Who's To Blame?

Greenspan should be higher than 17.

KT
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This is totally off topic but just now on MSNBC some random anchor was interviewing the head of the NAACP. So as the interview is winding down the anchor was congratulating the NAACP director because the NAACP is turning 100. Well President Obama is honoring Muhammed Ali also for a lifetime achievement award and you know it IS black history month. But to get to the punchline so to speak this MSNBC anchor said "as the President honors this country's colored people"
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I couldn't believe I heard it right so I rewound it and sure enough yep he said it and you can see the NAACP President kinda chuckle in a way that lets you know he caught it too. Not an "its funny" chuckle but more like a "did this mofo just say that?" chuckle.
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Sorry but I just had to share because I have a feeling it will be coming back up later.

Maybe the NAACP should change its name?

Sheesh. Average rating only dips below eight for one of the accused. I guess tumbrels and guillotines aren't as far off as I thought.

So, how many of these people were TIME's Person of the Year? Seriously, you put that HGTV guy in there because he made show about home design? How about acknowledging your own responsibility for deifying (even still!) these people?

SZ
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They definitely should, but they aren't gonna change at this point and if you are an anchor on a cable news channel you gotta know better than that. BTW right on cue he did come back and give a blanket apology for anything he might have said that would have offended anybody. Its better than nothing.

The guy's name is Peter Alexander

Susan. Collins.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090212/pl_politico/18741

... ... ...

Richie Richardson.

Followed closely by Hillary.

Weak KT, my list went up two days ago. Ya'll got scooped. Also, you totally left off incompetent executives who screwed up their companies' balance sheets and legislators who couldn't be bothered to learn about economic policy (*cough* John McCain *cough*).

How many of these would we be able to blame for anything if the rulemakers and regulators had done their jobs? Sure, a lot of these folks are Ultimate Swine, but we'll always have people who try to get the rules written to their advantage and we'll always have people who just barely stay inside the lines. I'd say even the outright criminals like Madoff come in somewhere down the blame list from the people whose job it was to stop them.

Paulson doesn't belong on that list. Sure, his solution to the problem didn't work so well, but that doesn't mean he created the problem.

Interesting piece, and some good information there. But:
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The American consumer - Yet, a few short years ago, it was literally our patriotic duty to go out and shop, according to GWB. And if I recall, all of the stimulus measures in the last recession were aimed at boosting consumption.
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I'm always amused when conventional wisdom does a silent about-face.

I really like Leahy's latest emailing asking for a 'Truth and Reconciliation' panel for the prosecution of Bush operatives, officials, and recipiants of their largesse.
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It is so South African-ish!
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Maybe they can name the people on the ground who gather 'em up the Scorpions, too...

Also, does Wen Jiabao belong on the list?

The readers of Time.com seem willing to condemn all 25. Amazing how little difference there is in numbers. Some of these people failed to realize what was going on, some took advantage of the climate, and some plunged deeply into the pool of greed and tried to convince us the muck was a sandy beach.
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Agree with art pepper. Let's not condemn Wen Jiabao for financing our excess and rescuing our tails.

Hmmmm, I might be willing to blame the media before I got to the American consumer, or Jiabao for that matter.

I blame Redd Foxx, Sebastian Cabot ("French!") and Miyoshi Umeki.

Re the "colored people" comment by sgwhiteinfla...

"Carla Sims, communications director for the NAACP in Washington, D.C.,said "The term 'colored' is not derogatory, [the NAACP] chose the word 'colored' because it was the most positive description commonly used at that time. It's outdated and antiquated but not offensive."

Also... http://www.amazon.com/Colored-People-Henry-Louis-Gates/dp/067973919X

There are several other well respected books that include the words "colored people" in the title and are not taken as offensive. It is indeed an antiquated term but not offensive to many people of color.

I read the article this weekend when the magazine came in and
was surprised (not) that congress didn't get any of the blame, particularly people like Barney Frank who is supposed to be
overseeing the financial industry, but let Freddie/Fannie get
away with a bunch of stuff.