The Crucible

I am loath to talk about "rights guaranteed by the Constitution". This phrase is normally used by slimeball lawyers trying to get their client off the hook for something that he is quite clearly guilty of. "Rights" have a quid pro quo. With privilege comes reponsibility. If you are a fuckwit who has screwed people, then, well, those rights don't apply to you.

However, even I, the arch anti-liberal, felt a pang of concern at this news item this morning.

WellPoint Inc. fired Vice Chairman David C. Colby, named the best health-insurance chief financial officer for each of the past four years by Institutional Investor magazine, over violations of company rules.

The unspecified breaches of a conduct code were "of a non-business nature" and didn't involve illegality, WellPoint, the second-biggest U.S. provider of medical coverage, said today in a statement.

The important phrase here is that the breaches were not illegal and were of a non-business nature.

By my way of thinking, if what I am doing is legal, and if it doesn't relate to business, I don't see how a company should be allowed to fire me, no matter what some so-called "conduct code" states. There is a place where conformity to societial codes is enfored. It's called the law. Companies should not be allowed to put themselves "above the law"/ But this is preceisely what such "conduct codes" do. In effect they say "Sure, this might be perfectly legal, and it might have nothing to do with business, but we don't like it, so, if you do it, you are fired".

A disgrace.

__________


(Later).

Strolled through a few new blogs (to me) to see if there was anything interesting out there. I found this one which, while it isn't "funny", does provide a nice example of how the over-confidence of so many young American poker players gets battered when variance rears its ugly head.

http://malfairepoker.blogspot.com/

I'll be honest, I really feel kind of sorry for the guy. But if you set yourself public targets....