said, “They were traitors. All the CEOs were traitors. They should have been tried for treason for what they did.”
“I don’t understand how so few actually went to jail,” said Beau. “And those that did go didn’t stay for long.”
Shaking his head Warren said, “Check the re-election campaign funds of all the politicians. I’d bet that a lot of the money the CEOs stole was deposited into many a politician’s re-election fund.”
Ruben could barely hold back a laugh. “Do you know what CEO means?”
Again Natasha fell into his trap. “Of course, it means Chief Executive Officer.”
“Not really,” said Ruben. “While Bush was president it came to mean Chief Embezzlement Officer.” Sully, BJ, and Beau broke out laughing, while most of the others chuckled at Ruben’s words.
“I can see Webster’s definition of CEOs in a hundred years,” said Ruben. All heads turned to him, and when he had their attention he finished with a wave of his hand in the air as though he were reading something: “CEOs, a group of men that undermined the security and integrity of a country once called the United States of America.” Sadly none of the people at the table had an argument to his statement.
“It’s kinda sad,” Beau almost mumbled. “If you had a picture of the CEOs of WorldCom, Tyco, Global Crossing, and Enron along with Osama bin Laden, it would be hard to pick out which one did the most damage to the United States.”
“Whew,” said Warren. “That’s rough.”
“That’s not a very nice comparison,” said Natasha.
Thinking about her father, Krysti said, “Maybe not.”
“I don’t know,” said Ruben. “Sounded fair to me. I don’t think I could choose.”
Turning to his wife, Sully said, “I’m sorry Natasha, but mark my words—” His voice was filled with anger. “One day those CEOs and politicians will get what they deserve, and I want to be there to see it.”
“Me too,” said Warren.
Thoughts of war and death filled Beau’s mind. “No. You don’t want to see it.”
“How did all this happen?” Sunday mumbled.
“Greed!” said Beau, with a touch of sadness in his voice.
Krysti nodded but Natasha shook her head. “This is still better than my Russia.”
Eye to eye with Natasha, Beau asked, “What makes you think this country is immune to what happened in Russia?” For a moment Natasha was in deep thought.
Sunday said, “When did it start? Who did it?”
“Reagan and Bush and that Savings and Loan debacle,” Ruben said with conviction.
“Carter,” said Warren.
“Not Carter, he didn’t know what he was doing,” snickered Sully.
Beau nodded. “Yeah, he might have been the only honest president in the last fifty years.”
Krysti almost laughed. “You don’t like our presidents.”
“Just say I lack a lot of confidence in their ability to run a country.”