No Longer Passively Accepting

I love George Carlin. He is a hero from my youth. Revered from the first time I heard “The Seven Words”. And I still mourn his passing in 2008. So I was a bit surprised by my reaction to viewing Carlin’s excellent riff on “Who Really Controls America.”

Oh, I still marveled at the painful truths he revealed to his audience. I was still awed by his ability to connect dots that the rest of us could barely even see back then. But strangely, I found myself envious of the audience’s ability to clap, cheer and even laugh.

They were some alien creatures from another era.  They still had the Pre Election 2008, Pre Economic Meltdown, Pre Bank Bail Out mindset that wanted to believe – life is good. They knew Carlin spoke the truth. Yet, they still were able to believe that the best was yet to come.

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Now you might think I’m being overly dramatic. And Mr. Carlin was exaggerating for the sake of laughs. But then you probably believe the Andy Borowitz’s piece (h/t BGD) below the fold is just satire.

Goldman Sachs in Talks to Acquire Treasury Department:
Sister Entities to Share Employees, Money

In what some on Wall Street are calling the biggest blockbuster deal in the history of the financial sector, Goldman Sachs confirmed today that it was in talks to acquire the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

According to Goldman spokesperson Jonathan Hestron, the merger between Goldman and the Treasury Department is “a good fit” because “they’re in the business of printing money and so are we.”

The Goldman spokesman said that the merger would create efficiencies for both entities: “We already have so many employees and so much money flowing back and forth, this would just streamline things.”

Mr. Hestron said the only challenge facing Goldman in completing the merger “is trying to figure out which parts of the Treasury Dept. we don’t already own.”

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And if you still believe the Federal Reserve is still chaste and pure and doing good, then you might want to view this video by Lagan Sebert, Harry Hanbury and AmericanNewsProject.

(h/t – Sonic Ninja Kitty)
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Then read this little excerpt from Glenn Greenwald’s recounting of The events preceding Goldman Sachs’ new “blowout profits”

UPDATE: … back in September, the Federal Reserve allowed Goldman (and a few other surviving institutions) to convert from an investment bank into a bank holding company. The Wall St. Journal claimed at the time that the move meant the firm would “come under the close supervision of national bank regulators, subjecting them to new capital requirements, additional oversight, and far less profitability than they have historically enjoyed.” …

But what the conversion did allow was access to lending from the Federal Reserve. Since then, the Fed has increased its balance sheet by $2 trillion while steadfastly refusing to disclose the beneficiaries of that credit. Thus, even aside from the bailout money it directly received and the billions in bailout money which it indirectly received (through AIG), Goldman has had access to massive amounts of Fed lending in order to fuel its bulging profits. …

As of Tuesday, the House bill to require a full-fledged audit of the Federal Reserve by the end of 2010 had won 275 co-sponsors and the companion bill in the senate has 17 co-sponsors. Sounds great. But lets not forget that the road to passage travels right through the House Financial Services Committee chaired by, none other than – Barney Frank.

More Greenwald:

UPDATE III: It’s worth recalling this bit of central truth, blurted out in April by the number two Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Dick Durbin:

“And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.

That was nice and blunt. That same week, it was announced that the newly-hired top lobbyist for Goldman Sachs, Michael Paese, was — immediately prior to his hiring — the top staffer to Rep. Barney Frank on the House Financial Services Committee chaired by Frank. …

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Now, if you still believe Ron Paul’s bill will magically pass through Barney Frank’s committee intact, maybe you need to start at the beginning and watch Carlin’s riff again, then read…

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[Originally posted by Linda Anselmi on 7/09 at No Quarter]