Save Martha Stewart!

         Martha Stewart, the current Queen of Food and Decorating, has been unjustly accused of insider trading. However, if she really is guilty, her financial indiscretions harmed fewer members of the American workface than any executive from Enron or Tyco. It has been well over 400 days since the scandal surrounding her stock dealings arose. Yet, no one has done anything. Attorney James Comey didn't decide what charges to press until Easter; a full 462 days after the event. So I, along with hundreds of other Americans, have joined the Save Martha! campaign. The campaign’s main goal is to rescue the Queen of Perfection from the disgraceful demise by power-hungry, republican men, and to make her case known.

         Martha, born Martha Kostyra in 1941, was raised in a Polish, working-class family. She credits her father for planting in her the seed to succeed and the will to do it perfectly. Despite her father’s drinking problem, his faith in her drove her through school. She was an "A" student and wrote in her yearbook, “I do what I please and I do it with ease.”

         After high school, Martha was accepted at Barnard College in Manhattan. To pay for expenses, she took up a modeling career. She appeared in Lifebuoy ® soap and Tareyton ® cigarette advertisements. Glamour Magazine named her as one of the “Best Dressed College Girls of 1961.”

         The model married Andrew Stewart, a law student, at the age of 19. Just a few years after she gave birth to her daughter, Alexis, in 1965, Martha became one of the first female stockbrokers for the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street. Eventually, she and Andrew bought a house in Westport, Connecticut. They named it “Turkey Hill.” Shortly thereafter, Martha wrote her first book titled, Entertaining.

         Life with Andrew did not last much longer. They divorced in 1987. Later that same year she signed deals with Kmart ® and Time Warner ®. In 1996, Time Magazine named her one of the most influential people of the year. However, the new insider trading scandal has tarnished her once saintly image.

         Stewart was charged with being an inside trader after she sold her 4,000 shares of ImClone. The day after the sale, ImClone—a biotechnology firm—announced the Food and Drug Administration would not approve its new anti-cancer drug. Spokespersons for Stewart claimed the sale came from a pre-arranged sales plan, not from insider information.

         By definition, an insider trading is “the buying or selling of a company’s stocks by one who has access to information not made public and trading based on such information may be illegal.” {i}Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition{/i} In order for insider trading to have occurred; (1) trading took place (yes, Martha did this), (2) the trade occurred while the person was in possession of material, nonpublic information (Martha possibly had this), (3) the person involved with the trading had access to the information as the result of a trust relationship that was violated by the trading (definitely not Martha). {Courtesy of www.savemartha.com} Martha had no trust relationship with ImClone therefore making her not an inside trader.

         To do my part in saving Martha Stewart, I have followed the 5-step (non-violent) process recommended by the Save Martha! Headquarters (www.savemartha.com). One begins by sending out the Save Martha! & Pardon Martha! e-maisl (available at the site) to as many people as possible. You also can wear Save Martha! gear (i.e. hats, aprons, and t-shirts) and use Save Martha! accessories (like the mug, cooler, or backpack). The third step can only be done by those who have their own internet site. On your web page, you can create a Save Martha! link so many more people can access the site. Next, you e-mail the media (CNN, NBC, CBS) your opinions; who knows, they may listen. The last step is to go out to a store in your area that sells Martha Stewart products (preferably Kmart ®). Purchase something and then tell the clerk behind the counted to spread the word and save Martha!

         This scandal may have sullied the silver a bit, but it is nothing the Queen of Decorating cannot fix. With the help of thousand of supporters, the Queen will reign on. She will continue to bring organization and color harmony to your home. So, get out there and Save Martha!