The rule of the mob

By Michelle Malkin  •  March 25, 2009 11:48 AM

Have you seen this?

It’s the handiwork of an “anti-capitalist vigilante group calling itself Bank Bosses Are Criminals.” The broken window is in the home of Sir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland. His car was also vandalized. The thugs are threatening other targets:

The ex-banker’s £3 million Edinburgh house was targeted in the early hours, with at least four ground-floor windows smashed and a black Mercedes vandalised. Police were called at around 4.15am to Morningside, a leafy suburb of the Scottish capital lined with substantial, stone-built homes.

A storm of controversy has engulfed Sir Fred over the £16.9 million pension he negotiated as he was made to leave RBS last October for his part in bringing the bank to its knees. The 50-year-old financier has already started to collect an annual pension of around £700,000, and refused invitations to hand it back..

Less than an hour after the attack, an e-mail was sent to local media outlets, signed by Moira McLeod, claiming responsibility and threatening further vigilante assaults. The e-mail account used to send the warning was named “Bank Bosses Are Criminals”.

It read: “We are angry that rich people, like him, are paying themselves a huge amount of money, and living in luxury, while ordinary people are made unemployed, destitute and homeless. This is a crime. Bank bosses should be jailed.

“This is just the beginning.”

How soon before we see this same kind of anarchic domestic terrorism on our side of the pond?

It’s already here.

Animal rights’ terrorists have firebombed researchers’ homes and Molotov cocktail-bombed their cars and been convicted of inciting threats, harassment, and vandalism against employees of a private company engaged in animal research.

Environmental terrorists have set developments on fire.

Self-proclaimed “bank terrorist” Bruce Marks, who I reported on last March, has been threatening bank employees in their homes and harassing their children for years:

IT MAY SEEM LIKE AN UNUSUAL CHOICE, given that Marks is a controversial character who once infamously called himself a “bank terrorist.” But this is no ordinary time, and it seems uniquely suited to Marks’s curious blend of in-your-face activism, customer-focused service, Machiavellian angling, and social-justice passion.

Over the years, as part of his permanent campaign to browbeat banks into giving fair loans to low- and moderate-income people, Marks and his yellow-T-shirted followers have swarmed shareholders’ meetings with enough force to shut them down. They have picketed outside the schools attended by the children of bank CEOs, pressing the youngsters in signs and chants to answer for the actions of their daddies. And they even once distributed scandal sheets to every house in one CEO’s neighborhood, detailing the affair he was allegedly having with a subordinate. In time, that CEO, like most of the others that NACA targeted, sat down with Marks and signed a deal.

To those who found his tactics an outrageous invasion of bank executives’ personal lives, Marks refused to acknowledge any line between home and work. “What you do is who you are,” he says. “It’s all personal.”

And last weekend, of course, the ACORN mob chartered a bus — with twice as many outrage-stoking MSM photographers in tow — to menace AIG executives in their homes.


Keep all this context in mind as you read the resignation letter of AIG exec Jake DeSantis:

DEAR Mr. Liddy,

It is with deep regret that I submit my notice of resignation from A.I.G. Financial Products. I hope you take the time to read this entire letter. Before describing the details of my decision, I want to offer some context:

I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in — or responsible for — the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage.

After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company — during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 — we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself…

…The profitability of the businesses with which I was associated clearly supported my compensation. I never received any pay resulting from the credit default swaps that are now losing so much money. I did, however, like many others here, lose a significant portion of my life savings in the form of deferred compensation invested in the capital of A.I.G.-F.P. because of those losses. In this way I have personally suffered from this controversial activity — directly as well as indirectly with the rest of the taxpayers.

I have the utmost respect for the civic duty that you are now performing at A.I.G. You are as blameless for these credit default swap losses as I am. You answered your country’s call and you are taking a tremendous beating for it.

But you also are aware that most of the employees of your financial products unit had nothing to do with the large losses. And I am disappointed and frustrated over your lack of support for us. I and many others in the unit feel betrayed that you failed to stand up for us in the face of untrue and unfair accusations from certain members of Congress last Wednesday and from the press over our retention payments, and that you didn’t defend us against the baseless and reckless comments made by the attorneys general of New York and Connecticut.

Is there a party in Washington that stands for the rule of law? How can the 85 House Republicanswho aided and abetted the AIG-bashing, backside-covering demagogues read this resignation letter and look themselves in the mirror?

How can they be trusted not to help the Democrats pick up the next figurative rock — and hurl it through the windows of the next target of the Capitol Hill vigilantes and their media enablers?

Back in Britain, the vandals have been encouraged by…a former newspaper editor:

Sir Fred’s home has already attracted the attention of protesters, with hostile banners posted outside, branding him a “scumbag millionaire”.

The violent assault on Sir Fred’s home came two days after Sir Max Hastings, a military historian and former newspaper editor, called for members of the public to throw stones through the windows of failed bankers.

“The time has come to address the entire robber banker culture,” he wrote in the Daily Mail on Monday. “Investment banks have been run not for the benefit of society, customers, or even shareholders, but exclusively for the advantage of the bankers themselves. . . This is why we must stand outside their homes throwing rocks through the windows until they do.”

The mob rules.

Posted in: AIG

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Comments


  1. #658850
    On March 25th, 2009 at 11:53 am, MNUSMCDavid said:

    I will personally perform a citizen’s arrest on any ACORN or LaRaza zealot I see doing this… I won’t be beyond pistol whipping them, if necessary. This activity must be stopped before it gets worse. Can we say Kristalnacht redux? Yes, I am making that comparison and will stand by it.

  2. #658853
    On March 25th, 2009 at 11:54 am, wighttrasch said:

    It’s really too bad the lefties in UK don’t feel this strongly about the jihadis living in their neighborhoods.

  3. #658858
    On March 25th, 2009 at 11:55 am, MarcoPolo said:

    It’s just what socialists do.

  4. #658862
    On March 25th, 2009 at 11:57 am, Russ N said:

    Who is John Galt?

  5. #658868
    On March 25th, 2009 at 11:59 am, flmom said:

    I wonder if the recipients of generous GM pensions, negotiated by the unions, will be targeted next. After all GM has received taxpayers money, largely because of their benefit obligations have made their company uncompetitive in today’s market. I see very little difference in theory.

  6. #658869
    On March 25th, 2009 at 11:59 am, Regulus said:

    I’ve said before that focus is properly spent on what will emerge from the ashes after Hope-a-Dope and his puppet masters Nancy & Harry are through burning this country’s social, economic and financial structures to the ground.

    The Rule of the Mob is one possibility; there’s no reason why we couldn’t end up with a replay of the French Revolution, complete with its own bloody and ultimately self-consuming Reign of Terror.

    I’d rather undergo something like a constitutional convention, but as the AIG “Rich-hunt” has so clearly demonstrated there are a lot of people even in Congress who are more inclined to the mob route.

  7. #658878
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:04 pm, Zippy_Slug said:

    Maybe a counter group: “Union Bosses are Criminals”..

    Or.. “Statist Politicians are Criminals”..

    Banana republic anyone?

  8. #658879
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:04 pm, ACHefty said:

    Remember the old Smith-Barney commercials?

    They make money the old-fashioned way. They earn it!

    Anyone else is a thief! Even if they sit high atop Capitol Hill, looking down their noses on us capitalists.

  9. #658883
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:06 pm, flmom said:

    I’d rather undergo something like a constitutional convention, but as the AIG “Rich-hunt” has so clearly demonstrated there are a lot of people even in Congress who are more inclined to the mob route.

    It’s a case of you reap what you sow.

  10. #658896
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:15 pm, DesertLover said:

    Let’s face it … we have a Congress of Cowards

    Mob Rule is always the easy path to follow because there is never a single shred of personal responsibility ascribed to Mob Members …

    Leadership is not an inherited trait that is automatically bestowed upon someone simply because they got themselves elected …

    Leadership requires that someone has an established set of principles, has a dedicated and unswerving belief in those principles, and has the simple guts to stand by those principles in the face of adversity from the Mob Rule Mentality …

    If you are represented by elected officials that follow the mob rather than lead then you need to work to get them fired and replaced … regardless of their political party affiliation …

  11. #658897
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:15 pm, redc1c4 said:

    one day, thugs like this will attack the wrong house, or the wrong person, and they will get a response they aren’t ready for.

  12. #658903
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:20 pm, Pasadena Phil said:

    This is particularly troubling because it follows the organized bus tours through Greenwich CT last week and may signal the beginning of an organized campaign of anti-capitalist violence. The MSM usually looks the other way at these events but is now paying attention.

    Here in LA, we witnessed our local media dutifully reporting a “series” of anti-war protests where the same hundred A.N.S.W.E.R. members staged the same demonstration at various locations. You will not find anywhere any explanation of what I just explained nor who these people are.

    This is a very disturbing trend considering the demagogues who make up our entrenched criminal class of windbags in Washington.

  13. #658904
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:20 pm, regularguy said:

    We must take the country back from the leftist mobsters. No economy can recover and thrive without the rule of law (as opposed to the rule of man). The founders knew better than to have “democracy” rather than a constitutional republic with rule of law. Yeah, I know this isn’t something the leftists can appreciate.

  14. #658907
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:20 pm, flenser said:

    “Investment banks have been run not for the benefit of society, customers, or even shareholders, but exclusively for the advantage of the bankers themselves. .

    The thing is, that much is true.

    It’s the notion that the solution to the problem lies in throwing rocks that is stupid.

  15. #658913
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:22 pm, Jeff2161 said:

    Apparently Jihad has rubbed off on other people as well.
    :shock:

  16. #658915
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:23 pm, flenser said:

    No economy can recover and thrive without the rule of law

    True. But we’ve been a lawless country for some time now. I’m not sure why this particular incident is getting attention. Look at our open borders, kept open at the insistence of the wealthy in defiance of the law.

  17. #658917
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:23 pm, jencab said:

    Is Eric Cantor proud of his vote? Why is he not out in public explaining himself. What a disgrace!

  18. #658920
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:24 pm, Send_Me said:

    Democracy = Mob Rule. This is why we have a Republic. Here’s a good video explaining this concept.
    “At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 18, 1787, a Mrs. Powel anxiously awaited the results, and as Benjamin Franklin emerged from the long task now finished, asked him directly: ‘Well Doctor, what have we got- a republic or a monarchy?’ ‘A republic, if you can keep it,’ responded Franklin.”

  19. #658924
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:26 pm, b-cat said:

    “Investment banks have been run not for the benefit of society, customers, or even shareholders, but exclusively for the advantage of the bankers themselves. .

    It’s true and furthermore is true of everyone. I go to work for my benefit, not society’s.

  20. #658929
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:28 pm, mojack420 said:

    but if acorn fronts started going up in flames oh how the MSM would play it up as some grand hate crime by the right .

  21. #658933
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:30 pm, WarTip said:

    On March 25th, 2009 at 11:59 am, Regulus said:I’d rather undergo something like a constitutional convention, but as the AIG “Rich-hunt” has so clearly demonstrated there are a lot of people even in Congress who are more inclined to the mob route.

    Can you imagine what this administration would do to our Constitution if they could put together a constitutional convention these days? Sadly, I think it would be much better if we could sit back and allow the left to turn into a violent mob and simply defend ourselves while we still have the constitutional means to do so.

  22. #658936
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:32 pm, Living in the PSRK said:

    WOW!

    I wonder how the rich folk in Santa Barbara, Malibu and Beverly Hills will enjoy this when the mobs start attacking again?

    Think any will purchase weapons?

    Or will they sob in the corner of their mansions waiting to be saved by the Obama Youth – not realizing that is who is attacking them now?

  23. #658937
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:33 pm, Chief RZ said:

    Ex Post Facto is unconstitutional, but to the BHO regime, that is merely a technicality.

  24. #658939
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:34 pm, flenser said:

    It’s true and furthermore is true of everyone. I go to work for my benefit, not society’s.

    Bankers are not supposed to run banks for their own benefit. When they do that they might as well be communsts.

    I don’t know what you do for a living, but in many cases you are not supposed to be looking out for your own interests but for the interests of the company/people who pay your salary.

  25. #658941
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:34 pm, tamarah180 said:

    Tried to post this as new nick, but it is not showing up:

    WOW!

    I wonder how the rich folk in Santa Barbara, Malibu and Beverly Hills will enjoy this when the mobs start attacking again?

    Think any will purchase weapons?

    Or will they sob in the corner of their mansions waiting to be saved by the Obama Youth – not realizing that is who is attacking them now?

  26. #658942
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:35 pm, sonofdy said:

    One word.

    kristallnacht

  27. #658945
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:37 pm, flenser said:

    Democracy = Mob Rule.

    We have a long way to go before we have to worry about that. Right now we’re an oligarchy. The pendulum will have to swing pretty far the other way before we need to worry about mob rule.

  28. #658948
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:38 pm, plymouthacclaim said:

    Capitalism is the natural state of free people. Anything else is an abberation, or an abhomination.

  29. #658951
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:39 pm, b-cat said:

    I don’t know what you do for a living, but in many cases you are not supposed to be looking out for your own interests but for the interests of the company/people who pay your salary.

    No. I look out for my interests and that is the way it should be. Most of the time my company’s interests and mine are in line. If they should ever part ways, then I am perfectly able to find an employer who will not endanger me. My employer is perfectly capable of finding someone who doesn’t endanger them. Perfectly happy and workable arrangement.

  30. #658961
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:45 pm, Pulchritudinous Patriot said:

    I am really starting to wonder if I need to start bringing my hand gun into work with me.

    I work in the financial services industry as a financial advisor’s assistant. I am beginning to worry that this congress will target us next..you know the eviiiillll stock brokers?

  31. #658969
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:49 pm, TXGator said:

    Sadly, many poor people believe rich people are the problem…it’s a zero-sum game for them. A great deal of poor people just want the rich or privileged to feel what they feel all the time. Pure jealousy and vengeance.
    Most people are cool with mobs as long as they go after the people they dislike. Problem with mobs is they just don’t work like that, do they? Kristalnacht, indeed.

  32. #658975
    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:57 pm, StanW said:

    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:49 pm, TXGator said:
    Most people are cool with mobs as long as they go after the people they dislike. Problem with mobs is they just don’t work like that, do they?

    And that is the crux of the issue. Mobs going after research scientists (and their families) or mobs going after ‘greedy’ corporate executives (and their families) are fine with Liberals. But what happens when mobs go after terrorists in our own country, or abortion providers? Well, then we get “Hate Crime” Legislation. We get unrelated groups targets for derision that had nothing to do with the original incident.

    Yeah, Liberals are big fans of mobs, when those mobs are targeted and controlled. How quickly they change their tune when the mob goes the other way!

  33. #658984
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:01 pm, Pasadena Phil said:

    I can’t believe how many people commenting here are hostile to self-interest. Banks, like guns, are neither good nor bad. That people can actually succeed and get rich in this country seems to bother many people posting here.

    What exactly are you people fighting for anyway?

  34. #658985
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:01 pm, 24Klady said:

    TXGator#30
    You’re so right about that about jealousy and vengeance. Thus, the results of this election. Promises were made to a particular segment of society and they now want their payoff. They’ll get it too, but not before our economy is all but unsalvedgeable.

  35. #658989
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:03 pm, flenser said:

    No. I look out for my interests and that is the way it should be.

    No, that’s not the way it should be.

    I’m sure that Chris Dodd could easily say that he too was just “looking out for his best interests”.

  36. #658998
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:07 pm, flenser said:

    I can’t believe how many people commenting here are hostile to self-interest.

    Which comments are you talking about?

    And “self interst” is at the root of this entire financial meltdown.

    That people can actually succeed and get rich in this country seems to bother many people posting here.

    So you’re cool with Rangel succeeding and getting rich? Wake up and smell the coffee. A lot of the peope succeedng and getting rich are robbing you blind. Whee do you think that money the government is throwing around comes from?

  37. #658999
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:07 pm, twofoot said:

    It’s really too bad the lefties in UK don’t feel this strongly about the jihadis living in their neighborhoods.

    It amazes me how low the British have fallen. I remember a response from an older British citizen after a terrorist attack on a tube station, I think it was. It was along the lines of, “I’ve been bombed by a better class of b@stard than this.”

    And look at them now.

    I don’t know what you do for a living, but in many cases you are not supposed to be looking out for your own interests but for the interests of the company/people who pay your salary.

    The two are not mutually exclusive. In another case of “all I need to know about life I learned in the Marine Corps”, I most certainly am dedicated to my company. But my goal, first and foremost, is to put food on the table for my wife and children. I do that by doing my job to the best of my ability.

    But to say that a person is supposed to look out for the interests of company over self, or over family, leads to the kind of people that never have time for their family. It leads to the kind of people that spend their whole life at work, and miss their kids growing up.

    Family comes first. Always.

  38. #659000
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:08 pm, b-cat said:

    I’m sure that Chris Dodd could easily say that he too was just “looking out for his best interests”.

    He is. It is in the voter’s self interest to rid us of him. But they are deficient in self interest and so the rest of us are stuck with him. Otherwise, his self interest would to not be corrupt so that he might get reelected by a self interested electorate.

  39. #659004
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:10 pm, Pasadena Phil said:

    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:03 pm,

    flenser said:

    No. I look out for my interests and that is the way it should be.

    No, that’s not the way it should be.

    I’m sure that Chris Dodd could easily say that he too was just “looking out for his best interests”.

    Yikes, man! You need to go back to square one. Western civilization went through a renaissance into enlightenment to get away from that kind of thinking.

    The key to a free society is for virtuous men with talent to be free to pursue their happiness (self-interests) in a manner that creates a wealthy commonwealth for everyone. The key is virtuous. That is the entire point of our Constitution. Free people exercising their rights virtuously.

    “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” Substitute just about anything for the word guns and it makes the same point.

  40. #659008
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:12 pm, flenser said:

    The two are not mutually exclusive.

    Well, you’re jumping into a debate already in progress. Here is where it began.

    “Investment banks have been run not for the benefit of society, customers, or even shareholders, but exclusively for the advantage of the bankers themselves.

    Do you think that it is right for the bankers to rip off their shareholders and customers on the grounds that they are “looking after number one”? I’m saying that this is clearly wrong. Some dopy Randian is disagreeing.

  41. #659019
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:15 pm, flenser said:

    Yikes, man! You need to go back to square one.

    I don’t know why, seeing as you go on to agree with me.

    The key is virtuous. That is the entire point of our Constitution. Free people exercising their rights virtuously.

    An awful lot of our bankers have been behaving with a distinct lack of virtue.

  42. #659021
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:16 pm, hawkeye54 said:

    This activity must be stopped before it gets worse.

    And it will get worse. The communists, er, progressives in government will continue goad the mobs to act for them, to turn the so-called “Have-Nots” against the “Haves” in society and turn a blind eye against the threats and violence or offer token rebukes to the perpatrators.

    When the “Haves” have surrendered complete control of the economy to the government out of fear of loss of life, liberty and property, the goal of the progressives of destroying capitalism will be complete.

  43. #659023
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:17 pm, tre said:

    I have three pieces of advice for those people being terrorized: 12 gauge pump shotgun, .357 magnum revolver, shooting lessons.

  44. #659025
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:17 pm, b-cat said:

    Investment banks have been run not for the benefit of society, customers, or even shareholders, but exclusively for the advantage of the bankers themselves.

    If I were to start a bank, what would my prime motivation be? To enrich you, me or both? Is it not in my self interest to enrich myself by enriching you too? Why would I care to enrich you? Because it enriches me. Self interest is what drives capitalism.

  45. #659034
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:21 pm, twofoot said:

    Because I am laid up on the couch enjoying pain pills after oral surgery yesterday, I had the time to read it all before “jumped into” anything.

    There is absolutely nothing wrong with people looking out for their own interests, so long as it’s done within the law. Which is why your examples of Chris Dodd, Charlie Rangel, etc, are nonsensical.

    Primary problem with the people of this nation today is they have forgotton they are promised the pursuit of happiness. No one is ever promised they will succeed.

  46. #659037
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:22 pm, flenser said:

    The communists, er, progressives in government will continue goad the mobs to act for them

    The Democratic Party is owned and operated by the richest people in America. This idea that they hate the rich (viz. themselves) is farcical.

    the goal of the progressives of destroying capitalism will be complete.

    The capitalists fund the progressives. In some cases the capitalists are the progressives. Think Soros, Bing, Lewis, ..

  47. #659041
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:25 pm, b-cat said:

    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:22 pm, flenser said:

    With that I completely agree.

  48. #659042
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:25 pm, Pasadena Phil said:

    Flenser: it is not right for anyone to be ripping off anyone no matter what. On the other hand, if it is immoral for you to acting in your self-interest, then who is looking out for them? No, you have a moral responsibility to be looking out for #1.

    What is further confusing your argument is that you are pooling the various types of banks together. Commercial banks have no business merging with investment banks who have no business merging with insurance companies. They all perform essential roles is keeping risks separate and managing them. That is why repealing the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 was such a disastrous mistake.

    Investment banks perform a centrally critical role in our society. They take big risks that lead to the very innovation that defines our country and makes it great (we are not a superior race). Capital formulation is the direct result of being free to chase the profits that make it worthwhile to take those risks.

    This crisis wasn’t spawned by greed but by unfettered greed. By subsidizing this unfettered greed, we don’t allow the fear of failure to keep them in check. That is what the term “moral hazard” means.

    We lose our freedoms when we abuse them. Virtue is what you do when no one is losing. Today, it’s all about not getting caught.

  49. #659047
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:27 pm, flenser said:

    Is it not in my self interest to enrich myself by enriching you too?

    You seem to be a little thick. One more time then.

    Investment banks have been run not for the benefit of society, customers, or even shareholders, but exclusively for the advantage of the bankers themselves

    In order words, no, we are not talking about bankers who tried to enrich themselves while also enriching others. We are talking about bankers who enriched themselves while either indifferent to others, or while robbing them blind.

    Do you get it now, or shall I explain it again?

  50. #659052
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:28 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    Pasadena Phil said:

    Very well said.

  51. #659060
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:35 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    In order words, no, we are not talking about bankers who tried to enrich themselves while also enriching others. We are talking about bankers who enriched themselves while either indifferent to others, or while robbing them blind.

    The great thing about Capitalism is that it works well with human nature. People are self-interested. Enriching themselves while being indifferent to others is fine from an economic perspective. Starting a business that employs workers gives them income whether the owner gives two hoots about them or not. By and large, a functioning, honest capital market is the dividing line between first and third world countries.

  52. #659061
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:35 pm, Pasadena Phil said:

    Let me correct an important typo (among several) in my last comment:

    “We lose our freedoms when we abuse them. Virtue is what you do when no one is losing looking. Today, it’s all about not getting caught.”

  53. #659066
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:38 pm, flenser said:

    What is further confusing your argument ..

    I appreciate your generous effort to help, Phil, but I don’t need you to tell me what my argument is. A lot of people in the financial business have behaved in a most unvirtuous fashion. Being wealthy and connected, they may not have technically broken the law in many cases. But they violated the trust they held.

    That’s my argument.

    This crisis wasn’t spawned by greed but by unfettered greed. By subsidizing this unfettered greed, we don’t allow the fear of failure to keep them in check. That is what the term “moral hazard” means.

    Phil, I’m amused by the way you keep vehemently agreeing with me, while thinking that you are correcting me. Perhaps you should read what I’m writing? And give the lecture about the evils of unfettered greed to b-cat.

  54. #659067
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:39 pm, b-cat said:

    You seem to be a little thick.

    Sign #1 you’re losing is insulting you’re opponent.

    In order words, no, we are not talking about bankers who tried to enrich themselves while also enriching others. We are talking about bankers who enriched themselves while either indifferent to others, or while robbing them blind.

    I am talking about the concept of self interest being the motivation of why we all do what we all do.

    It usually means I have to serve your self interest to further mine. That is the nature of contract law and the basis of western civilization. Nowhere in the argument am I condoning robbery or thuggery. That sort of thing is illegal and should be.

    What seems to have ticked you off was my saying I go to work to provide for me, not my employer.

    My employer provided for himself when he hired me.

  55. #659068
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:41 pm, Pasadena Phil said:

    Flenser: you need to read Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”. Just read the first chapter about confusing “society” for “government”. Government is a bad thing because it’s size is in direct inverse proportion to people’s virtue.

    If you can’t exercise your rights without trampling the rights of others, it makes for an unruly and inefficient society. That is why the mobs turn to more government. We have to behave ourselves because we believe, not because we are going to get caught if we don’t.

    That is why free societies are so hard to keep going. Success breeds failure.

  56. #659085
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:47 pm, rambler said:

    With all the cr@p congress is dishing out towards AIG employees, I wondered why they were not quitting in droves. On the one hand AIG was kept afloat to spread money to other banks with the approval of congress and on the other, the employees were slamed and blamed for causing the crisis. Where are the bus tours of the homes owned by the members of congress? Why haven’t Dodd and Frank been forced to resign? Congress’ phoney outrage about having to deal with what they created makes me sick!

  57. #659087
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:48 pm, JustAThought said:

    From above:

    Is there a party in Washington that stands for the rule of law? How can the 85 House Republicans who aided and abetted the AIG-bashing, backside-covering demagogues read this resignation letter and look themselves in the mirror?

    Of course there isn’t. Standing up for ANYTHING remotely resembling what is right, moral and legal in Washington will get you scorned. Just ask U.S. Rep. Bill Posey.

    How do they look themselves in the mirror? Simple really. There isn’t an ounce of personal responsibility or moral character between them. I can count on one hand the number of Senators and Congressmen COMBINED that I feel are trustworthy enough to have around. The balance of them aren’t representing anyone but themselves and their own pockets.

  58. #659092
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:51 pm, Elm Creek Smith said:

    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:34 pm, tamarah180 said:

    WOW!

    I wonder how the rich folk in Santa Barbara, Malibu and Beverly Hills will enjoy this when the mobs start attacking again?

    Think any will purchase weapons?

    I think they’ll be surprised as much as those who went to buy guns during the so-called Rodney King Riots to find out about California’s fifteen day waiting period. In addition, Police Chief Gates unilaterally and illegally ordered gun shops in LA not to deliver any firearms during the riots, even after the purchasers had waited their fifteen days.

    They should probably buy weapons now, like the rest of us, and get training to use them legally and effectively.

    Hope is not a plan; not all change is good. IndyMedia is anti-First Amendment. The resistance is here; the resistance is now. RESIST!!!!

    “What’s in your holster?”

    ECS

  59. #659102
    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:55 pm, Jet Jaguar said:

    How can the 85 House Republicanswho aided and abetted the AIG-bashing, backside-covering demagogues read this resignation letter and look themselves in the mirror?

    …because they’re Republicans.

  60. #659138
    On March 25th, 2009 at 2:14 pm, mngirl said:

    I wonder how many of those vilified AIG execs voted for Obama and contributed to his campaign.

    If they did, they deserve a 90% tax on bonuses and a buck a year.

  61. #659160
    On March 25th, 2009 at 2:23 pm, KaosKlerik said:

    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:15 pm, redc1c4 said:
    one day, thugs like this will attack the wrong house, or the wrong person, and they will get a response they aren’t ready for.

    In my house we have three “burglar alarm” dogs (small but bark sharply) and a 105lb Chocolate Lab. Any crook who isn’t deterred by that and comes through my bedroom door will quickly exit it weighing about 4 or 8 grams more.

  62. #659189
    On March 25th, 2009 at 2:37 pm, wighttrasch said:

    will quickly exit it weighing about 4 or 8 grams more.

    In my house, he will exit in two pieces, if he can.

  63. #659191
    On March 25th, 2009 at 2:39 pm, emjem24 said:

    DesertLover said:
    Let’s face it … we have a Congress of Cowards …

    DL, it’s even worse than that, we’re a Country of Cowards. People voted for the politician who made them feel better about the lie that their wretched lives had become. They wanted to be taken care of and feel better for being made slaves.

    There are millions of Americans up to their necks in debt and excuses. They paid for houses, RV’s, cars, vacation homes, education, etc., they financed with credit/debt they couldn’t pay back or afford. Americans think that debt/credit is wealth (including our government) and that being in debt and living on credit is normal. As Dave Ramsey has repeatedly said: “normal sucks.”

    Then we have debt financiers who created exotic investment vehicles that traded all that debt. On top of that we had two administrations who parted with free market principles and socialized the debt so that nobody had to feel any pain.

    Those of us paying off our debt, living on what we earn instead of living on more than what we earn, are the ones on the hook for all of it. Nobody believes in the truth or taking responsibility… on either side. We have no political parties anymore, just political classes who want to make us slaves so that they can control the rest of us.

    Then we have the brainless mobs who believe that if they steal the riches, terrorize the rich, or just do away with capitalism altogether, we’ll be as successful as the Soviet Union or maybe even Venezuela. There’s only a minority of people in America who care because, let’s face it, Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing and neither do his imbecilic boot lickers. He’s too stuck on himself, his power, his fame, and his own self-importance to actually lead.

    God help us all….. :sad:

  64. #659199
    On March 25th, 2009 at 2:44 pm, jt3151 said:

    On March 25th, 2009 at 11:57 am, Russ N said:
    Who is John Galt?

    A character from ‘Atlas Shrugged’, he stopped producing when the government made it not worth his while to be a producer.

  65. #659233
    On March 25th, 2009 at 3:04 pm, Salt said:

    On March 25th, 2009 at 2:44 pm, jt3151 said:

    On March 25th, 2009 at 11:57 am, Russ N said:
    Who is John Galt?

    A character from ‘Atlas Shrugged’, he stopped producing when the government made it not worth his while to be a producer.

    I think Russ was rhetorically referencing the question “Who is John Galt?” that permeates ‘Atlas Shrugged’, not asking the literal question. ;)

  66. #659248
    On March 25th, 2009 at 3:12 pm, governmentdrone said:

    I see flenser is off his meds again.

  67. #659277
    On March 25th, 2009 at 3:26 pm, TXGator said:

    Government is a bad thing because it’s size is in direct inverse proportion to people’s virtue.

    My sweet Jesus, that is a beautiful little sentence. Thanks for putting it up, Pasadena.

  68. #659374
    On March 25th, 2009 at 4:30 pm, WarTip said:

    On March 25th, 2009 at 1:17 pm, tre said:
    I have three pieces of advice for those people being terrorized: 12 gauge pump shotgun, .357 magnum revolver, shooting lessons.

    If I had the kind of money that they do, I think I would go for something a little more exotic … and automatic with a really big drum mag. Hey, it’s not a clip after all right?

  69. #659375
    On March 25th, 2009 at 4:31 pm, ScottyDog said:

    Too bad they are taking this out on the wrong people, they should be marching on the Congress and the criminals that enabled this regulatory atmosphere.

    Barney Frank and his minions should be at the gallows IMHO

  70. #659376
    On March 25th, 2009 at 4:31 pm, DesertLover said:

    emjem24 …

    Although I agree I singled out Congress because had they been doing their jobs on all the “oversight” committees much of this could have been headed off … (perhaps not in its entirety but at least a sizable portion of it) … before it reached such a critical mass …

    None of those “exotic” financing packages could have been put in place without at least a tacit approval from people like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and their committees …

  71. #659415
    On March 25th, 2009 at 5:03 pm, RabbidSquirrel said:

    On March 25th, 2009 at 12:26 pm, b-cat said:

    It’s true and furthermore is true of everyone. I go to work for my benefit, not society’s.

    Im sitting in the parking lot of a ski resort at this very moment. In 30 minutes I will be at the top of a mountain snowboarding. Got a late start today. Oddly I am checking emails in the other window and I can hold conference calls on the slopes if I need to. I held two conference calls on the drive up here.

    Im pretty sure I am working for my benefit and not society’s. If I was working for society’s benefit, I would be sitting on the side of a mountain in Afghanistan with a scope trained on someones head. Been there, done that, not doing it again at the moment. :lol:

    Talk amongst yourselves please…. I’ll be channeling Sonny Bono for the rest of today.

  72. #659437
    On March 25th, 2009 at 5:22 pm, bansharia said:

    Dear Jake,
    Please donate your $ to the teaparty movement and the USO. If you were my neighbor I would be right along side of you, this is not the America we know.
    Godspeed to you and your family.
    Barbara

    Does anyone know if ACORN has more bus tours planned or was that once and done get some press and move on sort of thing? If they do every single American in area needs to show up and stand in between that bus and these private citizens.

  73. #659448
    On March 25th, 2009 at 5:32 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    If I had the kind of money that they do, I think I would go for something a little more exotic … and automatic with a really big drum mag. Hey, it’s not a clip after all right?

    My guess is that in Scotland, this chap is allowed a double-barrelled shotgun, and on his birthday he can buy birdshot – two whole shells.

    The 2nd Amendment is as important as any of the others despite what that idiot Holder thinks.

    PS – is my M4 on the way?

  74. #659456
    On March 25th, 2009 at 5:38 pm, RTater said:

    I wonder if Soros will lose a window. Anybody else notice this:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1164771/Im-having-good-crisis-says-hedge-fund-manager-1billion-world-plunged-recession.html
    ?

    A hedge fund manager who predicted the global credit crunch has said the financial crisis has been ’stimulating’ and the culmination of his life’s work.

    And while the financial crisis continued to deepen across the globe, the 78-year-old still managed to make $1.1 billion last year.
    ‘It is, in a way, the culminating point of my life’s work,’ he told national newspaper The Australian.

    All he needs is a big banner that read “Mission Accomplished”.

  75. #659503
    On March 25th, 2009 at 6:45 pm, MuscleDaddy said:

    The mob is getting out of hand all over.

    http://www.e3gazette.com/2009/03/we-are-still-republic_24.html

    – MuscleDaddy

  76. #659512
    On March 25th, 2009 at 7:00 pm, Stillwaiting said:

    Barney Frank must feel so proud.

  77. #659662
    On March 26th, 2009 at 12:38 am, RetFireman said:

    Well what do you know. Seems that these “tolerant” Liberals all over the world really learned a lesson from the SA of the 1930’s. It seems in their ever growing quest for equality, they mean for others to enjoy what Kristalnacht meant for the Jews back then.

    Thugs. Bullies and thugs hiding behind the guise of “equality” and “fairness”

    Just try that with my home. I have no qualms what-so-ever with doing what I need to do to protect that which I have and love, and most definitely have the means with which to carry out that protection.

  78. #659825
    On March 26th, 2009 at 9:44 am, Mainah said:

    can we get a schedule of these idiot tours? I too want to show my support for my fellow PRIVATE CITIZEN Americans.

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