Matt Taibbi: Fact-Checkers Almost Killed My 'Vampire Squid' Line About Goldman Sachs

Perhaps the most famous line ever written about an investment bank and one that, for better or worse, came to define Wall Street's behavior during the financial crisis, almost never happened.

Last summer, Matt Taibbi, the author of "Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids and the Long Con That Is Breaking America", penned a lengthy and much-discussed article about Goldman Sachs in Rolling Stone. In it, Taibbi referred to Goldman Sachs as "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."

The article focused on the bank's tendency to participate in and profit from a host of economic bubbles, from the Great Depression to the tech bubble to, more famously, the housing boom. Taibbi's piece was criticized for playing fast and loose with certain facts, but its broad premise -- that the politically-connected bank raked in profits while the rest of the economy struggled -- was hard to argue against.

But, in an interview with the Daily Beast, Taibbi said the "vampire squid" line actually had a rather obscure factual error in it. From the interview:

Vampire squid. Do you remember writing that?

It was originally much lower in the piece, I remember that. The other thing I remember is the fact checkers coming to me at one point and they almost killed the line because squids don't have blood funnels. I was trying to explain that was part of what made it funny, but they were very insistent. I had to go over their heads on that one.

Let it be known, for the record, that Goldman Sachs may be a "vampire squid," but it does not have a corporate "blood funnel."

Comments

[Marty Kenyan]

08:49 AM on 11/27/2010

Focus on the details and miss the point.

"Taibbi's piece was criticized for playing fast and loose with certain facts, but its broad premise -- that the politically-connected bank raked in profits while the rest of the economy struggled -- was hard to argue against. "

The LAST part of the quote is the most important part. No matter the verity of the first part the last part is the point of the argument.

[Rearden 1957]

11:07 PM on 11/28/2010

So it would make you feel better if the banks were losing money? That would assuage your angst every month as the bills come in and your realize that you've spent so many years spending more than you can afford?

By you, I refer to the larger population, not Marty Kenyan individual.

[Shaun Hensley]

06:08 AM on 11/29/2010

What a false choice. Either the banks make ungodly, unsustainable amounts of money. Or they lose money. ..... Um gee, where do I stand on that?

[Marty Kenyan]

09:21 AM on 11/29/2010

The banks have a right and even an obligation to be profitable. No question, they also have the obligation of protecting the interests of the depositors not abusing them. The entire foundation of the banking industry is based on other peoples money. Inappropriate and risky lending practices (some argue illegal) come with a complete disregard for the depositors that entrust the bank with funds.

[PrinceHal]

08:50 PM on 11/26/2010

"Taibbi's piece was criticized for playing fast and loose with certain facts," HuffPo's Ryan McCarthy writes. So now it's OK for HuffPo to do the same without saying whether the critics were right or wrong? Or, of course, which facts who "played fast and loose" with? And without even noticing that the phrase "criticized for playing fast and loose with certain facts" is an accusation of doing just that?

This, folks, is what's becoming of journalism in the Techno-Century. Kinda matches what's going on in the rest of the world, doesn't it? (Without mentioning which "rest of the world" I'm talking about. Obviously, I don't have time for all that stuff, either.)

[706makeupgirl]

07:34 PM on 11/26/2010

Thank you Matt Taibbi for your articles. It is unbelievable that this isn't in mainstream news. The only thing left to do is grab our ptichforks....

[thejackass]

05:13 PM on 11/26/2010

Matt is one of those guys that you can't trust a word that he says. He twists any fact to fit his twisted thinking.

[cuniverse]

03:52 PM on 11/27/2010

All about perspective, a predator whose instincts is to feed on its neighbors young , sees all things differently from his neighbor who is a nurturer, and his instinctive mission is to protect all life within and outside the pride. Never the twain shall meet.

[ConnieInCleveland]

01:05 PM on 11/26/2010

Matt Taibbi is one of the few individuals who has had the courage to speak truth to power. We need more people with the courage to speak up for the rest of us.

[lawrence of america]

04:55 PM on 11/26/2010

matt taibbi is good, but there are other writers on this subject that aren't getting any exposure
look at this article "Calling Goldman Sachs a “Bank Holding Company” is like calling George W. Bush “Mohandas Gandhi”

http://fandecande.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/calling-goldman-sachs-a-bank-holding-company-is-like-calling-george-w-bush-mohandas-gandhi/

[inmyhumbleopinion]

11:15 AM on 11/26/2010

Duly noted. ;-)

Thanks, Matt for not backing down on that one. It's a priceless bit of verbal painting and you are a master with the brush.

Thinking you and Michael Lewis ought to team up on a cable news show directed at outing the bogus practices of Wall Street and their never-ending creation of new scams. I'll give you that idea for free. Whaddya say?

[tedawson12]

12:20 AM on 11/26/2010

This will possibly be the next political trend of thought, will the progressives put down their perspective ideologues long enough to value the concept of protecting the America Citizen? Sense this seems to be the central theme that both offer, we share complaints regarding taxes, war, corporations and the budget, we all want these fixed. It boils down to a distilling ingredient: will politicians stop auctioning off our rights, our privileges as Middle Americans to the highest corporate bidder? At the late age of 54, I fear much too late, that our Congress, President and Supreme Court primary function has been to abdicate the constitutional covenants of our great collective wealth, innovations, lands, and private minerals/property to the wealthy few. And to hold those who do business with corporate america as the fools who must bare the social risk. How did those on social security, students, educators, firemen, policemen, businesses, city pension holders, savers, shareholders; how did all of these millions of people become those who must suffer for the decisions made by corporate federal capitalist in DC: Why must the least amongst us suffer for Wall Street, and the US World Empire? What's in it for us? I am moving. It is OK, to leave America, the game is rigged, and big, and Wall Street Bulls do kill people, hope, jobs, don't they? What did Wall Street give in thanks this year?

[NHGranite]

09:38 PM on 11/25/2010

They didn't have any problems with the VAMPIRE part?

[smokeystover39]

04:53 PM on 11/25/2010

Just finished "Griftopia" and I believe it is the most informative book of this year. Taibbi's writing style takes a little getting used to, but he writes in a vernacular which fits each subject he tackles. His summary of Obama's broken campaign promises, the sell out to Big Pharma, along with BO's propensity to staff his administration with Clinton has-beens and Goldman-Sachs criminals explains why Progressives are so-o-o disappointed with his presidency. Taibbi opines that there are remarkable parallels between Progressives and Tea Partiers. My guess is that IF Progressives and Tea Partiers "ever" found that those commonalities far exceeded their differences, a viable third party could be born - one not enslaved to wall street, big business and the banksters. Far fetched?? Read the book.

[Adrigonzo]

12:23 AM on 11/29/2010

That party already exists and they are called libertarians. Taibbi didn't write about us in his book? Shame.

[Shaun Hensley]

06:10 AM on 11/29/2010

How are libertarians the answer when the question is "who's going to regulate the banks?"?

[Steve Rockett]

01:36 PM on 11/25/2010

Michelle Bachmann insists that if God wanted vampire squids then they would exist. She would know.

[moose and squirrel]

03:18 AM on 11/29/2010

vampire squids have blood funnels.  michele bachmann has a blood funnel.  ergo, michele bachmann is a vampire squid.

[JuanCarlosysofia]

11:32 PM on 11/30/2010

good grief charlie brown

[Steve Rockett]

01:33 PM on 11/25/2010

Ah, yes but republicans do have blood funnels. That is how they keep the rich, er, rich.

[CPAwADD]

12:30 PM on 11/25/2010

Stupoid fact checkers. Normal squid don't have blood funnels but vampire squid do. Duh.

[moose and squirrel]

03:18 AM on 11/29/2010

what the heck is a blood funnel?

[CPAwADD]

09:19 AM on 11/29/2010

A funnel for blood!

[McKeaton]

11:11 AM on 11/25/2010

http://bus­iness.asia­one.com/Bu­siness/New­s/Story/A1­Story20101­124-248833­.html

[shaitan]

01:26 AM on 11/26/2010

The page your are referring to no longer exists on AsiaOne

[laaambchop]

11:07 AM on 11/25/2010

"Squids don't have blood funnels"

This explains a lot. DumDums are filtering the news. And I don't mean the lollipops.

[maxfax]

11:27 AM on 11/25/2010

Amen, and double that.

[Forrestabbey]

10:52 AM on 11/25/2010

The great pity is that Taibbi and many of the other investigative journalists get so little attention in the mainstream media. Our democracy is in so much trouble because the people who participate in it are not fully informed. Fox News brags about how large it's market it and how many viewers it has. This alone should be a clue as to the failure of the media to provide accurate information to the people who are supposed to make the decisions about the future of our country. One of my favorite lines is from John Donne ".., send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee."