The human toll of the tsunami - per CNBC's Larry Kudlow

[poindexter]

“The human toll here,” he declared, “looks to be much worse than the economic toll and we can be grateful for that.” (Skip ahead to 0:38 on the video.)

But, he did apologize -
Update: On Friday evening, Kudlow offered an apology for his comments through the most intimate means at his disposal—no, not his television show that was airing in an hour—his Twitter account. “I did not mean to say human toll in Japan less important than economic toll,” he wrote. “Talking about markets. I flubbed the line. Sincere apology.”

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/03/larry-kudlow-devalues-human-life-with-japan-earthquake-freudian-slip.html

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Kill him.

 

[waterytart]

Kudlow has been notorious for years for welcoming announcements of mass layoffs by trilling about "gales of Schumpeterian creative destruction".





Edited to correct AutoSpell mistake.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Considering the source . . . this is barely news.

Just when you think he can't stoop any lower . . .

Typical of the Wall Street mind-control breed.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

Typical Wall Street stooge. And even though the statement is disgusting, he's in denial. The economic impact is pretty severe.

 

[ifilus]

How old is this news?

 

[YankeeFan]

Come on.

The guy's on TV every day. All he was trying to say was that the economic situation wouldn't be as bad as some had first expected.

Certainly he did not mean to say it the way it came out. And he apologized.

That's not enough?

And, if you know Larry, while he's certainly battled his daemons, he's one of the nicest, funniest guys you'll ever meet.

He was always brilliant, yet he nearly pissed away his entire life. he was basically unemployable for a long time and had to work his way back up beginning at small firms.

He's a good guy. He's a success story. He wasn't wishing that more Japanese had died.

I'm not sure why, even if you disagree with the guy politically, you'd be rooting against him.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

He said something very stupid on live TV. Ridicule is a perfectly just and sufficient punishment, which he's already gotten.

 

[YankeeFan]

He said something very stupid on live TV. Ridicule is a perfectly just and sufficient punishment, which he's already gotten.

Oh, sure, make fun of him.

But don't act like you caught him saying "what he really believes".

 

[Bob Cook]

YF -- you know and I know that the Kudlows of the world aren't terribly concerned about the human toll -- or benefit -- of what Wall Street does as long as they're getting theirs. I don't think he's cheering for death, but his slip didn't come out of nowhere.

 

[YankeeFan]

YF -- you know and I know that the Kudlows of the world aren't terribly concerned about the human toll -- or benefit -- of what Wall Street does as long as they're getting theirs. I don't think he's cheering for death, but his slip didn't come out of nowhere.

Bob, I know Larry a little bit, and I know people that are very close to him from when he was at Bear Stearns and through politics.

He's a good guy.

He's also someone who converted to Catholicism later in life. The Priest that converted him is the same guy that brought Sen. Brownback and Bob Novak into the Catholic Church. (Laura Ingraham too, I think.)

Like most adult concerts, Larry is very serious about his religion.

Now, certainly there are religious people who are also assholes. And Certainly economics and politics are what he's famous for (and for doing as much cocaine as Charlie Sheen), but that doesn't mean he's unconcerned by human tragedy.

Larry's been a media personality for a long time, both as a guest and a host. Ask around. I'll bet you find that even folks on the left like Larry.

 

[poindexter]

I absolutely think he said what he believed.

And the lack of sincerity through the twitterpology sealed the deal. Textbook 'nothing' apology, all it was missing was the requisite "to anyone I offended".

 

[Mark McGwire]

Bob Novak and Laura Ingraham, eh? Welp, I am convinced.

 

[dooley_womack1]

I absolutely think he said what he believed.

And the lack of sincerity through the twitterpology sealed the deal. Textbook 'nothing' apology, all it was missing was the requisite "to anyone I offended".

Twitterpology added to vocabulary.

 

[YankeeFan]

Bob Novak and Laura Ingraham, eh? Welp, I am convinced.

The guy that converted them all is pretty interesting in his own right. He worked on Wall St. before becoming a Priest.

And, other than disagreeing with you on abortion, what's wrong with Novak and/or Ingraham.

Ingraham has adopted a girl from Guatemala and a boy from Russia. You get pretty high marks for that in my book.

But, look, if you have some evidence that Larry Kudlow is a bad guy, lets have it. Everyone on Wall St. knows the guy. Everybody in D.C. knows the guy. Who do you know that's ever said a bad word about him?

Where is the evidence that he would prefer for people to die if it resulted in a better economic situation?

This is silly. Not all Republicans are bad people. When are some of you going to get that?

 

[poindexter]

At least the two bubbleheaded chicks sitting next to him were able to absorb and correct his error. [/blue]

****, the only thing missing was a "and a bababooey to you all"..

 

[poindexter]

Where is the evidence that he would prefer for people to die if it resulted in a better economic situation?

This is silly. Not all Republicans are bad people. When are some of you going to get that?

I could not care less about that red/blue jackoff stuff, so don't even bother.

 

[YankeeFan]

Where is the evidence that he would prefer for people to die if it resulted in a better economic situation?

This is silly. Not all Republicans are bad people. When are some of you going to get that?

I could not care less about that red/blue jackoff stuff, so don't even bother.

Yeah, sure.

So, why are you convinced that he meant it as he sounded? Because he's a big, bad Wall St. guy?

What do you know about Larry Kudlow? Do you know him? Have you ever met him? Do you know anyone who knows him?

Do you have anything else that would point to his lack of compassion? Surely, if he's as big an asshole as you think he is, he must have said or done other things in his long, public career that would give him away as a world class asshole.

One flubbed line on live TV isn't enough. Just isn't.

And, he apologized -- not to people who "may have been offended". He apologized. He said he flubbed the line. What more do you want?

 

[Bob Cook]

YF -- I don't think Kudlow is actively rooting for people to die. But I do think that for him and other Wall Street types (and certainly many of the people I dealt with when I covered finance in New York) thought about the humanity of what they do. It's a lack of empathy.

 

[YankeeFan]

YF -- I don't think Kudlow is actively rooting for people to die. But I do think that for him and other Wall Street types (and certainly many of the people I dealt with when I covered finance in New York) thought about the humanity of what they do. It's a lack of empathy.

Bob, I would say that some people look at all events through a certain prism. People in politics will look at any event -- even a tragedy -- in terms of how it will play politically. Others first response will be to wonder how an event will be absorbed by the markets.

Some people's first though will be to wonder if the game on Sunday is going to be cancelled as a result.

In part, that's because they're political or financial animals. When Larry Kudlow is on to talk about Japan, they're not interested in take on disaster relief. They want his opinion regarding how the markets are going to respond.

I don't think any of that makes Larry a bad guy.

Larry is smart. He's funny. His drug abuse and recovery humiliated and then humbled him.

He's been very involved in charitable causes. And, I don't now anyone who knows him who doesn't like him.

And, he's not an obscure guy. He's been a public figure for over 30 years.

If someone wants to make the case that he's an asshole, fine. Post a quote from someone who knows him. Post an anecdote about him.

Don't give me one dumb line and the fact that he's a Wall St. guy as you only evidence.