[The Duke]

I have to disagree with you on this...if Martha was a member of the "protected class" then the media would not be dogging her so obviously and so relentlessly.

I've never seen the Martha Stewart show, though I've heard she's not a particularly nice person. However, I've heard about these phone calls and emails, and they don't sound particularly persuasive to me - execept that perhaps her broker is guilty.

I suspect that Martha is being used as a distraction so that the *REAL* corporate crooks, who pal around with our politicos, have a chance to sneak off the radar screen.

[Utopia]

execept that perhaps her broker is guilty.

You are forgetting 3 things:

• 1. She just got a seat on the SEC. She should know the rules.
• 2. She is CEO of her own publicly traded company. She should know the rules.
• 3. She used knowledge that she had (or was given to her) which the general public did not have to make a profit. She should know better.

[gcruse]

I suspect that Martha is being used as a distraction so
that the *REAL* corporate crooks, who pal around with our politicos,
have a chance to sneak off the radar screen.

Yeah, right.  I have a show for you.  It's called
the Conspiracy Show or something like that.
I saw it last night for the first time.  Anne Coulter
was on it.  She basically told the others they
were looney tunes.

[Always Right]

execept that perhaps her broker is guilty.

If Martha was involved in other illegal activities, I could see letting the brokers plea-bargin and get off easy. The brokers were the ones really at fault, although Martha is smart enough to know what they suggested was illegal. Martha was not seeking insider information, but the brokers went out of their way to give it to her. The real sleezeballs were the brokers, but Martha will be the one who that takes the fall.