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Martha, Martha, Martha
A Sad, Sad, Sad Day in America
Today is a sad day for America and all it's citizens. The sun will not truly shine. Somber clouds will rule the day and night. Yes indeed, it is sad, sad day in America and especially a worse day for one, Martha Stewart.

Yes, even Martha Stewart gets to go to the big house. Even with all her A-List friends, fame and money she couldn't outrun or out-maneuver the
long arm of the law. She will now have to go and do the time.

Stewart, who is used to having the inside scoop, did not see the result and impending sentencing coming. "Today is a painful day for me," said the lifestyle diva before entering the court. She is now very perceptive too.

Ironically, as Allanis Morrisette would say, Martha is playing the lead role in her own life and suffering from her own success. She thought because of her fame and fortune, she would get off like O.J.

I guess when people like her get to the top, perception and judgment becomes impaired. People in that so called A-List, live in a much desensitized world, where everything is in shades of grey.

She thought that she was so smart by saving herself a few thousand dollars when she heard the news to unload the ImClone stock. Instead, she has lost millions and worst of all, her dignity as well. By lying to the government, she has also lost her credibility.

Is Martha Stewart a victim? Yes, she is. She is a victim indeed of her own doing and other external sources. She should do a personal inventory and organize things in her life (hopefully with color coded labels).

Kidding aside, her case is nothing new in this world of corporate greed. Take Kenneth Lay, the former Enron CEO (Chief Embezzling Officer); he thought he was over the law, invincible by all his accounts.

I know the system is under heavy scrutiny to police and punish hard all key members of the corruption circuit. Martha might just be the poster child that they were looking for to make an example of. The reason is simple; people identify and more importantly sympathize with Stewart. The same cannot be said about the MCI or Enron clicks.

Does she deserve all of this fodder? Yes. I believe this should be a wake-up call to corporate America that you may fool most of the people most of the time, but you better come clean when its time to talk to Uncle Sam.

Instead of the probable time sentence, she should be told to lecture for 10 years about the mistakes that she has made and how repent she is about it. Unfortunately for her and the rest of us, that will not likely happen. The headline reads: Martha Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison and fined $30,000 Friday for lying to investigators about her sale of ImClone Systems stock in late 2001.

Federal Judge Miriam Cedarbaum ordered Stewart to two years of supervised probation (a joke) including five months of home confinement after she is released (another joke). This was the minimum sentence the judge could give under the federal guidelines. The fine was the maximum Cedarbaum could impose under federal rules (yet another joke).

As with everything legal, Martha will not be headed to prison right away. The judge issued a stay delaying the sentence while Stewart's lawyers find time to then file an appeal.

Amazingly enough (and sick in so many ways), the stock of her company Martha Stewart Living (MSO) rose 35% to over $10.00 after the sentence was made public. A small crowd of unemployed Martha Stewart cult members cheered as she spoke to them briefly. She thanked and affirmed her supporters with a very Arnold Schwarzenegger statement: "I'll be back".

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