Free Bernie Madoff Now!

It's just not fair. He's a scapegoat, a distraction on the world's financial stage where the real sleight-of-hand-Ponzi-magic goes on unabated. Two trillion dollars -- give me a break -- you think this is the end of it? It's only the tip of the real looming Ponzi-scheme-iceberg which Bernie only mirrored on a tiny scale and that we're gonna sooner or later titanically hit. I mean, does anyone really believe that all those banks are almost healthy again? At least Bernie had the decency to admit he was a liar. But nobody in Washington is prepared to point out the Emperor's nakedness because they're all pretty much in each other's pockets (not a pretty thought when you consider they're all naked as well) and appropriately terrified that once the imaginary silk and satin confidence game is shown up for what it is there'll be hell to pay and I suspect hell, being what it is, ain't gonna be taken in by no Ponzi scheme.

So at least let Bernie out of prison and admit what's going on. Let's face it. Our world economy is now a massive rolling deception game where the thieves who robbed us blind from the highest reaches of business and government have been allowed to keep right on doing it. Talk about chutzpah, Bernie! Six months ago they fueled their pyramids with our hard earned pension funds, speculative cash and the dismantlement of functioning companies. With all that gone they're now sweeping up our tax dollars like there's no tomorrow (which of course there won't be if this keeps going). At least if we let Bernie out we'll be honest with ourselves. We'll be admitting that we really do believe in thievery, that we respect it, honor it, pray that somehow miraculously it will work for us, at least for some of us.

And who can blame us? I mean, aren't Ponzi schemes at the heart of every thriving culture that came down the pike -- Greece, Rome, Britain, France, China, Japan, Russia? Every one of them employed some form of taking what's needed and giving back little or nothing in return -- at times brutally with armies, slaves and taxes; at times more refined with religions or civilizing political systems that worked to their advantage, but never for a moment forgetting the bottom line of keeping the beast fed and the engine of empire running, until of course like all empires, they collapsed in generally very nasty ways.

So release Bernie Madoff now! Please! Let's face our music in time to hear that the fiddles on our iPods have a similar ring to the ones that gave pleasure to Nero.

Comments

[typhanie]

So The Rich people get Justice (of course because them getting their money back is so much more important then anything else). Who is going to go to jail for STEALING OUR hard earned money?

[Stephanie Grinage]

I get the point you're making here, however Madoff belongs in prison, he did the crime, he needs to do his time.

[rp27964]

and just like Bernie the others involved should too..
I hope the investigations by FBI continue. god knows the sec people acted like Clarabel the Clown, squirting a bit of water here and there when forest fires were blazing

[jsehgal]

This is a crazy idea. So when there are serial killers to catch, we should let the one time killers go because it is too distracting. I am not sure about the quality of the thoughts you express so forcefully Mr. Gyllenhaal.

[futate01]

it is true that our entire economy is one big Ponzi scheme, but to fee Madoff because the others have not gone to prison yet --- that's absurd. This guy needs to shut his fukking mouth, about "let him out now!" NO, keep him in and throw the rest of them in with him. --- The world will be just fine without the rich, but imagine what the world would look like without the poor ---

[Cheesemelt]

I like good satire.

Got any?

[freshnotbitter]

The difference between Madoff and Geithner is that Madoff issued false brokerage statements whereas Geithner gives no accounting at all.

[dinger]

I thought the people writing on this site had to have some qualifications or something. I know he spawned two famous people, but does that mean we have be subject to this hackery? We're all dumber for having read it.

[Jessica Harper]

Totally. There's lots of smoke and mirror bs right now with so many of us sort of staring at the cloud as opposed to actually peering through it. I know I'm guilty of that. Still, for better or worse, the fact remains that this financial mess is the thorniest thorn in our side right now. But while I agree that it's the main course--or at least should be--side-dishes like the Madoff case still warrant some attention. These online classified sites can be petri dishes, and on a purely selfish-level, I'd like to see the germs exterminated.

[Wilsonfisk89]

Sorry man. If a cell mate 'freeing' him with a shiv is the freedom you are talking about, im with it. If not, you may be in the wrong place.

[BenWex]

This isnt very funny

[pericles21]

Read and noted.

[joebaggadonuts]

Sorry, Bernie has to pay. So to you 50 billion dollars is not worth going to jail for? What kind of nut thinks that? So what there's a few trillion at risk? We are all in this together and if we don't put as many criminals as possible away for a long time, we will never get through this. There's some 20 investigations under way now of what are likely to be high profile individuals who committed fraud and contributed to this mess. We are seeing the torture memos and working our way toward prosecution of those criminals too.

Let the Law have its day in the sun.

[holeybuybull]

Still full of "hope" aren't you?