“For instance, it’s not against the law to be the highly-compensated attorney representing the Gigantic International Megabank that recently foreclosed on an old lady in suburban New Jersey because she entered one number incorrectly on one check for one monthly mortgage payment (there actually is such a case). That’s not illegal, but if that’s how you make your living — if you paid for your S-Class Mercedes helping Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein throw old ladies out of their houses — I’m pretty sure you’re an asshole.”
Matt Taibbi in a wonderful blog post — he’s establishing a Supreme Court to rule on Assholedom — “to wit, to decide a) whether or not a certain person is an asshole, and b) if he or she is, how much of an asshole.”
Don’t forget Lee Harvey Taibbi’s primary mission:
Cause dissension!
Everyone he mentions for this sub-mission will a) qualify, and b) will get an A+.
Taibbi is the man. Aside from you Ken, his blog is one of the few I visit on a daily basis. Scott Adams and Andrew Sullivan are the others.
I’m trying to finish Griftopia before I depart on a trip tomorrow (not taking my Kindle abroad with me), and it’s just staggering how well he chronicled the way we all got fleeced during the past decade. I mean, I’ve read a bunch of stuff on this in the past few years, but Taibbi brings something new to the table with every chapter. Brilliant work.