Smartest Guys in the Room

I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but somehow I missed seeing the terrific documentary, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. But last night I finally watched it and man-oh-man was I ever blown away.

Over the intervening years, what with all the shit that has been blowing our way, I also managed to forget a lot of the details on the Enron scandal, so this film was a great reminder of what happened during those dark days.

And I mean dark days literally, since Enron was solely responsible -- after the moronic California assembly went for deregulation of energy companies -- for those nightmarish "rolling blackouts" in California that ultimately ended with Gray Davis being ousted and The Governator being installed.

It was priceless (in a horrifying way) to watch the Enron Gurus blame the California blackouts on -- get this -- regulation!

There is so much to tell about this film that I can't even begin. Buy it, rent it, watch it, even give it away for Xmas presents.

And the next time that obnoxious wingnut brother-in-law of yours starts harping on the benefits of the so-called Free Market, you won't have to say a word. Just hand him your copy of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, for a textbook example of how free markets can -- and will, if left unregulated -- run amok and bring down the carefully erected infrastructure in a major state.

California yesterday, tomorrow the world? Only if the neocon assholes get their way.

Our job? Stop them.