{ 2009 06 25 }
Afternoon Quickie
- Hearings - As I write, Ben Bernanke is testifying before Congress with regard to strongarm tactics used in the negotiation of Bank of America’s purchase of Merrill Lynch last fall. At issue is the large quantity of undisclosed liabilities Merrill held at the time, who knew of them, and whether the merger was forced or cajoled into existence by Treasury and the Fed. None of this is news. As evidence, one might offer the post that graced this very meta-space two months ago, which included a note on the storyline in question.
What gets lost in this witch hunt is the fact that what’s past has passed. The merger is done, and, had it not gone through, Merrill Lynch would have gone tits up. Leaving aside the question of what function tits might serve on Merrill’s iconic bull, most everyone can agree that, after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the falling of another CDS domino was to be avoided at nearly any cost.
Perhaps, as some suggest, these hearings are part of Larry Summers’ bid to precipitously succeed Ben Bernanke as Fed Chair. Alternatively, they may be an effort to undermine the Obama administrations proposal of granting the Fed greater systemic regulatory powers. Given the number of times Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner have repeated cogent testimony slowly enough for members of Congress to understand, however, one is inclined to see this as an opportunity for elected representatives to imply moral superiority over their intellectual better.
- Critic - Having long espoused the mythos of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I can be expected to have a pretty high tolerance for irreverence. Nothing should be held above the fray of rational skepticism.
Nonetheless, the dismissive tone with which Dana Stevens’ review of the current Transformers movie discusses the epic struggle between Autobots and Decepticons is appalling. Transformers are not “clanking heaps of car parts,” and Optimus Prime is much more than a “goody-goody robot.” This must be how believers in the New Testament feel upon hearing that joke about how, after 3 days, Jesus rose from his tomb, saw his shadow, and declared “Six more weeks of winter.”
justinb013 | 25-Jun-09 at 1:41 pm | Permalink
Has anyone seen a review of Transformers II that doesn’t equate the movie with a heaping, steaming pile of poo? Ebert wasn’t very nice either…