5 ms·

Except isn't that exactly the rule of law? Making up laws after the fact and then convicting people of them is the opposite of the rule of law.

by rdouble 13y ago

alexqgb 13y ago
Wait, what? You don't honestly believe that no laws were broken in the inflation and collapse of the housing bubble, do you? You're just trolling, right? I'm sorry, you were being serious? Oh boy, where to begin... Try http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/ http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/. Yves Smith, who runs NC, has been covering this issue doggedly, as have Bill Moyers and Matt Taibbi, both of whom appear together here. http://billmoyers.com/segment/matt-taibbi-on-big-banks-lack-of-accountability/ http://billmoyers.com/segment/matt-taibbi-on-big-banks-lack-... And then there's PBS's Frontline, which did a devastating program on "Too Big To Jail" that focused on HSBC's money laundering for Mexican drug cartels, and specifically on why the Justice Department's refusal to prosecute in spite of having overwhelming evidence of unambiguously criminal conduct. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/untouchables/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/untouchables/ Their number two official (Lanny Breuer) made the mistake of admitting, on camera, that is was because Justice saw HSBC as too big to jail. Specifically, they feared that criminal convictions would trigger a series of events leading to a a global financial collapse. This explanation happened to account for the total absence of prosecutions for a wide range of well-documented violations at all the major banks engaged in a variety of criminal endeavors. Breuer resigned suddenly right after the program aired, causing huge headaches for his boss, Eric Holder, who first admitted that Breuer's assertion was true before backtracking. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/business-economy-financial-crisis/untouchables/eric-holder-backtracks-remarks-on-too-big-to-jail/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/business-economy-fin... For the best introduction to this broader range of crimes, see "Inside Job", which focuses on the interlocking forms of corruption and unpunished illegality that allowed the whole crisis to develop in the first place. You can watch it in full, for free, here (kudos, by the way, to Sony Pictures Classics for making it so publicly available). http://vimeo.com/62026076 http://vimeo.com/62026076 It was made well enough to win an Oscar, so you'll probably find it worth your time.
- rdouble 13y ago
  Yes, I'm pretty familiar with this topic. I'm not trolling, I just don't know what else was supposed to be done. It was a big complicated affair. My mistake here was contributing to the political noise that is taking over HN.
  - alexqgb 13y ago
    Fair enough. Sorry about the ton of bricks.
  - PavlovsCat 13y ago
    "Political noise"? Rather discussing trivial things is a political statement as well, and to my ears the true cacaphony in all this. Those who lead the country into the abyss Call ruling too difficult For ordinary men. Ah, what an age it is When to speak of trees is almost a crime For it is a kind of silence about injustice! Bertold Brecht, "To Posterity" (1939)

Except isn't that exactly the rule of law? Making up laws after the fact and then convicting people of them is the opposite of the rule of law.

by rdouble 13y ago

Except isn't that exactly the rule of law? Making up laws after the fact and then convicting people of them is the opposite of the rule of law.

alexqgb 13y ago

Wait, what? You don't honestly believe that no laws were broken in the inflation and collapse of the housing bubble, do you? You're just trolling, right? I'm sorry, you were being serious? Oh boy, where to begin... Try http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/ http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/. Yves Smith, who runs NC, has been covering this issue doggedly, as have Bill Moyers and Matt Taibbi, both of whom appear together here. http://billmoyers.com/segment/matt-taibbi-on-big-banks-lack-of-accountability/ http://billmoyers.com/segment/matt-taibbi-on-big-banks-lack-... And then there's PBS's Frontline, which did a devastating program on "Too Big To Jail" that focused on HSBC's money laundering for Mexican drug cartels, and specifically on why the Justice Department's refusal to prosecute in spite of having overwhelming evidence of unambiguously criminal conduct. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/untouchables/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/untouchables/ Their number two official (Lanny Breuer) made the mistake of admitting, on camera, that is was because Justice saw HSBC as too big to jail. Specifically, they feared that criminal convictions would trigger a series of events leading to a a global financial collapse. This explanation happened to account for the total absence of prosecutions for a wide range of well-documented violations at all the major banks engaged in a variety of criminal endeavors. Breuer resigned suddenly right after the program aired, causing huge headaches for his boss, Eric Holder, who first admitted that Breuer's assertion was true before backtracking. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/business-economy-financial-crisis/untouchables/eric-holder-backtracks-remarks-on-too-big-to-jail/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/business-economy-fin... For the best introduction to this broader range of crimes, see "Inside Job", which focuses on the interlocking forms of corruption and unpunished illegality that allowed the whole crisis to develop in the first place. You can watch it in full, for free, here (kudos, by the way, to Sony Pictures Classics for making it so publicly available). http://vimeo.com/62026076 http://vimeo.com/62026076 It was made well enough to win an Oscar, so you'll probably find it worth your time.

rdouble 13y ago
Yes, I'm pretty familiar with this topic. I'm not trolling, I just don't know what else was supposed to be done. It was a big complicated affair. My mistake here was contributing to the political noise that is taking over HN.
- alexqgb 13y ago
  Fair enough. Sorry about the ton of bricks.
- PavlovsCat 13y ago
  "Political noise"? Rather discussing trivial things is a political statement as well, and to my ears the true cacaphony in all this. Those who lead the country into the abyss Call ruling too difficult For ordinary men. Ah, what an age it is When to speak of trees is almost a crime For it is a kind of silence about injustice! Bertold Brecht, "To Posterity" (1939)