One of my daily reads for the last few of years has been Robert Musil, whose writings could be found under the banner Man Without Qualities. Always informative, always entertaining. My introduction came by way of a Google search for anything on Enron. This was almost exactly three years ago. My search turned up a post entitled Indelicate Questions of an Aged Aunt, (you'll have to scroll to the bottom to find it) which wondered aloud, what exactly was Robert Rubin hoping to accomplish by phoning a former colleague at Treasury on behalf of Enron.
The Man Without Qualities values a polymath, including the rare one such as Robert Rubin who enjoys Congressional and media infatuation. But even infatuated ingenues deserve words from a hardened aunt willing to remind the family that the thrilling, romantic whirl does, in fact, share aspects with the process of selecting a prize animal for stud – all of which recommends that the squire in question be asked certain rather indelicate questions...
The Times prematurely declares that Mr. Rubin’s “call to Peter R. Fisher, under secretary of the Treasury for domestic financial markets, will probably be no more than a footnote in the Enron story.” But just as aged Auntie might impede the swelling emotions of the moment with her indelicate inquiries (Is there insanity in the family? Has the young man ever been - er – “detained” by the authorities? And so on.), I suggest that Mr. Rubin be required to answer some indelicate questions of his own, questions notably omitted in the Times interview.
At the time, the Senate was still in the hands of the Democrats and the Senate investigations into Enron's collapse predictably enough couldn't see a point in talking to Mr. Rubin about what he might have known about Enron's accounting practices and financial condition. The Aged Auntie's questions went unasked. But Man Without Qualities continued for the next three years to point out those troublesome contradictions that so often seem to crop up when liberal elite are faced with living up to liberal ideals.
And now with liberal hypocracies in full bloom, Man Without Qualities has left us without a word. His last post was nearly two months ago. I hope he is on to bigger and better things. Or if not bigger and better things, I hope he is enjoying whatever it is that occupies him in place of his writings. I miss his writings, though, and wish him well.
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