Flipping his Liddy

  In the business world, not only is it unadvisable to "dip your pen in the company's ink," evidently "rewarding yourself for cataclysmic red ink" is even more loathsome.
   From today's news: In response to a request from Rep. Barney Frank, AIG CEO {and DOA} Edward M. Liddy said he would turn over the names of those receiving bonuses, but only if the names were kept confidential because AIG employees had been threatened since reports of the $155m bonuses became public.
   "All the executives and their families should be executed with piano wire around their necks," Liddy quoted one {purported} threat.
   [Does "Eat the rich!" ring any bells?]
   A few hours later — lurching from its investigative torpor  — CNN starts displaying the names, photos and financials of AIG's board of directors who (we are told) attend only nine meetings a year.
   If you listen closely you can discern a slew of sphincters puckering all the way from Wall Street.

  Editor's note: American International Group announced May 21, that Edward M. Liddy is stepping down as chairman and chief executive. Liddy is the company's fourth chief executive since 2005, and each of his three predecessors — Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg, Martin Sullivan and Robert Willumstad — was forced out of the company.

"This is going to be nice, organized transition," Liddy said.