Playahata

One of our  Advisory board members again chooses our monthly award. Along with that she provides a very special commentary.To end March Dr.Kristine Wright chooses ITT.

CNN.Here’s the transcript along with my “playahater of the month” write up:
Playahater of the Month: ITT Corporation (as a symbol of all what’s wrong with the Iraq War and the Bush Administration)

When Playahata.com asked me to choose the “Playahater of the Month”,
the Bush administration of course was the first thing that came to mind. In
many ways, the Bush administration is the quintessential “Playahater”
and qualifies as playahater month in and month out. Where to start? The
war…The economy…Its corruption that knows no bounds…The attorney
general scandal…The CIA leak scandal and convictions…The Walter Reed
scandal…The illegal war with no end in reality…The housing market foreclosures
surge…Gas prices…The bastardization of religion…The denial of global warming…The “race to the bottom” where laborers across the globe are losing out while corporate rule quickly replaces nation states as the ultimate power…The obscene growing gap between the rich and poor.

It’s all so tragic and it’s all been sanction by this most corrupt administration. For me, the bush administration calls to mind the description of the anti-Christ in the Bible – invoking God’s name to rule the world,being the death of us all. Thankfully people are starting to recognize the wolves in sheep clothing among us and do no longer “believe they hype”.

Next Step: ACT.

So while the Bush administration is always my “playahater #1, my

playahater choice is a little more personal because of one person that

crossed my path two weeks ago. I was on a Southwest flight to

Sacramento.Sitting beside me was a young brotha (24). He was a Marine and had

already done 3 tours of duty in Iraq. He was supposed to finishing his time in

June and was getting out, but he was not feeling too secure in that

since the military can now call back discharged soldiers to tour, despite the

fact that they have completed their contracts and done their time.

Slavery is alive and well in 2007.

Back to the plane and the young brotha. He was from a military family;

His father had served as well as his aunt and uncle. He had always wanted

to be a marine. He has two young children. His hope now is that the

military service legacy that defined his family will end with him. He does not

want his children to follow in his footsteps. Why? War is hell and he has

lived it. This brother was real jittery and obviously had seen more

than any human being should. When asked what his job was in the marines, he

answered: you don’t wanna know what I do (saying this repeatedly).

Then coming with: “I’m a killer.” He then wanted to share with me the

4000 pictures and 100s of videos he had taken in Iraq. He watched the

slideshow of bodies mangled, children decapitated and blood and guts lining the

streets without any reaction. He wanted to talk about it and said it

helped, so I just listened, trying not to get nauseous from the gore.

And for all that they must bear: being away from their families, killing

men, women and children, living with that nightmare and coming home to

subpar medical facilities and families that can’t afford to live without

food stamps, they get abandoned and random strangers sitting beside them on

a plane must serve as psychiatrist. This war is my Playahater, and the

ITT Corporation embodies what’s wrong with the poor fighting the war for

the rich’s interests. We all deserve better than this, but especially

brothers like this, and the Iraqis with which they now share the dance

of death.

TRANSCRIPT OF CNN’S Cafferty File (3/28/07)

Corporate greed apparently knows no limits. ITT Corporation has been

illegally sending classified night vision technology used by our

military overseas. This is the stuff that gives our soldiers a distinct

advantage on the battlefield at night. We can see the bad guys. They can’t see us

–at least not yet.

Government investigators say ITT gave the technology to contractors in

China, Singapore and the United Kingdom in order to cut their costs.

All in the name of making a buck, you know?

ITT is the leading maker of night vision equipment for the armed

forces. The company pled guilty to two felony charges — export of defense

articles without a license and omission of statements of material facts

in arms exports reports.

In other words, they didn’t bother to report they were doing this.

The punishment for all of this?

They were fined $100 million. That’s it.

U.S. Attorney John Brownlee says: “The criminal actions of this

corporation had threatened to turn on the lights on the modern

battlefield for our enemies and expose American soldiers to great harm.” The head

of ITT, a guy named Steven Loranger, offered up this lame excuse. He said:

“The case is about the actions of a few individuals in one of their

many units.”

What does that mean?

It’s OK as long as it’s just a few individuals?

He also said that the company very much regrets that these serious

violations occurred. He insists no information about the heart of the

technology, something called the tube, was ever compromised.

Of course we don’t know that, do we?

We just have to take his word for that.

So here’s the question — what’s the appropriate punishment for ITT for

sending night vision military technology to potential enemies?

E-mail your thoughts to caffertyfile@cnn.com or go to

cnn.com/caffertyfile

take care,

tina