Submitted by Fremen on Fri, 02/20/2009 - 3:50pm
I participate from time to time in a forum run by anti-capitalist-vegan-animal-rights-activist tree-huggers.
I found this essay written by Rand Clifford in response to the hearings on Capitol Hill between the corporate big wigs of Wall Street and the Committee formed to investigate the meltdown. At once, this meeting was touted in the Washington Post as a reckoning:
Quote:
Amit R. Paley wrote in the Washington Post, “The titans of Wall Street, already humbled by the financial meltdown, were hauled before Congress for the first time Wednesday to face the rage of the nation.”
However, the Author found a different angle from which to see this and printed this:
Quote:
Another crescendo in this “…public pillorying of the executives” came when seven of them claimed they did not expect to request more federal money—and several of them said they never wanted even the first installment of the bailout money.
At this point an “exasperated” Democratic Representative from Pennsylvania, Paul Kanjorski, said, “For anyone who contends that you do not need the money and that you did not ask for it, please find a way to return that money to the Treasury before you leave town.”
Imagine…not one of the titans took Rep. Kanjorski up on the offer. But that sequence did reveal the raw sense of the whole affair. Corporate media did everything they could to soothe “rage of the nation” by portraying the whole show as a ferocious grilling and pillorying of those bad ol’ banksters into contrition and humiliation by our fearless elected officials. A victory for the people!
Disappointingly, for those paying close attention to the trajectory of their country, the only thing genuinely meaningful was in fact a certain loss for the people—something most all of the people surely wrote off as somewhat cutesy, a moment of levity. It was Kenneth Lewis’s “I feel more like corporal of the universe, not captain of the universe at the moment.” It may have played differently if there were a huge dial above the committee that showed the instantaneous visceral responses such as blood pressure of the committee members. A huge silence might have ensued because this simple statement disguised in levity, in it’s subtlety, was deadly serious. If there were any real ferocity instead of hyped and apparent ferocity, it was there and every committee member felt it to the bone.
This show was an elaborate farce, apparent power versus real power. Real power is spoken in money. Real power always wins. In the end, banksters laughed all the way home with most of our money. Committee members, forces of apparent power, cowered in hopes of not actually offending real power.
A pageant of how power maneuvers in this country, that’s what was so subtlely displayed. Corporate media made sure a vast majority of Americans interpreted the pageant as exactly what it was not. Is it any wonder why real power ends up with more and more of the nation’s wealth, while the peoples’ power is wielded by clowns?
I am telling you: this take is spot-on and I can picture the events in private middle-school where these patronizing cowards learned to hone their repentance spiel, navy-blue caps in hand. Their actions speak louder than any words and I wonder if Congress has forgotten that axiom. We have sent impotent jackasses to Capitol Hill and we watch them squirm around in frustration or abeyance while we look away in heartbreak as our champions are dealt the death-blow. I'm done calling Congress, I'm sick of the passive holier-than-thou liberal pastiche of Founder's principals. They are not peers to the founders - I am. I am the same age, I am of the same economic background, I am more in tune with the needs of average Americans. Washington is that "City on the Hill" and they have lost touch with what really fuels the passion of Americans.
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Re: A Poignant Take
This also struck me to the bone as well. I'm also so done with the media who failed to capture one of the most poignant moments during this whole process. He's right on when he says most of this goes over most heads. Its sad, very sad, when the average attention span of the taxpayer is superceded by a gopher. It is, after all, what happened with the Romans.
Re: A Poignant Take
Great post and I agree that it hit's it on the head. All that was accomplished was a Dog and Pony Show to make the Politicians look good in front of the "Herd". The American Public is being herded and manipulated as always. I've always agreed with following the money to show where the loyalties lay, that's why I love Open Secrets. I'm still waiting for the "Left" to speak out against Emanuel, the man who was directory of Freddie Mac when they cooked the books, but they wont. But that is a rant for another thread ....
Anyway good to see someone who gets their information from multiple sources, interesting concept isn't it
IMO one of the main reasons why people are so easy to "Herd" is they grow up with a certain ideology. Then they get all their information from what ever source caters to their "flavor" and rabidly refuse to even listen to the other side.
Re: A Poignant Take
Right on, these bozos write the bailout legislation that requires no accountability, then haul these execs into their hearings, where they rant and rave about the lack of accountability.