A Freebie from Freemont

Listening to the Senate hearing today with those companies responsible for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico felt like a molestation of catholic priest proportions. I’m telling you after only ten minutes of it, I felt like I had to give myself a head to toe Ped Egg scrub down followed by a cold, bloody shower. Because, clearly, Big Business has once again stuck their fingers straight up our asses when we weren’t looking while keeping a firm grip on our balls. I mean — you thought Goldman Sachs executives didn’t answer any questions. Holy fucking shit! BP, that group of Big-fucking-Pussies, certainly takes the cake on this month’s congressional hearings.

My favorite moment was when an executive was asked to give an estimate on how much money was dedicated to researching preventative measures on a possible oil spill and the executive could not give us even the slightest approximation. This is one fuck of a joke this fucking oil slick. And it’s going to be these same slick dicks that get off easy once again.

It’s the same fucking song as financial reform and it will continue to be the same fucking song until we hold our government officials to a higher standard when it comes to keeping big business in check. Much of this, of course, was set up by the Bush administration’s failure to implement the proper safety standards on companies carrying out offshore drilling. But the Obama administration can take its own blame for exempting BP from further environmental checks on its Deepwater Horizon drilling station. As such, there is plenty of blame to go around most of which we won’t even be aware of for months or years down the line.

In the end, though, the blame will only be put on ourselves if we don’t recognize that the primary villain in this gushing catastrophe is the greed of big business. You can preach all the laissez faire, hands-off-my-money bullshit politics you want, but all it’s going to do is distance yourself from the real problem, not make it go away. Because this shit will eventually bubble up into your fucking corn flakes with an attitude like that and, by then, it’ll be too late.

- Mr. Freemont Barrington / PI on BB BS    

I’d like to keep on my point that the play’s the thing with these financial debates unfolding on Capitol Hill. You know, I love Shakespeare because he could always tell a story inside of a story. His genius as a writer was seducing his audience into a world of fiction. The Democrats, it seems, are developing their own story within a story up on the Hill as they’ve put Goldman Sachs on center stage to be viewed by the American people. In doing so, they’ve presented the tale of these large financial institutions that, if left unguarded, could cause another tempest of destruction upon the nation’s economy and its people. So, we watch as Senators theatrically read insider emails of top financial executives and we smirk as these same execs fumble over their answers. But all the while the Democrats are building their story within a larger story, which is the debate over Senator Dodd’s financial reform bill. And among all of this theatrical presentation, they’re hoping we’ll end up lost inside their world of fiction.

Why does this Goldman Sachs hearing appear to be a show to me? It’s because this motherfucker is one big goddamn bait and switch. Don’t look at the man behind the curtain because, if you did, you might find out that in 2010 Goldman Sachs has already donated more than $650,000 to the Democrats, which is 38% more than they’ve donated to Republicans. This comes off the 2008 clip of $5,934,089 in total political donations, 75% of which were to Democrats. Christopher Dodd would clearly like to make this financial regulation bill his swan song as he exits the U.S. Senate after this year. When he does, all those at Goldman Sachs and all the other top financial institutions will owe him a big fucking thank you for not coming down harder on them when he had the chance. The Democrats will win their political victory and the culture of the banking system will remain largely unchanged.

Yes, sir—something sure does stink in Denmark. The problem is that it’s stunk for a long time and no one’s dying at the end of this thing. They’re just moving onto the next play to write.

- FB

The problem with the Senate Goldman Sachs hearing that occurred on Capitol Hill today is that it was all for show. The senators who questioned these fat cat, cigar-chomping, limp-dicked fuckwads spent the day dipping in and out of the proceedings, which began at 10 AM and continued on into the night. They, no doubt, had their pictures taken many times over so that they’ll appear in all of their local newspapers. And the perception will be: look who stood up against the financial institutions that caused the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and so many Americans to lose their jobs. This hearing with Goldman Sachs quite conveniently was taking place as Democrats and Republicans on the Hill tried to work together to bring the Dodd financial reform bill to the floor of the Senate.

What is really happening here, Friends of Freemont, is just another wink, wink, nod, nod by those people who are in power in this country. The play’s the thing here. And, as we sit back in the crowd with our heads resting between Ophelia’s legs, we need to keep our minds on country matters. Financial reform legislation is politically popular at the moment and both the Democrats and the Republicans are looking to score some approval points with it. So, they’ll put on a show for us. And they’ll try to work together. And there may even be some headway made on actual finance reform. But, really, all it is that any of these people want to do is stay in power and to do that they need to get credit for something. I find it very telling, for instance, that the last sentence of the first paragraph of Senator Carl Levin’s Wikipedia page now reads: In 2010, Senator Levin served as Chairman for the interrogations of the senior partners of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. relating to the SEC fraud accusations straining the latter.     

As I said in my below blog, Senator Levin’s line of questioning was absolutely hilariously bold and spoke to the root of the problem of financial greed. But I’m just not willing to believe that the government is doing enough to protect the American people from these fat cats. That’s because no matter who is in office, be it George W. Bush or Barack Obama, the White House will always be tied to the financial sector because it is the basis for our economy—an economy that needs to perform on a global scale. The unfortunate reality of this modern day capitalism is that the rich get richer as the poor get poorer. And those in power just dangle enough bullshit in front of our eyes so that we’ll stay quiet and get up the next morning.

After all these Goldman Sachs hearings are said and done, no one from the company will go to jail and I highly doubt any of their executives will receive anything more than a slap on the wrist. Their jobs will remain intact. And their young wives will blow them before they go to sleep at night. And all these big banks—they will be preserved in their conglomerate state.

So, the best advice that I can give to you is to continue to be aware of the black beast of corruption that preys upon the people of this nation. Don’t expect too much out of politicians, but expect less out of Wall Street. Because politicians, at least, need to answer to the American people. But those Wall Street fat cats only really need to answer questions when they pertain to the continued glutinous expansion of themselves.

- FB 

Well, this was certainly the best clip from the Goldman Sachs hearing held on Capitol Hill today. It holds all the drama of real democracy: the vulgar rant from a Democratic Senator, the “gotya” analysis of fat cat internal emails, and the awkward paper shuffling of a cigar-chomping financial Exec who looks like he wants to go home to his much younger wife.

The problem here, Friends of Free, is the wool being pulled over our eyes a bit. I’ll explain further in my next post. But, in the meantime, enjoy what is (at least on the surface) a wonderful line of questioning made by Senator Carl Levin of Michigan.