Danny Schechter - ColdType

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any illusion that public or private prosecutions will resolve
bigger structural flaws. A witch-hunt might be a media distraction.
But, on the other hand, if there is no retribution
against financiers, it will be very difficult to force a real change
in behavior.” Why is this? Could they identify more with the
people they write about than their victims? Is it a class thing
or just solidarity between the corporate financial and corporate
media elite?
There have been defenses of Goldman by respected financial
writers like Michael Lewis who argues that the squid reference
is “transparently false.” He writes on Bloomberg, “For
starters, the vampire squid doesn’t feed on human flesh. Ergo,
no vampire squid would ever wrap itself around the face of
humanity, except by accident. And nothing that happens at
Goldman Sachs – nothing that Goldman Sachs thinks, nothing
that Goldman Sachs feels, nothing that Goldman Sachs
does – ever happens by accident.” Oh!
In August 2009, the New York Times reported that former
Goldman CEO Henry Paulson was in close touch with his former
employer despite an ethics pledge not to do so. “During
the week of the AIG bailout alone, Mr. Paulson and Mr. Blankfein
spoke two dozen times, the calendars show, far more frequently
than Mr. Paulson did with other Wall Street executives.
“On Sept. 17, the day Mr. Paulson secured his waivers, he
and Mr. Blankfein spoke five times. Two of the calls occurred
before Mr. Paulson’s waivers were granted.” Ach, so!
2. The Experience of A Bank Regulator
William Black was one of the bank regulators who disentangled
the S&L crisis. He told TV host Bill Moyers that many of
the banks that failed then were deliberately brought down.
“The way that you do it is to make really bad loans, because
they pay better. Then you grow extremely rapidly, in other
words, you’re a Ponzi-like scheme. And the third thing you do