Lawrence the Corporate Watchdog died earlier today outside his office in Washington D.C. He was 119 in dog years.

Lawrence, Corporate Watchdog, Dies at 17
Ugly Dog Dead, But The Symbolism Lives On

10/21/03 - Star of his own kids' page on the government's decrepit Corporate Watchdog Web Site, Lawrence, the 17 year-old Weimaraner with glaucoma and a thyroid problem, has passed away.

Lawrence, or Little Larry as called by his pals on Wall Street, was appointed to the post of "Corporate Watchdog " in 1991, as a distraction for the press to quell the press and public outcry over the Savings & Loan scandal orchestrated by Neil.

In his heyday, Lawrence's "Get Ruff on Crime" campaign delighted many, and convinced most that an aggressive campaign against white-collar crime was finally underway.

Over time though, this PR move slowly became a symbolic antithesis of itself as Lawrence began to "get fat on industry handouts" and eventually was "completely blind to the corporate crime going on around him," commented Peter Beeters of Watchdog Watchers, a Washington-based public interest group that has no influence on public policy, nor is very interesting.

A brief stint of colorful "corporate responsibility" backdrops behind Bush in the summer of 2002 did little to revive Larry. Ken Lay could not be reached to testify. Nor Schwarzenegger.

Last week, the Bush Administration finally put the ailing watchdog to sleep.

"We had to have Larry 'roll over and play dead' [Laughter]," said Bush of the passing of the watchdog.