Knock, Knock, is anyone listening? - Danny Schechter wants to know

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/23-8

Published on Monday, February 23, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
As New Scammers Emerge, Is It Jailout Time Yet?
The Right Mobilizes Against the Stimulus While We Sign Petitions

by Danny Schechter


Judging by my in-box, there seem to be no shortage of organizations and individuals obsessed with an image: Dick Cheney and George Bush in prison, and Karl Rove in the next cell. Never mind that Congress doesn't have the guts or the President, or the gumption to go after those responsible for the gutting of the Constitution. Nevertheless, there are many campaigns and calls to hold the last administration accountable for its crimes.

At the same time, as we watch an economy in free fall, there seems to be a lot less agitation for a serious investigation of those responsible for this collapse. Even as you overhear conversations in every bar and union hall that begin with "those bastards should be in jail," few progressives are leading the charge to demand a Jail-Out alongside those stimulus bailouts. It's as if economic crimes provoke a ho-hum reaction among activists.

Oddly, some corporate media are more sensitive to the seething, mass public outrage. TIME did a piece on the 25 individuals responsible for the crisis including politicians and CEOs. They ran a photo spread with their images against the background of police line-up. CNN profiled corporate criminals, "Ten Most Wanted: Culprits of the Collapse." CNBC is running a series on "American Greed" -- mostly of small time con men.

Wealth Daily, an independent analysis company, identified key corporate figures as "The Architects of Destruction," suggesting that actions by key industry leaders resulted in the economy's collapse.



Of course, the Madoff case stays in the news even as he stays in his fancy apartment. The investigators have now determined that he never made any trades with the money investors trusted him with.

Tom Lindmark seemed shocked to hear this on the Seeking Alpha financial blog:

"...it now turns out that Mr. Madoff may not have traded any securities for the past thirteen years. You heard that right. The guy just ran his Ponzi scheme. No extra complications. All of which begs the question of what were his employees doing? Did they just show up, surf the Internet and text friends for all those years?

If it's this easy to get away with things, evade arrest and live the good life, why are all of us walking on the right side of the line? Who are the fools?"

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