Media Bush makes Iraqis want to hurl
by Ward Harkavy
As various felonious and/or dumb-ass pols and athletes would say, let’s try to get that sandalous incident in Baghdad behind us:
George W. Bush got the boot Sunday in Iraq.
(Chorus) Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah.
If the shoe hits, wear it.
(Chorus)
No matter what size the shoes were, they’re too big for Bush to fill.
(Chorus)
Just the presence of Bush makes you want to hurl.
(Chorus)
OK, that’s enough for now. See my item yesterday for more (and for photos and a video link).
I’m even more embarrassed that, along with most others, I ignored the fact that of course Barack Obama‘s shark, Rahm Emanuel, had dealt with Illinois Governor Rod “Obama is a Motherfucker” Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy.
Obama was certainly careful not to ignore it, when he said last Thursday, “I have never spoken to the governor on this subject. I am confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of any deals related to this seat.”
Deals, no, Dealings, yes. Nothing nefarious about having to deal with the guy who has the power to name someone to Obama’s Senate seat. It would be shocking if Emanuel hadn’t talked with Blago about it.
Speaking of throwing shoes, that’s too good for Bernie Madoff. He needs to be beaten like a red-headed stepchild.
But the real whippings should be reserved for those banks, institutional investors, and already rich machers from Palm Beach to Beverly Hills to London to Geneva to New York who invested with the guy.
Here’s the SEC complaint against Madoff.
But where was the SEC a decade ago? As the Wall Street Journal reported last week:
An executive in the securities industry, Harry Markopolos, contacted the SEC’s Boston office in May 1999, urging regulators to investigate Mr. Madoff. Mr. Markopolos continued to pursue his accusations over the past nine years, he said in an interview on Thursday, and according to documents he sent to the SEC that were reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
“Bernie Madoff’s returns aren’t real and if they are real, then they would almost certainly have been generated by front-running customer order flow from the broker-dealer arm of Madoff Investment Securities LLC,” Mr. Markopolos wrote to the SEC in November 2005.
Finally, a hero on Wall Street.
But don’t blame only the SEC. Wall Streeters and the pols in their pockets have for years tried to de-fang the SEC by reducing its funding and luring away top regulators with higher-paying jobs and having them lobby their old pals.
A steady drumbeat of “Deregulate, deregulate” was all you heard from Wall Street for decades. This is what happens when you don’t regulate.
While you figure out how protect your millions from scamsters like Madoff …
NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
Agence France Presse: ‘Alwaleed still leads Arab tycoons despite losses’
Wall Street Journal: ‘Google Wants Its Own Fast Track on the Web’
N.Y. Post: ‘MADOFF SCAM BECOMES ‘EARTH’ QUAKE: $50B DISASTER RIPPLES FROM TOKYO TO GENEVA’
Times (U.K.): ‘Bush says he saw “sole” of Iraqi shoe attacker’
Throwing shoes is particularly insulting in the Middle East — a crowd of Iraqis used their shoes to whack a toppled statue of Saddam Hussein after the 2003 invasion — and [Muntazer] al-Zaidi was today hailed as a hero across the region while colleagues called for his release. …
His television station, Al-Baghdadia, repeatedly aired pleas for his release today while showing footage of explosions and playing background music that denounced the US presence in Iraq. …
Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the influential London-based newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, wrote on the newspaper’s website that the incident was “a proper goodbye for a war criminal”.
Abdel-Sattar Qassem, a political science professor at An Najah University in the West Bank town of Nablus, added: “This great Arab shoe sums up the history of the criminal Bush, who is responsible for the loss of lives of hundreds of thousands of Islamic sons and who remained arrogant, spiteful and mean-spirited until the last moment of his term.”
Guardian (U.K.): ‘George Bush: US will not walk away from Afghanistan’
Agence France Presse: ‘Lebanese send more money home in 2008, but crisis may slow remittances’
Wall Street Journal: ‘Emanuel, Blagojevich Aides Discussed Senate Seat: After Election, Obama Team Relayed List of Acceptable Candidates; No Evidence There Was Any Illegal Quid Pro Quo’
N.Y. Post: ‘PATERSON IN A BLIND RAGE OVER SNL SKIT’
Wall Street Journal: ‘Losses in Madoff Case Spread’
Agence France Presse: ‘Journalist hurls shoes at ‘dog’ Bush during surprise Iraq visit’
Washington Post: ‘Bush Defends Iraq War During a Farewell Visit: Iraqi Journalist Hurls Two Shoes at Bush During Press Conference With Al-Maliki’
Wall Street Journal: ‘SEC Had Chances for Years to Expose Madoff’s Alleged Ponzi Scheme’
Economist (U.K.): ‘Ponzi squared: Just when Wall Street needs it least, Bernie Madoff’s pyramid scheme takes financial fraud to new lows’
Followers of the past year and a half’s financial misadventures have become inured to bucketfuls of red ink. Even so, the potential losses from the scam perpetrated by Bernie Madoff, a Wall Street veteran, are jaw-dropping.
The $17 billion of investors’ funds that his firm supposedly held earlier this year have all but evaporated and the hole could be as big as $50 billion. That would make it the biggest financial fraud in history.
Scotsman (U.K.): ‘Banks braced for Madoff impact’ (Martin Flanagan)
Great Dr Strangelove-type name for an alleged corporate fraudster of the highest echelon, isn’t it? “Madoff.” …
It will certainly vindicate those who believed the next big domino waiting to fall in the banking game after sub-prime would be banks playing footsie, even indirectly, with hedge funds.