Glenn Greenwald has written a blistering article describing the decision of the Obama Administration to put pressure on the New York Attorney General to sign on to a deal to immunize big mortgage banks from criminal prosecution in return for meager civil fines. This is a terrible position for the President to take, but it’s not surprising given Obama’s track record:
[Yves Smith’s] entire analysis should be read. The President — who kicked off his campaign vowing to put an end to “the era of Scooter Libby justice” — will stand before the electorate in 2012 having done everything in his power to shield top Bush officials from all accountability for their crimes and will have done the same for Wall Street banks, all while continuing to preside over the planet’s largest Prison State . . . for ordinary Americans convicted even of trivial offenses, particularly (though not only) from the War on Drugs he continues steadfastly to defend. And as Sam Seder noted this morning, none of this has anything to do with Congress and cannot be blamed on the Weak Presidency, the need to compromise, or the “crazy” GOP.
The lack of decent compensation for victims is the tip of the iceberg. The problem is the the Obama Administration has decided to shield the banks from being investigated at all. No bank executives will face prison time despite immense damage that they’ve done to the U.S. economy. In short, Obama is helping to sweep this entire sordid economy-crushing scandal under the rug.
Aside from robosigning, which was all over the funny papers last year, the Administration and the AGs have made sure they have no facts. A member of the Administration who was involved in the settlement talks confirmed what we have long said on this blog: there was no investigation of any kind, despite Iowa attorney general Tom MIller’s lies claims to the contrary. They didn’t even bother getting to first base, namely making document requests.
Greenwald cites to Joseph Stilitz in his article. I followed that link to this sobering paragraph:
Growing inequality, combined with a flawed system of campaign finance, risks turning America’s legal system into a travesty of justice. Some may still call it the “rule of law,” but it would not be a rule of law that protects the weak against the powerful. Rather, it would enable the powerful to exploit the weak.
By rather stark contrast, Dick Cheney will prance around the next several weeks in the nation’s largest media venues, engaging in civil, Serious debates about whether he was right to invade other countries, torture, and illegally spy on Americans, and will profit greatly by doing so. There are many factors accounting for his good fortune, the most important of which are the protective shield of immunity bestowed upon him by the current administration and the more generalized American principle that criminal accountability is only for ordinary citizens and other nations’ (unfriendly) rulers.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/08/25/cheney/index.html
I will not believe the “credit crisis” is over until there is a 1000 Man Perp-walk on Wall Street to put the thieves, liars and cheats on Wall Street or wherever else in prison for nearly destroying the world’s economy for fun and profit!
Recently, the NY AG was kicked out of the settlement talks with the industry over the mortgage crisis.
For shame, the NY AG was trying to actually get to the bottom of an the crimes and punish the wrongdoers!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/23/new-york-attorney-general-eric-schneiderman_n_934517.html
They oughta give the guy a medal!
Cornel West, writing an Op-Ed at the NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/opinion/martin-luther-king-jr-would-want-a-revolution-not-a-memorial.html?_r=1&src=tp
Before Obama was elected, rocker John Fogerty (of Creedence Clearwater Revival fame) released the song “Gunslinger” in which he compared the Bush years to an old movie with America as the lawless town terrorized by a gang of outlaws. In the movies, a paladin, a lone gunslinger, rides into town and makes a tough stand against the outlaws, bringing hope to the people and eventually unifying and empowering the victims to work together and defend their rights.
Like many I believed Obama could unite enough people to reignite the flames of democracy, but it seems he lacks the support of the victims. The will of the people has been destroyed. If Obama wins reelection (or if any progressive is our next President), he should take a hard line progressive approach, put the real criminals behind bars instead of instead of in cabinet positions. Push the full force of law to go after the fraudsters in the finance industry, war criminals from the Bush administration, the seditionists and traitors funding and leading the tea party, private corporate lackeys who rigged the 2004 Ohio vote count and expose all the corruption on both sides of the aisle. Someone who can strike fear in the hearts of the pervasive criminal type that permeate state local and federal legislatures, judicial and executive branches.
The majority of Americans may already be defeated by the power hungry bastards. It turns out, Obama ain’t a gunslinger.