Guiding hand of Geoff Bible

 Guiding hand of Geoff Bible




 “we do not believe that cigarettes are hazardous; we don't accept that" 

               Joseph Cullman CEO of Philip Morris

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     Greg had a very sharp eye for the absurdity of corporate mendacity and the irony of the big lies pushed without shame on Americans. We can all say without regret that we are glad he does not have to suffer the brazen falsehoods that the Trump administration pukes out every day.  Everything the good man stood for is at the moment spun as weakness or foolishness. It almost seems that the way too early departure saved him from enduring a depth of despair he never faced in his span. However, there was a time when we could laugh at this hypocritical bullcrap and point out the absurdity of the money grubbers who would sell death-trap cars, useless medicine and those kings of cancer called cigarettes. We all sat and knocked off years from our lives but even when puffing the butts we knew they were evil. Greg would watch the hearings on TV and shout derision at big tobacco execs who stood with solemn pronouncements that there was no evidence smoking caused any harm to the lungs of Americans. There was the other side of a painful recognition that we both invested in such corporations who made us money on our stock portfolios. One of Greg's solid moneymakers was Philip Morris International that created so many hazards to human health it is hard to list them all. Not only did they peddle tobacco products to poor folks but also junk food that probably poisoned unaware dopes all over the globe. Kraft foods with their cheese food was under the umbrella and Philip Morris Int. was behind  Marlboro, Virginia Slims, Benson & Hedges, Merit, Parliament, Alpine, Basic, Cambridge, Bucks, Dave's, Chesterfield, Collector's Choice, Commander, Lark, L&M, and Players. Most of us old folks recognize the name as a cigarette or the company that invented the memorable advertising slogan of a bell boy shouting "Call for Philip Mo-orriss!" So, in the nights I spent at Francis I might see the annual reports of companies Greg invested in including Philip Morris' report to shareholders. He loved to show me with glee the opening page photograph of CEO Geoff Bible unashamedly holding a glowing cigarette in his hand while smiling broadly with his capped teeth glistening. Thus Bible became a symbol of corporate greed and the big lie that toxic capitalists lived by. So in 1994 when, like many of their customers, Philip Morris gave their last gasp of lies to Congress Geoff took over as CEO.

         


                                                 “Nicotine is not addictive."



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