Corzine Walks, Zakaria Gets His CNN and Time Jobs Back

Dog bites man. Corzine walks away from a massive, in many cases crushing, destruction of the wealth of his depositors (not his investors, his depositors), and the Justice Department clears him.

The sun rises in the East. Plagiarist Fareed Zakaria gets his gigs back with Time and CNN after publishing other people's work under his own name.

The stealing of depositors funds from the bank down the street would have resulted in the local bank president going to the sheriff, begging to be arrested for his own protection. He would not have a house to return to, in any case, it having already been burned to the ground by his customers.

But Corzine is OneOfUs, sez Mr. Holder. Nothing to see here, move on. Let all those ruined farmers recover their lost wealth via civil litigation. They'll get a dime on the dollar eventually. After all, those guys aren't going to vote for us, anyway.

Let's just move on, nothing to see here.

Since Mr. Zakaria is a champion of All Things Progressive, well--boys will be boys. Even if they are 48 years of age. Old enough to know better, still too leftist to care. After all, he was presenting a passionate case for one of our pet projects, gun control. Completely understandable mistake by one of our GoodOldBoys. He's OneOfUs, after all. Let's not look too hard, lest we allll come under scrutiny.

Let's just move on, nothing to see here.

This blatant plagiarism, which is what it is--not a 'mistake'--, would have resulted in Mr. Zakaria's failure in classes and perhaps dismissal from any number of universities that insist their 20-year-olds actually do their own work, and write their own words. As the father of one of those kids who lives with this risk, OS objects.

Close your eyes and imagine if the offender were of a much more conservative shade of opinion, and had plagiarized someone else's words.  One can smell the tar being heated even now, as the deliveries of feathers are being signed for in every mainstream media outlet in the nation.

The Double Standard lives, be it a thief of ideas, such as Zakaria, or a negligent destroyer of the wealth of depositors, such as Jon Corzine.

Boys, after all, will be boys...Good Old Boys...One Of Us...

Welcome to the Nixon Administration Redux. Heaven help us all.

Now, If We Could Manage To Extradite Jon Corzine To Iceland

Damn!  These Icelanders actually sent two banksters to prison!  Man-bites-dog-alert!

Really, ya'll, think it over. The United States has seen its wealth and culture decimated by a series of massive bank frauds. Apart from Bernie Madoff, who turned himself in, no one has been indicted, or prosecuted, or seen a day of jail time. Most of the perpetrators of the crime are still in their jobs, or jobs similar, in both finance and government.

So, OS, ever the innovator, has a proposal:

Let's lease Iceland. 

 
Not the real estate, mind you, but its prosecutors and courts, economists and political leadership. They told Europe and its death-dealing Euro to stick it where the sun don't shine, returned to their own currency, and began prosecuting the fraudsters (after kicking the previous regime of politicians to the curb for their complicity in turning their country into a giant hedge fund). Their economy is recovering, because they made a decision to save their cultural soul and make the economy the servant of the culture, not the master.

So, knowing that, let's make a deal: We grant the Icelandic courts and prosecutors jurisdiction to prosecute financial fraud in the United States, wherever they find it. A bounty system, if you would. The more they recover, the more they get to keep. They indict, we extradite. They convict and house the banksters (for loooong sentences) in cold and uncomfortable cells up on the eastern shore, where the cold winds blow from the Baltic. The banksters get to learn how to grow their own food, fish for their protein from small open boats with limited fuel and no life jackets, and are not allowed in the vicinity of any electronic device apart from a transistor radio tuned to the local station. We pay Iceland handsomely for their services, so they can make a tidy profit for doing what our own systems of justice and politics seem incapable of. Think of it as a frozen version of Club Gitmo, only the inmates have verifiable identities and are serving defined sentences for actual convictions.

After Corzine and about one hundred others are actually seen serving sentences in the Icelandic pokey, OS predicts a new sobriety may overtake both bankers and politicians. A chill new wind would blow down both Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

Think about it, ya'll. It would cost a lot less than the price we've paid to date, and help Iceland as they poke a stick in the eye of EuroLand.

Bloomberg Report On Corzine And MF Global: Corzine Ordered The Use Of Customer Funds To Cover The Firm's Shortfalls

Ruh. Roh.

Jon S. Corzine, MF Global Holding Ltd. (MFGLQ)’s chief executive officer, gave “direct instructions” to transfer $200 million from a customer fund account to meet an overdraft in a brokerage account with JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), according to a memo written by congressional investigators.
Edith O’Brien, a treasurer for the firm, said in an e-mail quoted in the memo that the transfer was “Per JC’s direct instructions,” according to a copy of the memo obtained by Bloomberg News. The e-mail, dated Oct. 28, was sent three days before the company collapsed, the memo says. The memo does not indicate whether that phrase was the full text of the e-mail or an excerpt. 

Corzine's earlier testimony before Congress was the Ricky Ricardo Defense: 'I don' know nuthin'! It disappeared itself! Ay Caramba, Loooocy what have you done now?'

Hmm....

Now, if any of OS's intrepid readers have any illusions whatsoever that Mr. Corzine will ever see a day in jail over this, they need to put them to rest right now. Not. Gunna. Happen.

Given his imbedded position in both the Democrat party and Wall Street, he will never be touched by this. Of course, 'normal' people with 'normal' 'pedestrian' ethical views will never trust the man, but that won't matter, given the character of the group that does embrace him.

But he does give insight into the particular cabal now in charge of our government, which knowledge will be helpful this fall.

Where, Pray Tell, Are The Handcuffs? MF Global Trustee Report

It's an ugly, ugly tale, and OS hopes you take a moment to read it.

OS's premise, and soapbox, is that culture shapes economy. If we live in a culture where firms like MF Global can act with reckless abandon, drive over the cliff, carrying their customers and their customer's customers with them--because the board and management know they have a perpetual 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card from those in charge of the government--then inevitably all trust erodes, and sooner or later things grind....to.......a.......(halt).

Where are the handcuffs? Where's the Giuliani of our generation, who as prosecutor would have perp-walked the whole crew into court long ago?

Ricky Ricardo Reports On The Latest News From MF Global

LOOOOCY! Dih' Munney! It vaporized itself!

Ai Caramaba, Looocy!  Wha' happun?!?!

Or in more staid English, the opening paragraph of the Wall Street Journal coverage this morning:


Nearly three months after MF Global Holdings Ltd. collapsed, officials hunting for an estimated $1.2 billion in missing customer money increasingly believe that much of it might never be recovered, according to people familiar with the investigation.

As the sprawling probe that includes regulators, criminal and congressional investigators, and court-appointed trustees grinds on, the findings so far suggest that a "significant amount" of the money could have "vaporized" as a result of chaotic trading at MF Global during the week before the company's Oct. 31 bankruptcy filing, said a person close to the investigation.

Many officials now believe certain employees ...
 

At this point, the WSJ invites one to subscribe in order to read it all. But really, why bother?

It's just as informative, and much more entertaining, to bring Desi Arnaz back from the grave and let him do his Ricky routine, in which the more frustrated he became, the more his English deteriorated.

In a society ruled by law, Jon Corzine would have already been placed under arrest, publicly arraigned,  forced to cough up his passport, and detained to one of his Manhattan addresses, always within reach of the prosecutors. He'd be allowed access to enough money to live and pay his lawyers, but otherwise no-touchy-the-assets in all those far-flung places, as the account holders who were robbed of their funds may have need of them in recovery. Ditto for the entire top two tiers of management of the firm. Ain't nobody goin' nowhere 'til we sort this mess out, know-whudd-I-mean?

He'd also not go unchallenged when he tells the world, 'Gollee-Gee, Beaver! I don't have any idea where all that money vaporized to!'

Every so often, OS flips through channels on the way to basketball games, and sees snippets of documentaries on street gangs. They are scary people, covered in tattoos, wielding guns, loyal only to their own tribe, completely disinterested in the fortunes and lives destroyed around them. Fearless. Ruthless. Nihilistic. Many have bought off or scared off any semblance of law enforcement. They rule the street, and aren't shy about letting the world know.

Please inform OS, someone, how these people differ from the upper tiers of our political and banking worlds? Except, perhaps, for the tattoos?

I asked Ricky. He just shrugged his shoulders and slunk back to the 1950's, grateful to be gone, and told me not to call him again. He's got his bridge game scheduled with Fred and Ethel, and doesn't wish to be disturbed.

Watergate Hearings Redux: Corzine Will Claim He Doesn't Know Where 700 Million Of His Customers' Money Is...

OS's best guess? In private accounts, accessible from wherever his Gulfstream will eventually carry him.

The claim will be--Geez, I dunno where it all went!

This man is one of the minor deities of Wall Street. He took Goldman-Sachs public. He was governor of New Jersey. He was a US Senator. He spent his lifetime knowing where da' munny iz, hunny!!

Why does this man still possess a passport? And access to a Gulfstream?

Bernie Madoff must be belly-laughing today! Maybe he'll decide to start talking to the Feds about Jon.

Jon S. Corzine's statement to the House Agriculture Committee

Quote Of The Day: James Koutoulas On MF Global

HT Jesse.

James Koutoulas is CEO of Typhon Capital Management and recently founded the Commodity Customer Coalition (CCC), comprised of over 7000 customers of MF Global. As an attorney and spokesperson for the CCC, Koutoulas has an inside persective on the legal maelstrom that has erupted in the wake of the MF Global bankruptcy scandal -- he's leading the charge for the commodities trading community.

I want to show the American people that no matter how connected you are, no matter if you were the Governor of New Jersey, no matter if you were a senator, if you break the law you should go to jail. And quite frankly, I think it's a disgrace that no one went to jail over the crisis in 2008.

All the people who gave triple-A credit ratings to essentially junk securities, none of them went to jail, none of the people who sold those went to jail, none of the people who committed mortgage fraud went to jail - I think it's ridiculous. If [Corzine] did commit a crime, I want to see him behind bars."

OS perhaps dwells on this too much--but--this crime strikes at the heart of the culture. If Corzine and company skate on this, then eventually nothing will prevent TheBankerDownTheStreet from stealing customer assets, except that he knows many of those customers know who he is, where he lives, and own guns. Even that may not be enough to overcome temptation, if he knows he'll never even face a court appearance for his crimes.

Jon Corzine On Public Integrity: 'Hold Me Accountable'

Sometimes, life just just throws us a hanging curve ball. Jon Corzine, Obama's man on Wall Street, former governor of New Jersey, blows up a major commodities brokerage, and a whole-bunch-a-munney-hunney is missing from the customer accounts.

Let's listen in on Mr. Corzine's conference call...

Oooh, now where did that 700 million dollars go? I had it just here...silly me, after all that stress and strain screwing over serving New Jersey, I seem to have lost it.  Now, Barry, really; you're not going to get upset over mere 700 million in customers' funds are you? All you have to do is hand that sum over from the Treasury and all will be well. Besides your campaign could certainly use an infusion from those accounts in Costa Rica, right?

Then, let's contrast that with his inaugural speech in 2006...

Across this state, across our nation and around the world, New Jersey sets a high bar. We are proud that Supreme Court Justices, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Cabinet officers, Chief Executives, singers, rappers, writers, scientists, and entrepreneurs all hail from New Jersey. Our children graduate from our schools at higher rates than anywhere else in the nation, and our income and education levels are among the very best. In their own lives and in their own hopes for their children, our people do not settle for less than excellence.


Today -- I pledge to you that as your governor, I will never settle for less than excellence. 

****
(It gets better...)


Public integrity is not just about reputation or principles, as important as each of those is. What's at stake is social justice and fiscal responsibility. Every dollar squandered in violation of the public trust is a book not bought for a classroom, a prescription drug with a higher co-pay, meals-on-wheels not delivered, a road or science lab not built. With a multi-billion dollar structural deficit, mismanagement and misappropriation cannot and will not be tolerated.


To earn the public trust, we must act, but we also must trust the people with the truth. We cannot build a financial future on the crumbling, papered-over foundation of a recurring fiscal crisis. Too often, for too long, under both parties, fiscal gimmicks have been invented, recycled, and reapplied to mask fiscal realities. As Governor Codey said in November, thanks, his transition report can be summed up simply: "the state is pretty much broke." 

The games are over. New Jersey must put its fiscal house in order. The time of one-shot budget fixes is past. It's time to balance the books. 

(And, finally, he ended this classic speech by saying....drumroll please....)


And, in turn, I ask you -- the citizens of New Jersey, hold me accountable. 

Thank you. 

Is that the sound of a Gulfstream warming up on the tarmac?

OS has yet to hear of any judge demanding Mr. Corzine turn in his passport.

The Herman Cain Dust-Up: A Couple Of Additional Questions

ABC News asks a cogent question: Who, exactly, are Cain's accusers?

Another good one is: Where are they? After all, if we are to be about the business of tarnishing the reputation of a public person, seems that going public would be the thing to do. A good rule of thumb would be: If'n yew don't wantcher pictcher in the paper or alllllll over the internet, don't deliberately say and do stuff that creates media interest. Sorta' like, don't cover yerrself in hunney and walk into a big anthill.

So, here we are, with the wheels coming off Europe, riots ginning up in California, the professors of Southern Illinois University on strike (Really, ya'll! Why do folks with tenure go on strike?), another trading firm gone tits-up with 700 million of the clients' dollars missing, run by one of Obama's ardent supporters (Jon Corzine, former senator, former governor of New Jersey), large swaths of the Middle East in chaos, Iran working on a nuke--so let's spend our time obsessing about....drumroll please/the envelope please....what Herman Cain did or didn't do in the 1990's (the age of, ummm, Bill Clinton).

Hmmm....

So, OS has another question or two as he scratches hiz ole' grey head in puzzlement: Let's assume, fer the sake of argumint, that all those tarrrible thangs they sayin' 'bout Herman iz true! Does it disqualify him from running or taking office? Really?

Remember the stock phrases about Bill Clinton?

It's not about character, all that matters are his policies.

This does not rise to the level of an impeachable offence.

It's his business what he does with that cigar and that intern, none of ours.

He wasn't lying when he denied 'having sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky', now was he? All that stuff they were engaging in in that bathroom off the Oval Office, that wasn't really sex, you know.

So, Bill is lionized, with all his actual misbehavior documented in detail.  Herman is vilified, based upon anonymous allegations.

Which leads to another question:

Is there one set of rules for white Democrats, and another for black Republicans? 
(Remember the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation hearings? This all feels soooooo familiar to those of us alive to have witnessed that dog-n-pony show.) It was a replay of the Robert Bork debacle, only with the hoods and burning crosses on display for good measure.

Which leads to another question, which OS refers to as the 'Homer Simpson Question':

Is there anyone alive, who has really engaged the world, attempted to get stuff done, worked with all manner of people, who hasn't had a few Homer Simpson moments along the way? 

 OS can certainly look back to more than a few moments of 'Dooooh!'. He actually owns up to a 'Decade of Doooooh!' He works diligently to not create more of them, to put another day of distance between him and them with every day that passes. But he, like everyone else alive, is not immune. It doesn't mean he doesn't go out and engage the world today.

Herman deserves the same consideration, in the humble of opinion of a life member of the 'Dooooh!' fraternity. Last time OS checked, Herman only smokes his cigars, and didn't illegally take 700 million of his clients' funds and lose them on the roulette wheel of the European sovereign debt casino.

That, ya'll, is an actual 'Dooooooh!' event.