Making a repeat visit to my "This Week's Village Idiot" category, via the Huffington Post, we learn that God shared with Pat Robertson who the next President of the United States will be. Here's Robertson, in his own words: "I think He showed me about the next President, but I'm not supposed to talk about that ..."
Also, according to Robertson, God told him that President Obama has "radical" views. Well, at least he's not making any more asteroid predictions for 2011.
While defending Wall Street and the big banks, Fox's Bill O'Reilly asked why there haven't been any investigations into Wall Street criminality if what they did was so bad. In an exchange with Cornell West and Tavis Smiley, O'Reilly argued that there is "no evidence" of wrongdoing because "they didn't violate any laws!"
What an idiot.
We haven't had big investigations - let alone convictions - after the 2008 market collapse because we dumped trillions in taxpayer funded bailouts and other guarantees into the financial sector. In the process we effectively removed the threat of receivership, bankruptcy, disgrace, or the full force of our legal system from Wall Street's horizon. This is the way our legal and political system works for white collar executives with money.
So, it's not that there wasn't illegality and theft in the lead up to 2008. It's just that the rules of the game prevents our financial mandarins from having to account for their actions. And, yes, this undermines the integrity of our market system.
Specifically, O'Reilly needs to take a look at:
Purified Toxic Crap ...
Bailouts essentially turned straw into gold by using taxpayer funded cash, to purchase toxic "legacy assets" for example. To date, well over $5 trillion in watered stock, bad assets, and toxic securities have been pretty much cleaned up (forcibly) by the U.S. government taxpayer. If the worst is cleaned up, what do you go after?
Information Blackouts ...
One of the cornerstones of any market economy - and any democracy - is transparency. Without it you can't get good information. Guess what? Bailout payout information was deliberately withheld from the public on orders from current Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner. With an information blackout the most toxic and ethically challenged market instruments have been able to fly under the radar (and then get cleaned up).
Out of Court Legal Settlements ...
Instead of entering into court battles - which are critical for building precedent and case law - financial firms like Goldman Sachs routinely pay fines into the hundreds of millions of dollars. This is chump change when you look at the trillions the financial industry has hauled in (and the trillions more we're on the hook for). It's hard to get convictions when you can pay a taxpayer subsidized fine and walk away.
Right to Sue is Waived ...
At the center of all the toxic payouts in 2008 was A.I.G. In exchange for getting bailout cash, A.I.G. was forced to give up it's right to sue Wall Street firms in court. In a few words, A.I.G. was given an offer they couldn't refuse: Take the money and shut up, or you don't get any help at all (and you might even get caught up in a legal dragnet too). But it gets better (or is that worse?). At one point during the height of the market crisis in 2008 the Federal Reserve demanded unusual national security procedures before it would share or supply critical A.I.G. bailout related documents.
For whatever reason, none of this adds up for Bill O'Reilly.
So, to simplify, you can't be sued or convicted if the problem is purified with a pile of taxpayer backed cash ... information is deliberately withheld or distorted ... you pay record fines to avoid court trials ... and if the initial keystone bailout institution is told they can't sue as a condition for receiving taxpayer money.
Let me repeat the point. You can't get investigations - let alone sued - if the state intervenes to help you bury the financial bodies. It's that simple.
If you understand this you know why Bill O'Reilly is this weeks Village Idiot.
- Mark
Addendum: As you can imagine, things haven't gotten any better over the years. Corporate America is busy playing Blame Games, and are suing one another for selling toxic crap to one another. Similarly, we're learning about the usual political stonewalling and massive lobbying of state attorney generals, which prevents or undermines larger investigations. All of this is critical for understanding why there haven't been any investigations because of how the FBI acknowledged that "mortgage fraud was substantial" as early as January 2008.
UPDATE: Here's Robert Reich with more examples of Wall Street seeking and getting legislative and legal cover from Washington.
Conservative columnist Matthew Vadum says that registering the poor to vote is un-American and akin to "handing out burglary tools to criminals."
Over two hundred years ago one of the key arguments made against giving ordinary folk (i.e. you and me) the right to vote was that we couldn't be trusted to do what the elites and blue bloods do. Simply put - the argument goes - ordinary people aren't up to the task of democracy.
This line of thinking was used to keep blacks and women from voting throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. The masses, according to Vadum, should just shut up and accept their station in life. What an idiot.
If you haven't watched any of The Trump interviews check out this Michael Isikoff interview, which Isikoff goes over with Cenk Uygur in this clip.
Whether it's Trump's brain power, his birther stupidity, not knowing what classifies as a university, failing to acknowledge failure, or the fact that Trump was born into wealth and still managed to run his company into 3 bankruptcy filings, I think it's time someone bought Mr. Trump a nice cup of special blend coffee ...
Seriously, when did the race for the American presidency begin to include mistaking obnoxious stupidity and media presence for gravitas? Think about it, Trump's recipe for bringing down oil prices includes using his "brain power" to go after OPEC.
That's not just brain power. In Trump's mind, I'm sure, it's out-of-the-box "super policy" thinking that, no doubt, can only be explained by his "super genius" ...
And you thought Glenn Beck was a lunatic. Check out this Phyllis Schlafly clip.
If you're not laughing I have to think that many of you are thinking this ...
On the positive side - as I never tire of telling my students - there's nothing in the Constitution that prevents anyone from making a fool of themselves. And that's a good thing.
Seriously. Who listens to people like this? Oh, yeah ... the people who follow Fox News.
- Mark
Addendum: Oh, this stuff just gets better and better (or is that "worse and worser"?). Here's David Corn outlining the Mother of all Obama Conspiracies. He's bringing 100 million Muslims to America, presumably on some kind of Super Secret Jihad Airplane (that doesn't crash into stuff).
No doubt this will happen after he confiscates all the guns in America and puts those who don't cooperate into FEMA concentration camps run by communist nazis. You've been warned. Keep an eye out for people who look like this ...
In my American Politics classes I always be sure to say that there's absolutely nothing in the Constitution that forbids anyone from making a fool of themselves. It looks like Glenn Beck is taking this sentiment to an entirely different level. This is from Huffingtonpost.com ...
Glenn Beck theorized that some Muslims are trying to bring about the equivalent of the Antichrist on his Thursday show.
Beck claimed that he was bringing the issue up because Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt both believe in the Twelfth Imam--a figure in Shia Islam who Beck and his guest, author Joel Richardson, said bore a disturbing resemblance to the Biblical Antichrist.
Hey. I have an idea ...
Why doesn't Glenn Beck tap into the 911-God call line that he has in his head, and ask that the Spirit of God be unleashed against the Muslim-invited Antichrist. You know, like he claimed was possible when he spoke in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the summer. That way we can have the God vs. Antichrist Cage Match that Beck thinks he's uniquely qualified to see developing before anyone else.
What a goofball.
Seriously. Even the village idiots have to be scratching their heads on this one. No doubt, they're laughing too.
- Mark
P.S. This article by Frank Rich at the NY Times explains what's going on with Glenn Beck and modern conservatism. One thing is clear to Rich: The GOP and modern conservatism appears to be both shrill and adrift. Not a good combination.
By way of my good friend Luis, I was directed to this piece by the LA Times' Tim Rutten. In the article Rutten explains what's happened to the American psyche, and describes how many citizens in post-9/11 America have effectively replaced common sense and studied analysis with empty patriotism, blind denunciations, and false science.
Whether we're talking about the anti-Muslim/anti-immigrant crowd, the Tea Baggers, the birthers, or the emerging secessionist lunatics, little thought is given to what actually ails this country. Like our medieval predecessors, many in these groups let their phobias and prejudices get in the way of better judgment. In practical terms blind rage and witch hunts are preferable to the hard work of gathering evidence and facts.
While I encourage you to read the piece, you'll understand where the American mind-set is at, according to Rutten, when you watch this clip ...
If you watched this clip and thought "Tea Baggers and Birthers" you're not alone.
There's a reason why Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh are the leaders of the right (and why Fox News is their news source). Their world is a Roman Colosseum. They only seek to appease a mob, and they do their level best to provide us with the modern-day equivalent of Rome's Bread and Circus. Making matters worse, while they take themselves seriously, they're both as clueless as Nero, and as self-absorbed as Caligula.
But, as is the case with all things that please our modern mob, the Palin-Limbaugh Colosseum goes beyond drunken revelry and being a showcase for exotic, wild animals taken from all corners of the Roman Empire (which conveyed the extent of Rome's conquests). Their Colosseum showcases a culture that gets it's jollies from watching personal train wrecks, regularly available on Jerry Springer and the assorted Bachelor shows of our day ... Jackass: The Movie was no accident. It may well be the prequel to Sarah Palin, President of the United States.
At the end of the day, our modern-day Colosseum has transformed our current Neros and Caligulas into acceptable bacchanalia.
Read the piece. It will make you think. And don't be surprised if you finish by asking yourself, So, when do we start feeding the Christians to the lions?
Oh, how the tables have turned. Check out this article on Chinese business practices in The Atlantic. We all know that Wall Street has turned itself into a empty but glitzy casino that no longer produces anything. But renting white guys in ties as show pieces in China is a little like NASCAR renting hot women. They're bit players in a circus sideshow.
The article is actually kind of funny ... until you realize that using white guys as props is really an indicator of what's happening to the American Empire. Unfortunately the new face of America's Empire is increasingly dominated by sideshow circus freaks (in a tie, of course) who aren't interest in creating anything of value. And that includes Wall Street.
Pat Robertson got so many things wrong when he suggested that Haiti is to blame for their many problems, which includes their recent earthquake. Cenk Uygur from The Young Turks nails it, on so many levels.
Napoloeon III? In 1804? Pact with the Devil? As if slavery under the French was an angelic Caribbean retreat ... Who made the deal? Why does this pact condemn an entire population in perpetuity?
Look, if Pat can unilaterally claim that Haiti - a virtual slave colony at the time of it's independence - made a pact with the devil then he needs to explain the role of the United States in the devil's work.
People forget that we (i.e. Thomas Jefferson) helped foment revolt in Haiti because we wanted to make things difficult on Napoleon Bonaparte (not Napoleon III, his nephew, who was born four years after the slave/devil's pact revolt Robertson refers to). Our goal was to get the French out of the Americas so we could make a move on the Louisiana territory. It's also why we encouraged the Indians to rebel in the areas in and around the Louisiana territories at the time. We wanted to harass Napoleon Bonaparte out of the Americas (the Louisiana Purchase was completed in 1803).
On another level, pointing to the Dominican Republican (Haiti's neighbor) as some kind of dream enclave is simply nuts. Has Robertson ever read the history of the Dominican Republic? It was no swim party under General Rafael Trujillo. Anyone who's seen the film In the Time of the Butterflies, with Salma Hayek, understands this (the film does a good job of portraying the Dominican Republic's past under Trujillo, who was the "inspiration" for the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women ).
In all cases, if Haiti made a pact with the devil, Robertson needs to think through our role in fomenting the devil's work. Does that make us the complicit angels of the devil?
