High Life

16 May 2009

Loose connections

Mind you, the government moves slowly, but it seems to me it moves awfully fast when it suits it, as in finding WMDs in Iraq. Ezra Merkin, a burly financier, ran the second largest feeder fund to the Ponzi scheme, and pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars in the process in the fees he charged clients, such as New York University and other suckers who trusted a man with a name like Merkin. What is even stranger is Merkin’s sister, one Daphne Merkin, who writes for the New York Times. Merkin soeur wrote that we are all responsible for Madoff because of the climate of greed that prevails in Wall Street. So far so good. There is more greed in Wall Street than there are Holocaust deniers in Riyadh, but Daphne sort of forgot to mention her burly slob of a brother. Almost, that is. In one sentence which I shall always treasure she wrote, ‘A sibling of mine had business dealings with Madoff.’ Which, a reader replied, was the equivalent of Milton Eisenhower saying he had a brother who participated in the second world war.

Merkin, Madoff, Piedrahita, Picciotto, Noel, they should all go down and have their assets stripped, but they will not because they are all well connected, and there are far too many Madoff clients who have made billions and who were, and are now, in powerful positions. Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and other institutions have, and had, people such as Robert Rubin, Lawrence Summers (now advising Obama) and Alan Greenspan on their payroll. These convinced amoralists are not about to open a Pandora’s Box. Only Bernie will go down, along with my friend Conrad Black, who actually believed in the neocons and George W. Bush.

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Gil

May 16th, 2009 10:11am Report this comment

Taki, what happened to your claims of a couple of months ago about Madoff and Mossad? You did mention it and we do want to hear whether you've uncovered any fresh evidence? We take you seriously as a commentator so do please oblige.

And this killer sentence of yours certainly had us laughing:

'There is more greed in Wall Street than there are Holocaust deniers in Riyadh'

So witty, ex-con.

David Watkins

May 16th, 2009 1:02pm Report this comment

Enough whining about Bernie Madoff, Taki! He's clearly a bad man, but not worse than other swindlers, for some of whom - Conrad Black for example - you have warm sympathy. In one respect he's better. All his dupes were rich folk - maybe not rich by your standards, but certainly by mine - who persuaded themselves that Madoff would make them much richer without any effort on their part. So they were primarily victims of their own reckless greed - as Americans say, "you can't con an honest man".

OTOH most of the shareholders in Hollinger International, robbed by Black, I'd guess are no richer than I am and didn't aspire to more than a fair return on their savings. I daresay Black is likeable. So probably is Madoff, and his determination to protect his wife and family and take the whole blame on himself shows that he has at least retained the important virtues of steadfastness and loyalty.

fogey

May 17th, 2009 5:34am Report this comment

How interesting that one of the big wheels who tried to save His Lardship Lord Crossdresser from a long spell in the hoosegow was Tony BLiar! When the poodle went to his master and begged to have the crook pardoned, Bush made one of the rare few correct decisions he ever made in his life.

His Lardship deserved a few months for stealing millions and obstruction of justice, but many years for sheer stupidity: is there anything more stupid than getting caught stealing from the RICH in, of all places, the USA?

D. Gordon

May 17th, 2009 4:31pm Report this comment

Taki,
Sadly for Canadians, their former Prime Minister,Brian Mulroney is currently facing his own problems in Canada. Hardly a man who can vouch for anyone these days. Let's see if Mulroney returns the $2m settlement he took from Canadian tax payers for his "questioning" his reputation a few years ago.

NDSV

May 19th, 2009 7:19pm Report this comment

Well said Taki, I do miss your columns, I'm sorry I stopped my subscription after Conrad lost the Spectator and real commentators like Mark, Theodore and Barbara got dumped and replaced by light weight toilet paper.

Monty A. Stewart

May 20th, 2009 4:40am Report this comment

Lord Conrad Black got his comeuppance and should be thankful he's in a "club med" prison in Florida, instead of Sing Sing or San Quentin. As I see it, there is no difference between stealing from the rich as compared to stealing from the poor. Conrad Black's crime was perhaps more complex than Bernie Madoffs' but no less destructive to the victims. Mr. Black just figured he was smarter than everyone else, so much so, that it was the obstruction conviction that really sent him down the river. How stupid can one be, to be caught on camera loading boxes full of documents relating to Hollinger Intl into your car. Mark Stein may feel some sympathy for Mr. Black's situation, but I hope that Mr. Black serves out his six and one-half year term, realizing that no one is above the law.

GK

May 20th, 2009 5:58pm Report this comment

It is necessary to comprehend that the title of the column is
'High Life' not accurate life and
that the accusation about connections with secret services
is just an accusation more for such a vilified man and makes no big difference.

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