During these trouble economic times, what we really need is a good scapegoat. Fortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Madoff are happy to oblige. Just when public outrage over Madoff’s $50 billion Ponzi scheme begins to subside, his lovely wife Ruth comes forward to claim that the mere $62 million she was able to salt away during the good times has nothing to do with Bernie.
See, he had his business, systematically robbing charities, and she had hers — systematically counting the money as it arrived at their Manhattan penthouse bundled on wooden shipping pallets. Completely separate! Should she be penalized for Bernie’s errors in judgment? That would be un-American, your honor.
You can only shake your head. Crime of the century, and the Madoffs remain free, rich and unrepentant. At worst, they’re facing a reduction in status from billionaire to millionaire. That’s a little too subtle for my taste. But it appears my recommendation of public flogging and lifetime poverty has fallen on deaf ears.
I know, it wasn’t just the Madoffs who ruined this country. But as scapegoats, they’re looking better and better.
Judgment day is just around the corner
Where’s she going with this?
The book vs. the movie
Lookin’ good, Chris. Too bad about the phone.
If you get a chance, read the Madoff piece in the current issue of Vanity Fair…the one with the fat guys wearing barrels on the cover. I thought it was really good. But the best story in the issue is the one about the financial meltdown in Iceland. It’s AWESOME. I aspire to write like that writer. But I probably won’t get anywhere writing sentences like “write like that writer.”