Bernie Madoff
Bernie is my secret super-hero. He took the ultra-rich for what the government couldn’t take and that is the problem. He swindled those who were too big to fail. While the rest of us looked on in awe. Little folks like you and me were hurt as well, but his crimes brought attention to the bigger problems America is facing.
And of course ABC, whose is made-for TV movie of Bernie’s downfall, had to report on the nightly news about poor Ruth Madoff and what her life has become: a one room apartment with no domestic help, quick shot of her loading groceries into her Lexus, all by herself…
Bernie Madoff was once Chairman of the NASDAQ; that upstart, technology-and-greed monger of Wall Street. The dinosaur New York Stock Exchange (NYSE – pronounced Nice-eee), struggled to keep up then settled in as a stiff competitor. From its humble beginnings of men standing around a tree taking bids, Wall Street has evolved into speed-of-light trades from every corner of the planet every hour of the day. The rich getting richer and gap widening.
But there was a cancer, as in society, that silently laid waste to Bernie’s family.
Juxtapose this Bernie to the one who is running for the country’s highest office. I am a staunch independent, voting for whoever I feel is qualified for the job. Being smack dab in the middle of the Presidential Primary fever epidemic, I am bombarded every waking moment. The phone starts ringing at 8am with pollsters, volunteers from local colleges, and robotic callers. Any attempt to watch the news on TV is a perpetual tirade of the same candidates promising to “bring back America.” Hmm, they are the very ones who along with the banks and corporations have stolen it.
It is all very well-staged showmanship at this point. No one person can solve the problems in four or even eight years. It is up to every one of us to find a way to contribute and make changes in our own lives.
Beyond the rhetoric, Bernie’s wife Jane is someone I can relate to. She doesn’t dress in haute couture and I don’t think she owns a tube of lip stick or mascara. She represents those of us turning the corner to grandmother-hood and makes no attempt to disguise it. I’m not sure Bill Clinton can hold a candle to her as the First Whatever.
Yesterday I had 15 uninvited calls to my landline. All were politically oriented. New Hampshire, the First In The Nation to cast votes in the Primary Election has become a battlefield. Today however, the media and the politicians will pack up and move on, there will be silence once again. Will the situation change? Will the Bernies of our world or the Hillarys or any of it make a difference?
Therapeutic Misadventures 
I’ve had it with all of the political rhetoric. I don’t believe any president can bring about sweeping reform. It literally takes an act of congress to get anything done. And, acts of congress are always filled with back door agendas.
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Agreed Laura. I think it is time to really look at what we the people can do to take this back…random acts of kindness are not enough any more.
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I tried to watch the tv series, but wandered off. Hadn’t seen/heard any follow-up with his wife or family, but would have expected it to be difficult for them.
Hope the serenity is restored there. The political circus? Everyone is disgusted. The media is the worst of all – won’t shut up, dwelling on unimportant tidbits, and ready to misinterpret, twist or make up reports…and they are all punch drunk and silly. GAG. Everyone by now realizes the back rooms make the decisions and the average person/voter is just dragged along pretending to believe all the fiction and the promises that will never come true.
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I can’t remember a circus this full of clowns. The Madoff story was interesting in how well he conned his clients and stayed under the radar of the Feds. I have to say it brought back memories of working for that sector and feeling disgusted by the greed.
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They may not, but we certainly can.
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Yes, so right Toad. It is up to the rest of us to force the change and get off our privileged butts. Thanks!!
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Interesting Bernie-Bernie comparison. I am outside the world of politics. But every four years, I do the best I can to read facts – not read or listen to ‘the news’ – and then I vote idealistically for the person I think is the most honest. Then, I retreat again so that the entertainment industry doesn’t feed me 24-hr hysteria. I thought about you during the primary!
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It was so intrusive and pervasive, Susan. I can not remember another time politics was so in my face. Like you, I tend to do my own quiet research but this was a feeding frenzy, every town in the state was besieged with buses and media.
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Until congress is willing to actually do something not much will get done.
I always vote for the one most likely to help the poor.
The phone had better stop ringing now!
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Seriously? I don’t remember any election being this abusive and intrusive.
Love your criteria for who gets your vote.
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When election time comes here I turn off the tv. We have one MP/councillor living on the corner of our street (a Tory, not that that means much in the USA). Suffice to say I will never vote for him although he did get our crumbling road fixed (mostly because he drives down it in his big flash car every day). I rarely talk politics but always vote for the champion of the little man, usually the outsider who is unlikely to win sadly. Honest, compassionate politicians are hard to come by.
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Politics are rarely a topic I jump at, Marie but this has been an unwelcome glimpse into the greed and dishonesty so rampant all over our planet. I wish to withdraw and start over…
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Can I come with you? 🙂
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