Isn't it ironic that U.S. industry produces items such as mini armored troop carriers while simultaneously manufacturing bombs known as sensor fuzed weapons, which are made to destroy such human-delivery watercraft?
Come to think of it, they probably limit sales of this disparate combination of protective and destructive goods to just the good guys. So, there you have it: a natural and understandable balance to an otherwise contradictory production schema. Similarly, I have found such a logical balance in the attempted bribery of Congress, whose members -- such as my dear congressman Rep. Don Sherwood (R-Pa.), indicted ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), and incarcerated felons such as ex-Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Cal.) -- have stood side-by-side to collect millions of dollars from the political action committees of global military-hardware behemoths such as Textron.
No, I’m not picking on Republicans, it’s just that uttering the phrase The Sherwood-DeLay-Cunningham Trio has an undeniably nice ring to it. Yes, indeed, the Democrats -- particularly the privileged few among the Armed Services or Appropriations Committee leadership -- also get their wheels greased by the Textron PAC and hundreds of other interest groups.
It's just plain ol' good business-sense to replenish the gold-laced feed bags attached to most elected federal officials' chins, both Democrat and Republican. It's irrelevant that such "investments" don't guarantee billions in reciprocal favors (i.e.: government contracts), because often there is a sufficient return on investment, and when there isn't, hey, it's always worth a shot.
In all fairness, Democrats such a John Murtha (Pa.) likewise have been targets of generosity from the Textron PAC, which gave the Murtha campaign a total of $50,000 between 1997 and 2005. On the other hand, that source of Textron cash for some reason came to a halt for Murtha in May 2005, when the donations ceased.
There‘s probably no connection between Textron‘s abrupt termination of support for Murtha and his well-publicized statement calling to end the occupation of Iraq -- where Textron is making a killing (literally and figuratively) through the continuous supply and re-supply of bombs and other war-making materials that are rained daily upon that nation.
“The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion,”Murtha said last year.
Rumor has it that Textron CEO Lewis B. Campbell said in response, "You’ve been a bad boy, Mr. Murtha, and we’re going to spank you on your proverbial pee-pee as punishment.”
Likewise, I’d have to rule out the possibility that The Sherwood-DeLay-Cunningham Trio’s unwavering support for the war (and its critical suppliers) had been related to Textron’s seemingly endless infusion of cash to the Trio (sans Cunningham, obviously, who will sit in a federal penitentiary for the next eight years for receiving bribes from military contractor lobbyists). While DeLay got less than half ($24,000) of what Murtha received in approximately the same time period, his obedience keeps the cash flowing, most recently in the form of a $2,500 check right before Christmas.
Sherwood, who sits a bit lower on the congressional pecking order as vice-chairman of the Appropriations Foreign Operations Subcommittee, received $10,000 from Textron PAC in that time frame, the last of which was a mere $1,000 back in September 2005. Sherwood isn’t complaining, though, as every penny gained takes him closer to satisfying his sealed settlement with former mistress Cynthia Ore, whom Sherwood has admitted (even to his wife) he capitalized upon her in his Capitol Hill apartment for five years, while denying he smacked her around with heavy envelopes reportedly stuffed with PAC cash and checks.
Textron, it should be noted, cranks out a diverse line of products, ranging from amphibious assault craft to sensor fuzed weapons. Textron, come to think of it, makes just about anything and everything, both in the realm of lifesaving and life taking. They are a true engine of economic growth, and are committed to integrity and the American way, as seemingly incompatible as those concepts may be.
Textron and its complex web of subsidiaries and affiliates provide, in its own words, "innovative technology solutions to meet the needs of the global aerospace and defense industries... The Textron name is well known in the areas of advanced weapons, surveillance systems, aircraft control components, specialty marine craft and armored vehicles... a $10 billion multi-industry company with 44,000 employees in 40 countries."
Ahhh... with such fine offerings, no wonder the company can confidently proclaim in its Code of Ethics: "At Textron, we are committed to the principles of INTEGRITY, RESPECT, TRUST, and PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE in all relationships with CUSTOMERS, EMPLOYEES, SHAREHOLDERS, the COMMUNITY and the ENVIRONMENT." The company even publishes the Code in Chinese, Czech, English, Flemish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish!
Do you realize what that means? It means they must be serious about being ethical (even if it is within their own narrowly construed vision of ethics), or else they wouldn't have gone though all this trouble to the entire world about it, right? I said right?
Oh, never mind. What it come down to is this: Textron is a winner, and CEO Lewis B. Campbell has lots of reasons to be proud. I mean, even if on the surface it appears that the company PAC wasted $7,000 in trying to help John Ashcroft get elected to the Senate in 2000, don’t forget that Congress passed the USA Patriot Act thanks to Ashcroft’s later efforts as Attorney General. And Textron’s surveillance technology unit can’t complain about that.
