Another movie which is about an underdog beating the established, in this case a corrupt establishment is The Cross of Fire. The DVD was released in 2006 and stared John Heard, Mel Harris, David Morse and Lloyd Bridges. The setting is during the 1920’s and times of Prohibition in the State of Indiana. The organizer of the KKK in Indiana wants to put on a kinder, gentler face rather than the traditional white robe. The KKK was the sponsor of orphanages, community centers, gave baskets to the poorest citizens and was seen as a good organization. Being seen as good, membership rose to over 75% of Indiana citizens were members in good standing. The leader was very power hungry, but fell for the wrong girl. Of all the women in Indiana, he fell for the close friend of an attorney for the state. He eventually savagely beats her and her death results. The odds are stacked against the attorney – the KKK has overwhelming support in the rural areas; the leader is a close friend of the political establishment; the leader lives in mansion and seemingly has access to wide resources; the leader is seen by many to be a good man. The attorney takes the lady’s statement (as impartially as he can) and the battle in the courtroom is set.

The attorney has never tried big cases before, but then no one wanted to help in this case. It is found out, the leader of the KKK is actually a drunk, part of the reason for getting the money was he was working with the bootleggers. The bootleggers not the KKK were actually paying the bills. Slowly the tide begins to turn and the leader’s arrogance is seen and a swift decline before the final result and resulting non renewals of membership. In the 1920’s membership was over 6 million, shortly after the trial, the membership was 200,000.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, as a profitable company, part of being successful is the trust of the public. Trust the value of the products and services or given the monopoly like position, it stays close to a monopoly. If it is a monopoly like position, the government can open the market to alternatives and there is always alternatives. If the leadership is arrogant or seen to be, as shareholders you want to vote against them because they will upset the apple cart one way or another.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions