A Modest Proposal for Dealing with AIG Execs Bonuses

Outrage can feel cleansing but ultimately it is rather useless. Right now public outrage is boiling over at the news that top AIG Execs will receive $165 million in "bonuses". Correct me if I'm wrong, but a bonus is supposed to be a reward for outstanding or at least above average performance. These guys are the same ones who helped torpedo the world's economy with their shady practices and are the same shameless crew that threw a big party at a posh resort to celebrate shortly after the first "bailout" payment. There was public outcry then but the party was already over by the time their self-indulgence had been discovered.

This time AIG's top dogs were caught before they divided the booty but are now claiming that they are obligated by contract to award these bonuses or the incompetent executives who have brought our economy to the brink of disaster might sue them! Again, remind me what a reward/bonus is. It appears these porkers get to waddle up to the trough and slop regardless of their performance. But I digress, back to my premise: outrage is ultimately useless.

Here is my modest proposal: Expose these managers to public scrutiny. Post the names of all AIG executives receiving any of the $165 million in the recent payoff on a public website and then let nature take its course.

Within a few hours the full addresses, email and a whole lot more information will be public knowledge thanks to "public outrage" in action. Following that, people will do whatever they want with that information, hopefully in an appropriate and legal manner... of course. I have a few suggestions, all legal and decent, but I'll keep them to myself for now.

So what do you propose we should do to these professional porkers?

Multi-tasking Inauguration

I just couldn't help myself, it was too much of a temptation. During Tuesday's inauguration, CNN streamed the ceremonies online in conjunction with Facebook. On my computer screen was a flash video window with the CNN reports and the proceedings while on the right hand side of that same page was a panel that allowed me to see either what my friends were posting about the event or switch to see what everyone was saying. It was a remarkable experience, kind of like standing on the Mall in Washington, DC, waiting for the show to begin and striking up a conversation with the people around you about the event. The only problem was that I eventually got to talking to half a dozen people at one time and began to lose track of the event itself.

Soon the whole multi-tasking thing got way out of hand. I had the TV on in the living room to record the event for my wife Ginny, a TV on in the office with me (because I discovered that CNN/Facebook coverage lagged behind the real event by 30 seconds) to follow the event as it happened, the CNN/Facebook coverage on my computer (muted because it was behind) and in the meantime I was trying to install Vista on my wife's computer! I'm afraid that I probably missed some important parts of the inaugural address but I figured that I would catch it later.

It amazes me that my grandchildren somehow manage to accomplish a lot of things while doing many things at once. I discovered through all this that I am simply not up to multi-tasking more than two things at one time, such as walking and chewing gum while the world around me Twitters itself into a cloud of ADD oblivion.

Hail to the Chief

What a remarkable confluence of history: The inauguration of the first African American president of this country following the remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King's valiant struggle for just such a moment. I can imagine Dr. King and St. Peter leaning on one of Heaven's parapets looking down on the events Tuesday morning when suddenly the gatekeeper of glory nudges Dr. King and says, "See, I told you, we shall overcome."

May the "we" truly be all of us as we put aside political divisions, racial mistrust and economic differences to once again stand as "We the People of these United States...", committed to raising one another up and stepping over the threshold of fear and indifference to apply our considerable skills to "bearing one another's burdens."

I invite you to join me and take a moment and pray for our new president and his coworkers for wisdom, courage and decisiveness. Then let us ask God to show us"... not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for it."