The Swiss seem to be the only ones to object. Obama nominated Don Beyer, a car dealer magnate, to go to Bern, but the Swiss were quick to raise concerns about his qualifications in dealing with the touchy subject of Swiss bank account rules.
Again, money always speaks, and the people who have it are always the Untouchables. The bankers saved by the government after giving mortgages they shouldn’t have will now make millions buying up those distressed mortgages and reselling them. Madoff got 150 years in jail, but isn’t sending him to jail like shutting the barn door after the horse has run away?
But all this money desperate to be spent isn’t the only grotesquerie. Just pick up a newspaper (or read one on the Internet) and the headlines are filled with one grotesque thing after another: More than 26 percent of Americans are now officially obese because they can’t give up fast food or bother to exercise; the Michael Jackson memorial service drew more than 30 million viewers even after two weeks’ worth of coverage; and, the most stomach churning, a New York Times headline that read young idols with cleavers rule the stage. The story was about how young butchers are becoming sex symbols, with one fan exclaiming, “What’s sexy? Dangerous is sometimes sexy, and they are generally big guys with knives who are covered in blood.”
It’s enough to make me a vegan. Carrots, anyone?
