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Bad Decision

During the season of deepest need,
Martha chose, but was it greed?
“Martha, dear, you’ll take a loss,
If you don’t give these stocks a toss.”

Insider trading is a crime,
The judges say, and mete out time,
There is one fact they cannot hide,
Martha Stewart doesn’t stay inside.

She got the call, and made a choice,
It wasn’t from her inner voice.
I’ve felt the panic of sudden alarm,
And fled to keep myself from harm.

I jumped too quick when I heard a shout,
A panicked response often doesn’t work out.
But criminal nature is a little bit more,
I wonder what they are punishing for?

For being successful, and knowing it all,
Is that the reason that she had to fall?
She stands to lose a million or more,
For not allowing a fall through the floor.

How many of us, in just this position,
Would be guilty under the same legislation?
The fireman calls, “Fire’s burning your way!”
Insider information? Who is to say?

Now, I am not saying she’s beyond reproach,
She could have used a good legal coach,
But what is the crime that she has just done,
She stole from someone without using a gun?

If Martha was great at throwing a pass,
The legal railroad would have run out of gas.
I think, like Bill Gates, she’s having to pay,
For not knowing whom to send money today.

She’s punished because she wouldn’t confess,
And try to blame someone else for the mess?
The logic is faulty, it seems clear to me,
How can you judge guilt from an innocent plea?

The ones who annoy are the ones who relate,
Their joy at hearing the news of her fate.
They seem to find happiness putting her down,
And would jump in the line to run her out of town.

The pleasure they’ll get at the pain she’ll receive,
Is akin to the harm that they think they perceive.
Though no one could measure this harm, they still bawl,
“It just wasn’t fair what she did to us all!”

It seems they’ve enjoyed Humpty Dumpty’s big fall,
And claim they support the firm rule of law.
“You can’t point to me and say I want to kill it!”
But why are they walking around with a skillet?

NicknamedBob . . . . . . . . . March 7, 2004