Say it isn't so:

Enron's Ken Lay served on the Heinz Foundation board for ten years and kept his position long after the Enron scandal broke. The Heinz Foundation, run by Senator Kerry's wife, Teresa, kept the corporate pirate on their ship even as Enron sank in a swamp filled by their own fraud and lies.

A Heinz spokesman said: "Whatever troubles he had at Enron?when someone does wrong in one part of their life, it doesn't mean they can't do good in another part of their life."

It turns out this relationship is somewhat known, even if it was heretofore unknown to this blogger. See "Media Mum on Heinz Kerry's Enron Connection":

It didn't get much attention back when Sen. John Kerry was a cellar dweller in the presidential polls. But now that he's the undisputed, all but certain, presumptive Democratic Party nominee, we're wondering where the coverage is on Teresa Heinz Kerry's Enron connection...

In fact, Lay was reportedly a Heinz Center trustee for more than a decade, resigning just last year. That was around the time presidential candidate John Kerry started bashing "special interests" in Washington, zeroing in on Enron by name.

Last July, the Washington Times obtained samples of personal correspondence from the Heinz Center to Mr. Lay, praising him for his management style.

"Ken," wrote one of Teresa's representatives, "Simply stated, your background, expertise and experience make you uniquely qualified [to run our] global-warming [initiative]."

As 'John Kerry's Plan to End the Era of Special Interests' informs us:

John Kerry has a plan to end the special interest economy ? an era ushered in by George W. Bush ? in which the captains of Enron and Halliburton receive tax breaks and special deals while middle-class Americans work harder for less...

Kerry will protect workers' pensions [by among others]: * Stopping Enron-style pension abuses by preventing companies from forcing employees to tie up their pension savings in company stock and by ensuring companies provide full and accurate information to employees...

We're informed that his "Workers? Bill of Rights" would "protect older workers? pensions, enforce rules on CEO pensions, and stop Enron-style abuses."

According to Kerry, "We're not going to see corporations that desert the American worker be rewarded with government contracts, and it won't take me 2 1/2 years to believe that someone from Enron belongs in jail."

A Kerry ad informs us that "Enron has been [Bush's] single biggest contributor ? over $600,000."

A "fisking" of a Bush ad not only mentions Ken Lay by name, it has a whole section devoted to him: "Ken Lay, Enron?s CEO, was a Bush Pioneer, raising at least $100,000 for the Bush Presidential campaign... Lay Donated More Than $120,000 to Bush?s Gubernatorial Campaigns... Lay Had Personal Access to Cheney, Energy Task Force..."

This Kerry speech also mentions Ken Lay in an anti-Dean context:

It is not enough as a candidate to rail against "Ken Lay and the boys," if as Governor you gave Enron and other big corporations tax shelters that were designed to turn Vermont into a snowy Bermuda.

Thank God for the two party system.