I knew that this day had to finally come for the great (and very few real journalists out there,) Matt Taibbi, and I for one welcome it.
Taibbi has finally had it up to here (hold your hand over your head as far as it will go), with Andrew Ross Sorkin who is the absolute worst Wall Street corporate propagandist out there these days. Sorkin is the fucking idiot that wrote 'Too Big to Fail,' that was turned into this absolutely disgusting film by HBO, in which all the big players are actually displayed as the 'hero's that saved America.'
The real film and the only one worth viewing is the great documentary by Charles Ferguson, which one the academy award: 'Inside Job.' On with the story on Matt Taibbi finally gutting this 'total ass hat,' Sorkin, and others of his ilk. About time, is what I say.
I've been trying not to say anything bad about Andrew Ross Sorkin. I even made a point of not watching Too Big To Fail so as not to get upset -- and when I heard from friends that the film turned Hank Paulson into Joan of Arc, that decision seemed to have been validated.
Now I’m bummed to see that Sorkin has written an elaborate defense of Goldman in the New York Times "Dealbook" section, arguing among other things that Lloyd Blankfein probably did not commit perjury and that the bank did not have a huge directional bet against mortgages in 2007. As evidence, Sorkin cites unsubstantiated Goldman documents and Goldman sources who claim, among other things, that the bank had $5 billion worth of long bets on MBS "in other parts of the company," offsetting the now-notorious "Big Short."
The Sorkin piece reads like it was written by the bank's marketing department, which may not be an accident. In November of last year, the New York Times announced that "Dealbook" was entering into a sponsorship agreement with a variety of companies, including ... Goldman, Sachs. This is from that announcement last year:
To fully understand what Matt is talking about as the New York Times is doing this bullshit 'Dealbook,' agreement, is so outrageous it is beyond the pale. This is exactly how the media, including the New York Times is selling out our nation and why Sorkin's continued lies and re-writing of history must be fully called out and dispelled every single time these kinds of lies are allowed to be printed in black and white. Fuck you New York Times, and fuck you Sorkin, and finally a big fuck you to Bill Maher for turning your back on Matt Taibbi this past season on your show, while promoting someone as disgusting as Andrew Ross Sorkin, (not to mention Andrew Breitbart). Gee, thanks Bill Maher, for nothing. And people wonder why 'we,' are losing faith in the two party system? Not me. It used to be that we could at least depend on Bill Maher as a so called progressive voice who apparently 'pretended,' he was in our corner (albeit he is an entertainer and comedian,) but I'm over that now, especially after his own proclivity to 'go all corporate,' on our asses. How wonderfully bi-partisan of him. Bill Maher seems to be morphing into David Gregory of Meet the Press these days.
More from Matt Taibbi from another recent blog he did on this same subject:
One more thing I wanted to point about about Andrew Ross Sorkin’s story defending Goldman Sachs and Lloyd Blankfein the other day, in which it was posited that Goldman did not, in fact, have a “Big Short” in 2007. Sorkin says that according to Goldman, the firm’s net short position that summer may have been as low as $5 billion, and not $16 billion as claimed, therefore Lloyd Blankfein was not lying when he told the Senate, “We did not have a massive short bet.”
Given that Sorkin was apparently given access to a large trove of documents allowing him to make the case that Goldman didn’t have that “Big Short” on, I thought it would be instructive for readers to see what kind of answers the Senate got when it asked Goldman executives the same questions about the size of the banks’ short bet. They gave Sorkin the whole store, but Levin’s committee basically got name, rank, serial number, and a big legalese "eat me."
See if you can notice some consistencies in the following statements.
http://www.rollingstone.com/...
Read the entire two blogs from Matt if you can find the time. One thing I love about Taibbi is he does his homework, he is fully informed, and he has the facts and evidence to back up each and every story he does.
On the other hand, and make no mistake about it: Andrew Ross Sorkin in yet another corporate whore for hire, yet another opportunistic shit bag who honestly believes that he is actually a cut above Andrew Breitbart, when in fact they are cut from the exact same cloth. They might travel in different circles, and Sorkin might wear better quality 'suits,' but don't confuse these two gutless wonders. They are the scum of the earth, and Bill Maher is not far behind at the rate he is going.
Prediction: If Matt Taibbi continues on his present path he may indeed become one of the all time greatest 'real,' journalist in our time, and he deserves about 100 times more of the media's attention than anyone else there for full 'face time,' on every single major news station in our country.
Thanks Matt Taibbi. I honor you, your hard work, and your excellence in reporting the facts, the evidence and the truth. Let's all remember than and fully support this great writer.
Finally, in case you have not heard this piece of information, just a last head's up:
The Republicans have fully stated that 'no matter who is nominated to the Consumer Protection Agency' created by Elizabeth Warren, they fully intent to oppose that person. So I would ask that you pay attention to this upcoming piece of news:
The latest public-be-damned ploy by the Obama Administration is the floating the name of Raj Date, a former McKinsey consultant and financial services industry executive currently ensconced in the nascent Consumer Financial Protection, as the possible new head of the agency.
snip......
This jockeying proves yet again how much antipathy both sides have for Warren. And make no mistake about it: the Administration has been clear from the outset that it wants Anybody But Warren in the job. I’ve chatted briefly with Date and seen him make a presentation. He seems perfectly capable in a technocratic way. But he’s not Warren. There is nothing in his background to suggest that he’d be a forceful advocate for consumers. People with a lot of backbone seldom join McKinsey; like Goldman on the investment banking side, it chooses candidates who are bright but insecure enough to work hard and play the game. Although there are exceptions, Date didn’t strike me as one, and people who’ve had more extensive dealings with him confirm my instincts.
So the Obama Administration has finally found someone who is housebroken, has checks in lots of the right boxes (he’s a lawyer, yet another plus), would clearly take the job (if he’s willing to work in the Bureau he’s willing to run it), won’t get a lot of media play and will presumably comply with the wishes of Team Obama, which is not to ruffle the banks. The officialdom hopes Warren will act like a good team player and support Date, ending any objections on the left. The corporate Democratic hacks will fall in line with any official move; the pesky pinko protestariat will have the ground cut out from under it by such a clever step.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/...
File this latest development under: Oh, what a huge surprise. NOT. Again, if the Republicans have vowed to oppose anyone who is going to appointed as the new Head of the Consumer Protection Agency, than why not Elizabeth Warren? Why even pretend to appoint Raj Date? This is simply another 'Presidency by trial balloon tactic,' that has failed over and over again. The real question, is why isn't President Obama doing everything he can to at least 'pretend,' that he is willing to support one honest defender of the Middle Class/poor to protect their interests over the Banks/Wall Street.
If you do not understand just how much is at stake here, if we do not fully get behind Elizabeth Warren on the Consumer Protection Agency, then take a look at the last guy, that just got sick of all this 'shit' and resigned in disgust, and he was honest, brilliant and amazing:
Former Bailout Inspector General Neil Barofsky: "You Should Be Scared. I'm Scared. You Can't Not Be Scared. You Can't Look At What Happened In The Run-Up To 2008 and See How It's Not Going to Repeat Itself, Given What We've Done"
The so called, short term solutions for very long term problems that must be addressed and cleaned up by the Obama Administration is no longer a viable excuse not to fully support an even playing field whereby, there is absolutely no excuse left for not supporting Elizabeth Warren.
Just thought you might want to know what is right around the corner, in addition to the great two pieces that Matt Taibbi put up on his blogs.
One other article I wanted to point out that you will never hear about in the MSM is exactly how the horrifying 'gangs' are taking over cities in our nation. The new term for this is called: 'Wildings' and gang violence that is now completely and utterly out of control in our nation:
The Spring of Anarchy: "A City At War With Itself"
It is still technically spring in Chicago, and wildings have made Chicago and its beaches unsafe. Poorer neighborhoods have long been war zones. The murder rate and gang violence in Chicago has been unacceptable for years. Tourists and residents have been attacked by mobs of youths on buses, on beaches, on bicycle paths, near the shops of the Magnificent Mile, and outside their homes. Mobs of shoplifters plagued "Mug Mile" stores. The irony is that these disenfranchised youths are turning to crime -- and if justice is done, prison sentences --a gainst innocent targets. Their focus is misdirected. Participating in a peaceful five million man march -- a true show of force and power -- against elected culprits in Washington would get them better results for lasting change.
Yet the police force was gutted, handcuffed, and muzzled. ("In Third World America Expect to be Investigated, as Lt. John Andrews Is Being Investigated, for Speaking Up") Police officers -- some off duty and still in uniform -- have been gunned down in the streets. Their crime-fighting abilities are severely hampered by years of irrational policies and genuflecting to politically power hungry special interest groups.
Memorial Day Mobs: Boston, Nashville, Long Island, Miami, Rochester, and Charlotte:
Wildings occurred in other cities on Memorial Day weekend in what may have been coordinated flash by Wildings. Gangs swarmed beaches in Boston, Nashville, Long Island, Miami, Rochester, and Charlotte in what some believe was a social media coordinated effort. (Hat tip: Second City Cop) It's Not a Race War; It's a Class War: It's much too easy to let politicians divide the nation, make this about race, and ignore the underlying causes. It's true that many of the mobs in downtown Chicago are comprised of African Americans, but Oprah Winfrey isn't into wilding. Mary McCarthy didn't get a close up look at the mob outside her window, but they appeared white -- definitely not African American. Last year, I never mentioned race in my post about Chicago violence, but a few commenters brought up race and made unwarranted assumptions. Some commenters assumed "wildings" only involve black youths. Chicago is a city with a lot of diversity and gangs of every race. I mentioned a separate incident of an armed intruder being shot and killed by an off duty police officer; the armed intruder was not African American. I also mentioned three police officers were shot and killed within a two month period. Two were African American, one was not.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Meanwhile, carry on and write your meaningless National Inquirer Weiner Fatigue stories, because after all, that trivial nonsense is much more important than what is really going on behind the scenes, as the deadliest month in Afganistan has once again killed hundreds, and is leading us into madness. As there are no jobs in our nation, presented by either party, as the deficit hawks (in both parties) are gutting our final safety nets.
Priorities have now become meaningless and perhaps that is exactly what the MSM and both parties are hoping that none of us 'peasants' pay attention to these days. Only don't say that you don't understand this, if you buy into that bullshit meme, then just do be the favor of this reality: you are walking into the quick sand muck of your own choosing.
I would even venture another point here to ask any of my fellow Democrats to ask any of you, what in the hell do you think you are actually gaining as to move our own President and our own party for real change if you continue to not face the real issues, and simply keep writing meaningless diaries about the Rethugs, and fully playing into the new Weenie Roast? What is your fucking point on this?
You want a full debate and honest way to move our own party forward, well I would welcome that for a change, and I hope you will too. Regardless of the fact that we've watched almost all the bullshit Rethugs go down in flames over the past few months that have fully discredited them, (including the laughable and hideous town meetings of how their own constitutes have taken all of them to the 'woodshed' on the cutting of medicare and social security has blow up in their faces) but that is not the real question.
The real question keeps coming back to the same basic questions: Where are the jobs? Why did President Obama and our own Democrats continue to cave on our own Party Platform, as did President Clinton.
This crappy bullshit meme of : Well this is the best we are going to get' is as tired as an dead Democratic Jack Ass that is now sitting on his ass, and refusing to move, no matter how many ropes we all attach to his neck, his ass, or hire a Crane to move it forward, because, it just ain't getting the job done.
That is why I've made a full commitment to hold our own party, the Democrats and our President fully accountable, instead of doing the opposite, which is simply a total waste of time.
I know that I've included a lot of, what you may believe are not interrelated subjects in this diary, but in fact, they all are deeply connected. You connect the dots, that is not my job.
Otherwise, what in the hell does 'Crashing the Gates,' really mean to you?
Thanks as always.
Ms. B.