The Enron-aissance may finally be over.
When Enron exploded in late 2001, the news media descended upon Houston to pick clean the carcass of a wholly despicable entity.
Somebody made a documentary that got some critical acclaim and every news channel sent reporters to Texas to interview "regular folks" who lost their jobs and their pensions.
A small group of top officials got creampuff sentences in white-collar penal resorts, and the big boss of the company went ahead and died on a ski trip to Aspen while awaiting trial.
False profit statements pasted over huge hidden debts were only the most visible of Enron's many financial crimes.
The culture of corruption in that corporation spread much further than some cooked books. Enron was only a symptom of the sickness.
Having discarded that one bad apple, we decided to just turn around and pretend that everything was all better.
More worried about Sept. 11 and the impending war, the American system could not handle cleaning up a mess that obviously extended far beyond just one company and their "rogue traders."
Those traders scurried to the shelter of the banking system, where crazy and barely ethical schemes became as commonplace as expensive suits and erectile dysfunction.
The old white guys at the top of the game cashed their checks and walked away from the smoldering fire - but not until after they lit their cigars.
This year, "60 Minutes" and "Frontline" explored the Enron-aissance as it seeped into every part of American life and eventually poisoned the entire world.
In 2006, the total global output of all nations was $47 trillion. The total of all stock and bond markets was $117 trillion - but the derivative markets were dealing with $473 trillion.
Keep in mind that America spearheads this insane growth while fighting wars on two fronts.
Every aspect of this blooming flower of fraud was unprecedented in history.
Maybe it felt good to pretend that we all had a chunk of that fake money in our own bank accounts, but reality had to intervene at some point in the near future.
Enter President Obama.
Among the clattering responses to the colossal spending plan Obama will sign into law today is an important clause limiting executive pay at companies that accept bailout money.
These limits will include deep cuts to the shameless bonuses that CEOs and VPs have used to siphon off millions of dollars in essentially stolen money.
Many in the media are worrying about how a $500,000 limit on executive salary will drive top executives to competing world markets, where their "talents" allow them to entertain offers in the tens of millions.
But really, these spineless individuals have spearheaded our descent into an Enron-aissance of corruption and twisted capitalism into an empty charade. Can we afford to give them anything more?
Tommy Maple is an international communications graduate student. His column appears on Tuesdays.
