Anger Management

I spent the majority of yesterday dealing with Idiots.

Why, I posted on my Facebook page, does it seem that the more stupid people appear to be, the more they are inclined to remain that way? This mentality seems to pervade all demographics, from small business owners who don't believe they need to advertise, to public officials who don't believe they're accountable to the people who put them in office.

Here are a couple of obvious examples:

Steve Kenneway, president of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union. After learning that the state's cash-strapped Department of Corrections spent tens of thousands of dollars on high-definition flat-screen TVs for prisoners, Kenneway commented: "I think you can find a better use for $77,000 than to go out and buy TVs for guys who are used to stealing them."
Amen.

Then there's disgraced-former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, booted from office yesterday by a unanimous vote of the Illinois legislature after the mop-top was accused of trying to sell former-senator/now-President Barack Obama’s vacated seat.

After being removed from office, Blago said. "There are tens of thousands of people across America just like me who are losing their jobs.”

No, Bleep-Rod.

Tens of thousands of people across America are NOT just like you, losing their jobs for alleged political corruption. There are thousands of people across America losing their jobs BECAUSE of people like you, who put their own personal interests ahead of those of the people they serve…

Even President Obama got on that bandwagon yesterday, excoriating Wall Street fat cat bankers for taking billions in bonuses last year, while at the same time asking for the Government to bail them out with billions of tax dollars.

Mr. Obama "is under pressure to adopt a tough line against Wall Street amid mounting public anger over how the first $350bn of bail-out funds was used," as one print outlet described it.

I'd say it's about time Bam Bam opened up a can of R. D. Mercer's Whup-ass. The Obamerator recently chided Merrill Lynch, which has received taxpayer support, for spending $1.8-million renovating the office of John Thain, its former chief executive, and the Obamolyptic administration also pressured Citigroup to cancel its order for a new, $50-million corporate jet.

“We shouldn’t have to do that, because they should know better,” the President said, referring to Citigroup.

That’s right, but as I have frequently said on this show, if you don’t police yourselves, the government will do it for you. The first step that needs to be taken is to start naming names. Who are “The Bankers” who are guilty of these egregious, unconscionable behaviors?

John Thain, the former CEO of Merrill Lynch, is one of them, having the audacity to ask for a $10-million bonus last year.

We need to know who else.

We need to know which banks tapped into TARP, and where the money went.

Incredibly, there are still some who just don’t get it. The Financial Times this morning reports some bankers “reacted to the president’s remarks with a mixture of anger and resignation.”

“Attacking Wall Street is like fishing out of a barrel at the moment,” said one financial executive. “Obama is in the middle of a tough political battle to get the stimulus plan approved. He has to say these things.”

Yes, he has to, and should.

And it’s not fishing in a barrel.

It’s more like seining in a sewage lagoon, because nearly anything you scoop up at this point is putrid and rotten.

Name names.

Insist upon accountability.

For $700-billion dollars, that’s the least these greed-mongers can do.