1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Taibbi's latest

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by NoOneLikesUs, May 12, 2011.

  1. terrier

    terrier Well-Known Member

    His dad is known in the business, but never high-profile (or earned near seven digits - I'm old enough to remember Mike as a Boston TV reporter) enough to qualify Matt as a silver spoon case.
    And taking on sacred cows - of course his reporting is going to be attacked and Zapruderized, F-bombs or not.
     
  2. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Ad Hominen. See, Taibbi, Matt.

    Can't imagine why he would annoy you.
     
  3. Mark McGwire

    Mark McGwire Member

    Feel free to google "technically true but collectively nonsense" and do your own research. She's a dunce. And Taibbi's schtick is tiresome, even when he's right, which is most of the time.
     
  4. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    If Taibbi's read of the Senate subcommittee report is correct, then, yes, there are things Goldman Sachs did that are indictable.

    But Taibbi is naive as to why Roger Clemens would get indicted before anyone at Goldman. Clemens hasn't lined the pockets of pols for eons, and he can't threaten to take the economy down with him.
     
  5. Herbert Anchovy

    Herbert Anchovy Active Member

    The boarding school academy he went to isn't Oliver Twist territory.

    Counts Caroline Kennedy, Sebastian Junger and Mad Matt among alumni.
     
  6. Herbert Anchovy

    Herbert Anchovy Active Member

    And Taibbi began his sports journalism career not in Buttfuck Springs covering high school football or contests for three-act plays, but in Moscow.
     
  7. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I haven't read the Senate subcommittee report. But I will bet with certainty the Senate subcommittee report doesn't delve into the relationships 100 Senators have with Goldman Sachs, and all the political favors done for Goldman over the years with a blind eye toward anything that is suddenly "indictable" when a populist target is necessary for the TV cameras.

    Of course those indictments never come. They put out a report, but there is a wink wink, because they know and Goldman knows the whole thing will go away and Goldman will still get every favor it asks for in the future. Goldman owns the U.S. government, just as the U.S. government owns Goldman.

    If there were indictments to be handed down, the Senate would be co-conspirators. An obscure subcommitee report is really where you want to let this play out to? It's like relying on the corrupt prosecutor to dispense justice and thinking that is going to end all the injustice.

    As I said about Cohan's book, Goldman plays the special interest game really well. But there are multiple players in that game. Forget all the Senators in Goldman's pocket. When Goldman's survival was at stake, the Secretary of the Treasury -- a former Goldman CEO -- who was wielding dictatorial power at that moment, let Lehman Brothers go bankrupt, but then not only saved Goldman, he financially rewarded the firm with billions of dollars that we're all on the line for now.

    Is that indictable too? Because you don't have to parse 600 pages to see something that simple.

    If we are going to start playing that indictment game, Goldman isn't the only investment bank that deserves to be indicted. And the indictments are going to have to be handed out to thousands of political appointees and politicians, too.

    That's not defending anyone, least of all Goldman. But jeez, this should be an indictment of what we have allowed our government to become with regard to special interests. We shouldn't be cherry picking a rat here and a rat there, while ignoring the whole rat's nest.
     
  8. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    The Exile is a more fun read than Rolling Stone.
     
  9. Herbert Anchovy

    Herbert Anchovy Active Member

    All his stuff is generally fun, if you like watching a public tantrum.

    I just always feel like I'm reading a smart 16-year-old's much doodled on spiral notebook.

    This subject deserves a sober and mature treatment. Maybe MT should mature a bit as a writer. He is a man, he's 40.
     
  10. NoOneLikesUs

    NoOneLikesUs Active Member

    I think between the RS articles and the Griftopia book that's exactly his point. EVERYTHING is built on some sort of corruption and we're not going to end up putting a soul in jail because morally and ethically we're too far gone.

    But hey, Goldman has great 'survival' instincts!
     
  11. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    The argument about indicting people for shenanigans that led to the economic collapse isn't limited only to indicting the folks at Goldman, that's for sure. But you're right, in that I'm sure there are many in Washington who feel queasy about the possibility of such indictments, because their names are going to come up at some point.
     
  12. Herbert Anchovy

    Herbert Anchovy Active Member

    Do you really think Goldman is afraid of Matt Taibbi? I'd be willing to bet he's a laughingstock in their boardrooms by now. His vim and vigor is worthless because he can't effect any real change.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page