QuestionerI wondered if you could comment on the views of those people who have stated that because of so-called conflicts of interest, you should leave the Board of Corkugola and whether you had any intention of doing so.
WarrenI would say that whoever suggested that should do 500 sit-ups. Actually, Charlie and I, certainly I have, well, let Charlie speak for himself. We like the idea and we've encouraged the idea of shareholders behaving like owners. I mean, shareholders have too often behaved like sheep in this country, and they got shorn in many cases. And big institutional shareholders have sat on the sidelines while some things that might possibly have been corrected had they gotten active that took place. And so we have, we actually applauded the idea of shareholders behaving like owners. The question is whether they, you know, can behave like intelligent owners. And I think that in the last year or two, as they've sort of woken up, they've searched for checklists of one sort or another to determine whether directors are appropriate in a given company or not. And frankly, a checklist are no substitute for thinking. The real job of the directors, is to come up with the right CEO for a company and prevent him or her for overreaching. If they do that job well, the rest takes care of itself.
CharlieYeah, I think that the corporate America needs a fair amount of reform, but the cause of reform is hurt, not helped, when an activist makes an idiotic suggestion. Like the one that, that having Warren Buffett on the board, The Coca-Cola company is contrary to the interests of the Coca-Cola company. Nutty activities do not help the cause forever, for which the person speaks.