Lies, damned lies, and Big Tobacco
WaPo: "A federal judge ruled [on Thursday] that tobacco companies have violated civil racketeering laws, concluding that cigarette makers conspired for decades to deceive the public about the dangers of their product and ordering the companies to make landmark changes in the way cigarettes are marketed."
Well done, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler.
Unfortunately, Kessler "could not impose billions of dollars in penalties that had been sought by the Justice Department in its civil racketeering suit against the eight defendant tobacco companies," but this is still a major step towards finally holding Big Tobacco fully responsible for what it's done to the American people -- and indeed to people all around the world. Surely this is a crime against humanity. Accountability ought to come at a massive cost to the perpetrators of this deception.
Kessler: "In short, defendants have marketed and sold their lethal product with zeal, with deception, with a single-minded focus on their financial success, and without regard for the human tragedy or social costs that success exacted."
Big Tobacco is a huge racketeering ring. More than that, it's a killer.
We know the truth. Now it's time for retribution.
**********
For more, see Michael Mann's great film The Insider, with Al Pacino as 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman and Russell Crowe as tobacco executive Jeffrey Wigand. It's one of my favourite films of all time and certainly one of the best American films of the past 25 years. It's truly exceptional.
Well done, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler.
Unfortunately, Kessler "could not impose billions of dollars in penalties that had been sought by the Justice Department in its civil racketeering suit against the eight defendant tobacco companies," but this is still a major step towards finally holding Big Tobacco fully responsible for what it's done to the American people -- and indeed to people all around the world. Surely this is a crime against humanity. Accountability ought to come at a massive cost to the perpetrators of this deception.
Kessler: "In short, defendants have marketed and sold their lethal product with zeal, with deception, with a single-minded focus on their financial success, and without regard for the human tragedy or social costs that success exacted."
Big Tobacco is a huge racketeering ring. More than that, it's a killer.
We know the truth. Now it's time for retribution.
**********
For more, see Michael Mann's great film The Insider, with Al Pacino as 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman and Russell Crowe as tobacco executive Jeffrey Wigand. It's one of my favourite films of all time and certainly one of the best American films of the past 25 years. It's truly exceptional.
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
12:20 AM
2 Comments:
In a day when you can be incarcerated for 15 years for a relatively harmless substance, it's bewildering to see how hard it is to control a substance that will kill you even if you don't overdose, may harm those around you or at least make them miserable and which is as addictive as most hard drugs.
The irrationality of American moralizers and the amoral greed of corporations compliment each other so nicely.
By
Capt. Fogg, at 10:35 AM
Right. Tobacco kills. Has nothing to do at all with the people smoking it. Idiot. What's next? Fatty food? Alcohol? Sugar? (talk about addictive!) Hey! Aren't people addicted to their cars? The price of gas doubles and usage stays the same. Must be a disease! And cars kill people. Yeah! All on their own. What rabid tyrannical bilge.
By
Robert, at 2:05 PM
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