I Didn't Make This Up-2

"Public service casts a flattering light. Given Wall Street's reputation these days, any image-burnishing is welcome. The small army Goldman Sachs Group [GSG] has sent to Washington--led by the Treasury's Mr. Paulson--has made it look like an incubator of the great and good. Now, Morgan Stanley [MS] is advising Mr. Paulson on how to aim his bazooka. ... Chief Executive John Mack has volunteered some of his top people, including top bankers Robert Scully and Ruth Porat, to help sort out the mess at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. ... After all, [MS] is undertaking true pro bono work. It is foregoing some advisory and capital-rasing work for the mortgage companies and, other than expenses, it is getting paid zip", my emphasis, Richard Beales and Dwight Cass (B&C) at the WSJ, 25 August 2008.

See my 18 August 2008 post about MS. Did we learn nothing from the Trojan War? As Virgil said in the Aeneid, "Do not trust the Trojans. Whatever it is [wooden horse], I fear the Greeks even when they bear gifts". "Free" service from MS? Wall Street is a small world. Fannie and Freddie's (F&F) banker, MS, will work "pro bono" to "sort out the mess". Really? Or to push for a F&F bailout? Did F&F give MS permission to take this assignment? I've seen the name John Mack before. See my 29 February 2008 Stephen Cutler post. B&C's article is precious. I laughed reading it. In rereading it, I concluded B&C wrote it tongue in cheek. I note B&C called the GSG Washington contingent a "small army". I've written of GSG's 'bloodless coup". Yes, B&C, GSG took over without firing a shot; brilliant! GSG followed Sun Tzu's Art of War, written 2,500 years ago: 1. "To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence". 2. "Nothing is more difficult than the art of maneuvering for advantageous positions". I was so impressed with B&C's article, I thought, "Hmm. We can really terrify the Russians now. Have Condoleeza Rice and Robert Gates swap positions with Henry Paulson (HP)". HP can be our SecDef and SecState simultaneously! GSG sent our troops to Iraq and Afghanistan so it could capture Washington unopposed! The HP-Rice-Gates position swap should scare Czar Putin, who will immediately see he's facing a dangerous adversary in HP and the GSG army, not the clowns who see "training" as a serious military career path, see my 25 August 2008 post.

On 9 September 2008 at 5:09 PM Houston time, Michael Savage began talking about the fact that we no longer have a constitution, except that of Goldman Sachs. That "whatever Goldman wants, Goldman gets". Amen Michael Savage!