Michael Moore: Madoff Is a Convenient Distraction for a Bunch of Crooks Who Aren't in Jail

[marmar]

via AlterNet:



Michael Moore: Madoff Is a Convenient Distraction for a Bunch of Crooks Who Aren't in Jail

By Michael Moore, Time Magazine. Posted May 2, 2009.

Had Madoff just followed the example of his fellow tycoons, he could have legally multiplied his wealth many times over, legally.


The following is Michael Moore's entry on Bernie Madoff for Time Magazine's issue of The World's Most 100 Influential People.


Elie Wiesel called him a "God." His investors called him a "genius." But, proving correct that old adage from the country and western song, you never really know what goes on behind closed doors.

Bernie Madoff, for at least 20 years, ran a Ponzi scheme on thousands of clients, among them the people you and I would consider the best and brightest. Business leaders, celebrities, charities, even some of his own relatives and his defense attorney were taken for a ride (this has to be the first time a lawyer was hosed by the client).

We're clearly in one of those historic, game changing years: up is down, red is blue and black is president. Aside from Obama himself, no person will provide a more iconic face of this end-of-capitalism-as-we-know-it year than Bernard Lawrence Madoff.

Which is too bad. Yes, he stole $65 billion from some already quite wealthy people. I know that's upsetting to them because rich guys like Bernie are not supposed to be stealing from their own kind. Crime, thievery, looting -- that's what happens on the other side of town. The rules of the money game on Park Avenue and Wall Street are comprised of things like charging the public 29% credit card interest, tricking people into taking out a second mortgage they can't afford, and concocting a student loan system that has graduates in hock for the next 20 years. Now that's smart business! And it's legal. That's where Bernie went wrong -- his scheming, his trickery was an outrage both because it was illegal and because he preyed on his side of the tracks. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/workplace/139480/michael_moore%3A_madoff_is_a_convenient_distraction_for_a_bunch_of_crooks_who_aren%27t_in_jail/

[Baby Snooks]

1. And a convenient scapegoat....

And of course there is the fact he is Jewish and wiped out a lot of Jewish wealth that supported a lot of liberal causes in this country.

Coincidence? I don't think so. I still believe someone set him up at some point with the aim of wiping out that wealth.

Let's see if Walter Noel, an FOB aka Friend of the Bushes, is also indicted.