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By William P. Barrett
Copyright 1998
You tell the ignoramous
About con men so famous,
Their names often are equivalent to crime;
There's Ponzi and Bob Vesco--
He fled the country, presto!
Their separate exploits are a paradigm.
Now in Texas' sunny clime,
Where we used to spend some time
Watching institutions looted blind and fall,
Of all the blackened crew
The foremost one we knew
Was the Lone Star wheeler-dealer, Billie Sol.
He was Sol! Sol! Sol!
Friend of politicians many, Billie Sol!
He ended up in prison
For collateral what isn'
The best-known rogue of his era, Billie Sol.
It was during Sixty-Two
His Pecos cover blew.
It's simple how he hosed the big-time banks.
They had lent large money,
Thinking it was honey
Backed by thirty thousand fertilizer tanks.
But in reality,
There were few tanks to see,
For Billie Sol had taken all the cash.
Alas, the Texas farmer,
Befriended by this charmer,
Who signed the mortgage note; he soon would crash.
It was Sol! Sol! Sol!
Forty million was his tab to victims all.
A Texas jury said,
Go take a prison bed.
Six years he ended up behind the wall.
Congressional committees
Had field days with these pities.
Veep LBJ said, ``Who is Billie Sol?
``We're each a Texas Dem,
``But don't rush to condemn
`` 'Cause the state's just dang too big to know them all.''
In Nineteen Seventy-Nine,
Billie Sol again would shine,
Back in court for five more counts of fraud and stuff.
The claim: He hid some dough,
So taxes he'd not owe.
The evidence against him sure looked tough.
It was Sol! Sol! Sol!
Under oath he said, ``The truth I sometime maul.''
The jury took his view,
Acquitted him of two
But gave him four more years for all his gall.
Now aft' a time of slack,
Ol' Billie Sol is back
In Brownwood charged with tax fraud counts--a bevy.
They say he drew some funds
From businesses he runs
And used a tax-exempt to duck the levy.
He entered quite a plea;
No guilt--insanity!
He says he merely don't know right from not.
But should he ever walk
By keeping up such mawk,
The hist'ry books will make him unforgot.
Yes, Sol! Sol! Sol!
You synonym for swindler, Billie Sol!
Though we've cited you and jailed you,
By the livin' Gawd that made you,
You've more chutzpah than the others, Billie Sol!
* With apologies to Rudyard Kipling
Postscript: Billie Sol Estes later changed his plea from not guilty by
reason of insanity to simply not guilty. On April 28, 1998, state District
Judge Stephan Ellis in Brownwood dismissed the indictment altogether.
Since October 9, 1999, you are visitor
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NEW! A DEBATE ABOUT BILLIE SOL!
On February 14, 2000, the author received the following e-mail:
I happened to stumble on to your poem today. I noticed on the counter at the bottom of your page that only 93 people have visited your nasty little poem. I would be willing to bet that you do not personally know Mr. Estes or his family. You probably live a sheltered life where your main experience in life is reporting the atrocities that happen to other people. Billie Sol is a very kind, generous, compassionate and forgiving man. I guess you think your poem is clever, and thank goodness you noted that the charges against him were dismissed. You must be a very weak minded person to post such unkind things about people. Billie Sol is in my prayers this week as he prepares to bury his wife. I will keep you in my prayers too.
--Sherrie (sherriew@compaq.net)
The author responded on the same day:
I am sorry to learn that Mr. Estes' wife recently died. From what I know, she was never implicated in any of his activities.
But you would lose your bet. I met Mr. Estes during the 1980s when I was a reporter for the Dallas Times Herald. In fact, I wrote several stories saying that Mr. Estes admitting sitting in on a meeting at which Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the murder of U.S. Agriculture Department agent Henry Marshall because Marshall was about to expose corrupt dealings involving Estes and Johnson.
``Billie Sol is a very kind, generous, compassionate and forgiving man,'' you write. Somehow, accessory and conspiracy to murder do not strike me as either ``kind'' or ''compassionate.''
No doubt you have seen personally the generous and forgiving side of Billie Sol. And equally surely, he never plotted to have you killed.
--William P. Barrett (wmpb@aol.com)
P.S. In the interest of providing the bigger picture, I would be honored to attach the complete text of your e-mail to the Web page containing the poem. Please let me know if I have your permission to do so.
Sherrie replied a few hours later:
I received your message. I would be honored for you to post my message on your page with the poem.
You say that you met Billie in the 1980's while you were a reporter for the Dallas Times Herald. If we had actually wagered a bet I would have to contest your perception of my "loss". I think it sounds more like what I said in my original message, you were reporting and you "met" him but this does not mean that you "know" him. The postman at my place of business "met" him one day while Billie was visiting, the postman shook his hand and even had his picture taken with him but that sure doesn't mean that he "knows" him. The media for the most part has a way of doing just what you are doing.
You say that you "wrote several stories saying that Mr. Estes admitting sitting in on a meeting at which Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the murder." Did Billie also admit being a part of the conspiracy? History is a funny thing and no doubt it will be debated until the end of time.
I just happened to stumble on to your poem and wanted to let you know that I know a different Billie Sol and I believe a different truth.
--Sherrie (sherriew@compaq.net)
The author ended the exchange as follows:
You ask if Billie Sol admitted to conspiracy. I would say he did. He testified before a grand jury but only after getting immunity. He said he was part of the secret discussion of what obviously would be a criminal act--murder. The murder was in fact carried out, and Billie Sol was able to tell the grand jury the identity of the murderer--one of the persons he said was at the discussion. There is little indication he disagreed at the time with the decision taken. I don't know how you define conspiracy, but that meets my definition.
I am sure you know a different truth about Billie Sol. After all, as far as we both know, he didn't participate in a decision to murder you like he did poor Henry Marshall. Personally, I find it difficult to pick and choose among murder plotters.
--William P. Barrett (wmpb@aol.com)
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