ENRON-THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM

ENRON, certainly a fine documentary but a thoroughly dispiriting one. A little more in the Errol Morris tradition than that of Michael Moore, it chronicles the trajectory of the fall of Enron. Not that there's anything new to report (although I didn't know about the Asian-American guy who married a stripper and made off to Colorado and Hawaii with $350 million), and it doesn't really take pot shots at the Bush administration.

Nevertheless, while watching Morris" FOG OF WAR one can't help but think about the disastrous thinking that has gone into Iraq. So, too, watching ENRON, one cannot only think about the total moral bankruptcy of the current administration, that wraps itself in patriotism and piety, but one that lies, cheats, steals and kills, one that not only reflects but one that cultivates the very values that led to the fall of Enron. (Cheney even touted the Enron CEO for Secretary of Energy). But the film is bold enough to suggest that the Enron debacle is not isolated, that it happened in a culture of greed and deceit. When one listens to Ken Lay's reassurances to the workers and investors of Enron, one can only be reminded of the deceptions of the Bush administration and the gullibility of the public who voted for him. And, just as the film states that there will be future Enrons, one can only think of the damage this administration has done that will haunt us for decades.