Madoff and Cramer Plead Guilty

Madoff and Cramer Plead Guilty
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In an ironic coincidence, two prominent public figures pleaded guilty on the same day: Bernie Madoff to a judge, and Jim Cramer to Jon Stewart. Madoff, caught red-handed on 11 felony counts of swindling stocks, had to confess; Cramer caught red-handed of hyping stocks, did not. Hyperbole is not a crime--yet. But, if Cramer's admissions were an effort to tell the public that he intended no malice, he could have done so more positively. Instead, he withered in the line of Stewart's fire.

Jim Cramer certainly had the wherewithal to stand up for himself in a contentious exchange such as his appearance on The Daily Show was sure to be. As a Harvard-trained attorney (including a stint as a research assistant to the famously-contentious Alan Dershowitz) and as a seasoned television professional, Cramer surely knows a thing or two about handling tough questions. Moreover, there were no surprises in Stewart's questions; he had spent the three prior episodes that week trashing Cramer and CNBC. USA Today touted Cramer's appearance with a banner headline, and Business Week called it the "weeklong match of the century." Stewart himself previewed the encounter as a "battle between a man who makes people laugh for a living and whatever people think I do."

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Yet, when Cramer took his place in the hot seat, he capitulated completely. As Stewart repeatedly berated him, Cramer repeatedly agreed, saying, "OK," or "You're right," or offering shoulda', woulda', coulda' replies. And when not agreeing with Stewart's charges, Cramer shifted the blame to "the regulators" or to "lying CEOs."

Worse still was Cramer's presentation. On his own CNBC show, Mad Money, Cramer usually stomps around the set shouting madly waving his arms wildly. Seated across from Stewart, Cramer spent most of his time docilely nodding his head in agreement or shrugging his shoulders, his arms splayed open in submission.

Did Cramer prepare himself, as anyone with a modicum of experience with tough Q&A sessions would? Did he anticipate a list of the worst case questions? In fact, before Cramer came onstage, Stewart performed his own mock preparation session: responding to shouted questions from off-screen voices while seated against a bare brick wall, under the glare of a naked light bulb.

What could Jim Cramer have been thinking? If he wanted to make amends to the public he had misled, he could have done so on his own turf, to his own unseen and unheard audience. Instead, he went into the lion's den and submitted to a scathing dressing-down from Stewart.

Even Jon Stewart was perplexed. In his closing remarks, he turned to the camera and said, "I hope that was as uncomfortable to watch as it was to do."

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