Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Fristed

It's actually hard to imagine that Frist was in fact dumb enough to engage in a bit of insider trading, but if he was it sure does offer a fascinating glimpse into the guy. While this review of his book may be a bit over the top, if Frist really did do it then perhaps there's something to it:

This is a fascinating study of the extraordinary mix of in-breeding, animal sacrifice, and corruption required to produce the world's worst human being. Coming from a family of mildly despicable cheats, the Frists had a leg up on normal human beings...but it still took an enormous amount of laboratory work and careful training to produce not just a self-involved twit but an unspeakable monster.

This book is Frankenstein of our century, a marvellous account of the line between science and morality, and the "Dr. Frist" character is a chilling reminder of the true evil inherent in all humanity...even if readers will find Dr. Frist himself an impossibly overdrawn character. Surely, no actual human could be so evil. Neverthless, he stands like Shelley's monster as an emblem of the path we as a species must never take.

By damning this "Dr. Frist" character and the bizarre process that created him, this sterling work serves as a moral guide, a hope for the future.

But, still, look, if I'm a reasonably rich guy and I get elected to Senate and dream of running for president... I'm gonna put the goddamn stock portfolio in a goddamn blind trust. Aside from issues of ethics and legality (or issues of perception), I'd assume I'd have too much to worry about to spend my time day trading.