Ken Lay's Death

The poster boy for crooked business, Enron's Kenneth "Kenny Boy" Lay, died today, just a few weeks after he was found guilty in the massive fraud/ethics case.

Already, the White House is denying that there was a genuine friendship (sound file) between Lay and George W. Bush. But Bush was a long-time high-end fundraiser for GWB, and it was in fact GWB who started calling him "Kenny Boy." So the denials don't have a lot of credibility.

But the real question is not whether Lay and Bush were close personal friends; the real issue is what kind of future business climate can we create together, where future Enron scandals simply don't gain any traction.

If you'd like to help create that climate, I invite you to sign the Business Ethics Pledge.