Quote of the day

During this financial crisis, who really has to respect the chutzpah, nay balls, of our financial betters. They ruined the economies of the world on the backs of financial products they didn't understand, bankrupted several countries, worked against the interests of their clients for their own gain, caused an immense international crisis through low rent gambling and stupidity, and cost the taxpayers trillions. But throughout that, they still have maintained their smug sense of superiority, their complete failure to recognize they did anything even mildly wrong, the belief that they actually provided a service of some tangible value, and attempted to stop any and all attempts to reign in their behavior... of which they largely succeeded.

But every once in a while you get to see the bile and rage bubble up and you see their true contempt for the people they almost deliberately fucked over. In this case you can strike the "almost" from the equation. Bernie Madoff did deliberately fuck over his clients... and he's still mad they didn't thank him for the pleasure.

According to a lengthy new piece by Steve Fishman in New York magazine, Madoff, who apparently pals around with a former mob boss and a spy in a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina told a fellow inmante, "Fuck my victims. I carried them for twenty years, and now I'm doing 150 years.
...
"One day, Shannon Hay, a drug dealer who lived in the same unit in Butner as Madoff, asked about his crimes. "He told me his side. He took money off of people who were rich and greedy and wanted more," says Hay, who was released in December. People, in other words, who deserved it.

See, he carried them. By which he means he stole from them and others to enrich himself while running a Ponzi scheme that, in fact, made no actual money. Why aren't these assholes grateful? Why didn't they protect their money overlord Bernie? The ingrates.

So gaze upon one of the biggest and best of the financial industry and marvel. Despite the fact that he stole from people for decades and the overwhelming amount of evidence of wrongdoing that put him in prison for a century and a half, the son of a bitch still thinks he didn't do anything wrong and that he was hard done by. That's some quality delusion and a wonderful example of the mindset that runs rampant through our financial betters. It's why they spend tens of millions opposing regulations or, more recently, stonewall federal panels. They can't believe you think they did something wrong when they shitted the world economy. The insolence, you peasants.

But don't think it's all self absorbed whining for Bernie Madoff, there's some good things he's done recently as well. Namely he got beaten up in a prison fight! So there's that.