I was trying to come up with a clever or ironic subject title...

[tzikeh]

but then I thought, well, the guy was a human being, after all. (Not that that always means much to me.)

CFO of Freddie Mac hanged himself.

Insert your own venomous snark here. I'm doing it in my head, and I guess the icon gives at least my initial reaction.

Comments

[dragonfly]

Wow. They talk about people jumping off of buildings back in '29. I don't know if those stories are literal or metaphorical, still I hate to see the equivalent begin for our current mess.

[tzikeh]

Yeah - but in '29 people were jumping off buildings because they'd lost absolutely everything they had. This guy offed himself because he'd *taken* everything other people had, and done it knowingly, and now was going to have to face the legal system. Boo-hoo. (I know, I know, it's awful for his family, but... they're only sorry when they get caught, not when they get $800,000 in bonuses for screwing people who would never make that much money in their lifetimes.)

[dragonfly]

Fair point. Kind of like the cowards who kill themselves after going on a killing spree. Weak.

[hubbit]

Hang onto your seat, because there will be more of this morass being dredged up before anyone comes to grips with the full enormity of the situation.

Just yesterday (or the day before) there was a story of a man who was over $400K in debt. Killed his wife and children before offing himself. Not the first such story in recent news, either.

Honestly, I have no idea how the heads and former heads of the financial titan(ic)s can look into their own mirrors after what they've inflicted. And it's not just mortgages. When your credit card interest rates go up and your credit score goes down (thus fucking up the rest of your finances) because you were ten days late paying your electric bill - quite possibly to make sure your credit card was paid on time - you have a system that will pillage and plunder until it runs out of victims and collapses - not caring one damn bit about the wake it leaves because, after all, the victims should have been more responsible.

THAT'S what's escaped media attention so far. This is a combat tactic used in war: dehumanize the people you're about to destroy. Dismiss them as inconsequential before burning their fields and looting their houses. Show no mercy. A week late on your payment because you're unemployed? We understand, but 27% interest. Not our problem. You shouldn't have spent so much.

Sorry if I sound curmudgeonly venomous. This has been a soapbox of mine for years. I have no sympathy for any director/officer/decision-maker of any financial institution who finds himself in desperate straits; look at the sea of people that they themselves have put into worse situations.

Ugh. Spitting venom now. Must stop.

[klia]

Not to mention when your credit card interest rates go up for no reason other than the bank that just got billions in bailout money wants to make more money off their customers.

[calystarose]

I have no sympathy for him, or his type. Or anyone who benefited from his vile behavior. I've been too poor for too long to cry tears for people who have never once had to worry about food or having a roof over their heads. Especially when those people have also done their level best to profit off people who do have to worry.