The Word for the Times

President Obama did a masterful job of speaking to the Congress and through that address speaking to the nation and the world. I have often marveled that politicians who make their livings selling their ideas and causes do it so poorly through the spoken word. During the previous campaign, I came to the conclusion the United States did practice torture but generally on its own citizens by turning politicians loose to speak often without end and more often without point.

The President is powerful in his prose and through his prose calling our nation to hope and hard work. In a time when words are powerful, our President is powerful in words. I really like that, admire that, and appreciate that.

There was one thing I was listening for last night and was not surprised not to hear. There was one word I yearned to hear in the proper context that was strangely absent.

That word was "Accountability." While the President did speak of coming accountability for the billions of dollars being accessed by banks, auto makers, and the like, I heard nothing of calling to account those who helped precipitate this financial meltdown.

Frankly, there are three lines of accountability I want to hear about. First, I want to hear about legal accountability. Documents were forged, laws were broken, frauds were perpetrated, regulations were violated. Such people need to be prosecuted.

Now there are two reasons for that. First, in my mind is the nature of the crime. Our gross national wealth has shrunk by over 40% during this meltdown. These are not just abstract figures, they are retirements, savings, incomes, small businesses, endowments. People have been deeply hurt by these criminal acts. In my mind this is nothing short of robbery. Someone needs to be prosecuted.

There is another reason for this as well. Every weekday I go to work in a Mental Health unit at a maximum security prison. It is the largest single gathering of incarcerated innocent offenders I have ever been around. I know they are innocent because they tell me they are innocent. They didn't do it or they didn't do it like that, or they couldn't have done it then, and on and on. Some make the case for living in a society where there is one justice for the rich man and one for the poor man.

If there are no charges, no trials, no jail time for those who are at the heart of this financial debacle, I will have to say that some of the offenders are right: there are at least two kinds of justice in America--and frankly that is not justice.

There is another level of accountability we need to see. Not every one who helped push us over the financial cliff did things that were criminal in the legal sense of the word. However, they are guilty of greed, arrogance, and gross mismanagement. Under their negligence, we have lost our lead in so many areas. Millions have lost their jobs because of the failure of leadership, CEOs, COO's and CFO's. Governing board did not govern and when things got to be too bad, leadership was cut loose to drift away in "golden parachutes." Again, people lost jobs, investments, retirements because lazy minded and lazy butted boards and company officers were too busy building their fortune instead of minding the store. Two things must happen to restore accountability to American businesses. Executives need to be fired without any compensation of any kind. Let the bastards take the company to court for breach of contract. Let the company lawyers pull out the records of mismanagement and stupidity and let the executive plead his case before a jury. Let his crocodile tears persuade the folks who work two jobs, can't afford decent health care, and have watched their meager savings evaporate while this executive went to Washington and got a billion or two or 20 to tide his mismanaged company over until they can lay off more workers and raise executive pay. Let them sue.

Governing boards also need to resign or be fired. Both executives and boards need also to have an unavoidable legal liability for the lack of oversight while they and their executives were at the wheel. It is called fiduciary responsibility which they failed to exercise. They need to be held accountable and their fortunes need to be in financial jeopardy similar to the jeopardy everyday people have endured as this economy has gone south.

There is one other arena of accountability we must see. Congress has given itself the task of regulating so many aspects of our daily, financial life. There are all kinds of "oversight" committees in the House and Senate. Last night I watched as the cameras panned the august gathered crowd and I was struck at how many of our elected leaders were stuffed full of their own importance and taxpayer food and money. Several looked like toads slowly drifting off to sleep lazily resting on a pond log. That has been the problem. Too many frogs sleeping.

So, if there is a single molecule of character, a single cell of integrity, a corpuscle of self respect, those entrusted with the oversight responsibilities they so quickly coveted should now resign, apologize to their constituency and the taxpayers of America and go home.

I deeply respect our new President and his determination to move us out of this fiscal mess years in the making. My problem is the people in the room listening were largely responsible for ignoring the warning signs down through the years. I have little confidence they have learned anything that will help us move forward.

Mr. President, don't expect the anger to go away until we see some of the shakers and movers of this debacle locked away, pushed away, and/or simply go away.

That will mean someone up there and out there is "truly getting it!!"