Fear and loathing for the best and brightest

America's new favorite CEO, Ed Liddy of AIG, has told Rep. Barney Frank that he really really really doesn't want to turn over names of bonus recipients out of fear they will be slaughtered in their sleep. "I would hope that it doesn't take a subpoena," he explained, directly after Frank had said he was prepared to do just that. "I'm just really concerned about their safety". Liddy then read what he claimed were examples of death threats that AIG employees had received lately from disgruntled citizens, including one missive that said bonus recipients should be executed with piano wire around their necks. Damn. I guess anyone with a little bit of imagination could whip up a few good death threats, but piano wire seems a little prosaic even to me. And don't you need a "will be executed" instead of a "should be executed' to make it a meaningful threat? I mean, I think Rush Limbaugh should be boiled in oil, but saying so doesn't make my words particularly menacing. You know, serious death threats are the sort of thing that are best turned over to the FBI, so if Liddy is really concerned about these employees, and if these death threats are anything more than some guy in the AIG PR department's fevered imagination, I sure hope that he's already turned the incriminating info over to them. Oh, but I guess that would involve him having to reveal the names of the potential victims, so I guess that option is out. I wonder if Liddy would be willing to turn over the names of the eleven $1,000,000+ retention incentive winners who decided to leave AIG soon after they got their bonus checks. Treacherous traitors, right Liddy? After all, they're not your problem anymore, and better yet, they could serve as examples to keep the rest of the talent in line.