The Light: Hillary

Actually, here are a number of signs, in fact. Allegedly, these are real signs on Northbound I-5 in Washington State, below Seattle (and I wish I knew who to credit for these). With so much going on right now, there is nothing like a little humor to deal with it all, right (even if some of the words are misspelled)? Enjoy:http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=49609#edit_timestamp

And for some “News You Can Use,” there is this tidbit – guess who else owes back taxes (you know, besides Charlie Rangel, and Timmy Geithner before he became the head of the IRS)? That would be the developers of the mosque near Ground Zero:

The mosque developers are tax deadbeats.

Sharif El-Gamal, the leading organizer behind the mosque and community center near Ground Zero, owes $224,270.77 in back property tax on the site, city records show. (Emphasis mine.)

El-Gamal’s company, 45 Park Place Partners, failed to pay its half-yearly bills in January and July, according to the city Finance Department.

The delinquency is a possible violation of El-Gamal’s lease with Con Edison, which owns half of the proposed building site on Park Place. El-Gamal owns the other half but must pay taxes on the entire parcel. [snip] (Click HERE to read the rest.)

Oops. So, after all of this brouhaha around this developer building a mosque so close to Ground Zero (for its proximity to that hallowed ground), all of the angst this has caused so many people may very well have been for nothing. Are you kidding me? Sure seems that way since this massive delinquency this could violate their lease.

Um, no one thought to check the tax records before? What a mess, and getting messier by the day.

Oh, and here is another good one from the Dallas News about Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas:

Longtime Dallas congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson has awarded thousands of dollars in college scholarships to four relatives and a top aide’s two children since 2005, using foundation funds set aside for black lawmakers’ causes.

The recipients were ineligible under anti-nepotism rules of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which provided the money. And all of the awards violated a foundation requirement that scholarship winners live or study in a caucus member’s district.

Johnson, a Democrat, denied any favoritism when asked about the scholarships last week. Two days later, she acknowledged in a statement released by her office that she had violated the rules but said she had done so “unknowingly” and would work with the foundation to “rectify the financial situation.” [snip] (Click HERE to read the rest.)

As Rev. Jeremiah Wright said, “Americans chickens are coming home to roost…” Amen to that, brother, but I bet this isn’t what he meant by it. Still, truth will out, at least sometimes.

Just ask the drivers on Northbound I-5…

Since my last stab at a Gilbert and Sullivan pastiche – “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Intellectual” – seemed to have been enjoyed by a lot of people here on NQ and on my Youtube channel, I thought I would share one of my latest efforts.

This time there is no video involved, however. This is a special preview for NQ readers only. It is a scene from “Pirates in Pinafores: A Gilbert and Sullivan Pastiche”, which features the most popular G&S music (mainly with new lyrics from me) from seven of their shows, all wrapped up in a semi-modern story about love, duty and corporate intrigue. It was partly the reception I got here on NQ and on Youtube to “Modern Intellectual” that inspired me to do a whole show. The final show has 25 songs and two reprises that most people will recognize.

(One of the reasons I haven’t been doing much on NQ or Youtube lately is because I have been too busy with this project and dealing with new interest in my other stage musicals.)

The song in the scene I am printing below is sung by three accountants who work for the Pieman of Penzance (also known as the Franchise King), who has built up a huge fortune with his pie franchise.

SONG 4: AN ACCOUNTANT’S LIFE IS NOT A LOT OF FUN
to the tune of “A Policeman’s Lot Is Not a Happy One” from “Pirates of Penzance”)

ACCOUNTANT 1:
I am Alistair McDuff the chief accountant

CHORUS
Number cruncher

ACCOUNTANTS 2 and 3
And we are his assistants, Keith and Ron

CHORUS
Keith and Ron

ACCOUNTANTS
It’s our job to take good care of all finances

CHORUS
All finances

ACCOUNTANTS
And make sure our number crunching’s never wrong

CHORUS
God forbid

ACCOUNTANTS
But there’s no joy in being an accountant

CHORUS
No excitement

ACCOUNTANTS
For nobody ever thinks of us as fun

CHORUS
Dull as dirt
(ALL YAWN)

ACCOUNTANTS
No-one ever thinks of us as hot and sexy

CHORUS
Never sexy!

ACCOUNTANTS
We always seem so dull to ev’ryone

ALL
It’s not nice when ev’rybody thinks you’re dull
and no fun
An accountant’s lot is not a jolly one
Not a jot

ACCOUNTANTS
But you’ll find in private life we’re quite eccentric

CHORUS:
You? Eccentric?

ACCOUNTANTS
If you knew what we got up to you would say
That you never would have thought that an accountant
Could behave in such a nonconformist way

CHORUS
There’s no way

ACCOUNTANT 1:
In my private life I am an outlaw biker

CHORUS
Who’d have thought it?

ACCOUNTANT 1
At weekends I wear leather ev’ry day

CHORUS
Ev’ry day?

ACCOUNTANT
I ride my Harley with such wild abandon
I scare the pants off all who come my way

ACCOUNTANT 2
At weekends I become a secret nudist

CHORUS
The mind boggles

ACCOUNTANT 2
I strut around as naked as can be

CHORUS
T.M.I.

ACCOUNTANT 2
So never knock upon my door at weekends

CHORUS
We’ll avoid it

ACCOUNTANT 2
Unless you want to see the naked me

CHORUS
No, not me

ACCOUNTANT 3
At weekends I dress up in women’s clothing

CHORUS
No surprise there

ACCOUNTANT 3
I have a diff’rent dress to wear each day

CHORUS
Come what may

ACCOUNTANT 3
I’ve lots and lots and lots of pretty outfits

CHORUS
Bet that cost you!

ACCOUNTANT 3
But though I’m a crossdresser I’m not gay

CHORUS
Gay? No way!

ALL
Oh, when there is number crunching to be done,
to be done
An accountant’s job is not a lot of fun
Not much fun

PS I am now putting Mozart’s music to a Hans Christian Andersen tale. See what you started?

This video explains why I haven’t uploaded many videos lately. It is the first in a three-part series that tells of a musical I have been working on, which I hope will at least provide some entertainment for my friends on No Quater and on my Youtube channel.

If you enjoy musicals, you might enjoy this affectionate parody of musicals in general and some of the great classic musicals like West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Damn Yankees, Singing In The Rain, a Chorus Line, Hello Dolly, How to Succeed in Business (Without Really Trying), and a number of others.

Two more videos are to follow (unless everyone hates the first one!)`

Naturally, my prejudices are evident in the video, even if it is about something as seemingly innocuous as musicals. Political correctness is one of them.

And Olbermann’s response to him. Now you know I used to watch both Keith Olbermann and Jon Stewart religiously. I’m not about to start watching Olbermann again, but after the mocking Jon Stewart did of Olbermann, I may just have to start watching “The Daily Show” again. He’s been on fire recently.

The other night, Stewart went after Olbermann for his baseless attacks on Scott Brown, the new US Senator from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (see, I know how to spell it, even without spell-check! Ahem.). It was absolutely priceless, and is continued within Olbermann’s response to Stewart below:

Yeah, I think there is one person who was funny in that clip, and it sure wasn’t Olbermann.

Stewart gave Olbermann a couple of points, but when someone uses as a reference a video clip (a Brown rally) that has been discredited, yet still insists on making the point with no context (that what was shouted off camera related to a case on which Coakley worked), it is demonstrative of some of the hoops Olbermann will jump through to attack someone. It is disingenuous at best, but that is what we have come to expect from Olbermann. Bluster, innuendo, and attacks based on the thinnest of inferences. I mean, really, for Olbermann, of all people, to attack ANYONE else for being sexist, is just, well, laughable. Go back to the 2008 Primary campaign on just about any night, but this one in particular is pretty indicative:

Olbermann was discussing the election with Newsweek’s Howard Fineman, a frequent guest. They topic was, how can a winner finally be determined in this never-ending Democratic race for the nomination? Of course, the assumption was that it was Clinton that should be shown the door (despite clearly still earning her spot in the race thanks to, um, voters). Fineman said that, all the delegate math aside, ultimately it was going to take “some adults somewhere in the Democratic party to step in and stop this thing, like a referee in a fight that could go on for thirty rounds. Those are the super, super, super delegates who are going to have to decide this.”

Said Olbermann: “Right. Somebody who can take her into a room and only he comes out.”

Now, WHO’S sexist, exactly, Keith? Yeah, uh huh – I’ll give you a hint. It ain’t Scott Brown.

And since Jon Stewart mentioned John Edwards, I just had to see what he said about him. Here it is – a newsflash for “idiots”:

<td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'John Edwards Affair

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Well, I certainly cannot disagree with Stewart’s assessment of those who did NOT know this child really was Edwards, all protests aside.

Yep, I may just have to start watching The Daily Show again if he keeps going this way. I guess people really ARE starting to wake up! And about damn time, too…

One major bit of news that went largely unnoticed this weekend was the passage of this rather significant bill,Defense Appropriations Bill Passes Senate 88-10, Clears Way For Health Bill. Yes, this pesky little bill needed to be take care of before the Democrats could begin to ram the Health “Care” bill (and its attendant expenses) up our, well, you know. Hence, it received very little in the way of discussion.

So, just what was in this bill:

The Senate passed a defense appropriations bill Saturday as the chamber’s Democrats cleared the decks for its healthcare reform legislation.

The $636 billion Pentagon budget and added unrelated amendments including extension of unemployment benefits for fiscal year 2010 passed the Senate overwhelmingly with a vote of 88-10. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) was joined by nine Republican senators in opposing the bill.

The vote came after a contentious cloture motion on the defense spending bill passed early Friday as Democrats accused Republicans of slowing the defense bill’s progress in order to impede their healthcare reform package.

Only three Republicans voted to move forward with the defense bill then, which helped beat back a GOP-engineered filibuster.

Despite the legislation funding wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the tune of $128 billion, much of the debate on the defense bill has centered around the Democrats’ reform push for the healthcare reform legislation instead. In an effort to finish the healthcare bill before the end of the year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has been keeping the Senate in session late at night and through the weekend. GOP senators, in turn, have said that Democrats are pushing the bill too quickly before it can be properly considered.

Well, yeah – I don’t think one has to be a Republican to speculate as to WHY the Democrats are in such a hurry that they cannot take more time for, I dunno, READING THE DAMN THING first, or forming committees to study the long range impact, particularly cost, etc. But hey, that may just be too reasonable for them:

“The majority knows that the more time the public has with the bill, the more they know about it, the less they will like it,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) on the Senate floor Saturday before the defense vote. “This is a rush.”

Democrats countered by saying their colleagues across the aisle have concentrated on delaying their bill and have not come up with their own plan to change the healthcare system for the better.

“That is what they have to offer to the American people. Not ideas, not solutions, but delay,” said Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) in response. He then went through a variety of reforms the Senate healthcare bill would achieve.

The successful passage of the defense bill in the Senate now clears the way for Democrats to finish their work on the healthcare reform bill. The House had already easily passed the defense bill on Wednesday with a 395-34 vote.

Oh, Dick (Durbin, that is), why play the blame game in an attempt to not be held accountable for your role in this unwanted, short-sighted, payout to insurance companies and Big Pharma?

Well, I imagine we’ll be debating this for some time to come, this whole Health Care issue, and how it will REALLY affect us. Once they have it all written down, that is.

But even an article on the Defense Appropriations bill is more about the so-called Health “care” bill than Defense. There is a reason for that I think (UPCOMING SATIRE ALERT).

Believe it or not, there is one thing Obama WON’T sign in the Defense Appropriations Bill. Frankly, I don’t understand it one bit. This, to me, looks like one of the all-time coolest, most awesomest, niftiest defensive creations EVER. Oh, if only the following was from a real news organization as opposed to The Onion:

Am I right, or am I right? Totally wicked awesome, isn’t it? Too bad they had to take out the pool, though. Ah, but it is not to be, sadly. One damn thing Obama won’t spend our money on. Oh, he’ll fly back and forth to Copenhagen for a CLIMATE summit after just having flown to Europe a week or so before – talk about your carbon footprint (remember, it isn’t just Air Force One that goes on these trips), but will e allow the Dragon Tank? Noooooooo. Sheesh!

Hopefully, this attempt at levity has brought a bit of a smile to your face, and given you a break, if just for a moment, from the other bullshit which, sadly, is all too real. There will be time enough to discuss it again, but I, for one, on this Solstice Eve, could use a bit of humor. Hope you enjoyed the respite, too!

At first blush, one would think, not much. But recently, a number of Miss Americas, and one Miss Utah, who is also a former sergeant in the Army, traveled to Afghanistan to meet with the troops.

Oh, you might recognize one woman in particular, especially if you are a fan of The Amazing Race, as I am. Yes, Erica Kleinschmidt, one of the final three pairs in this year’s Amazing Race, is one of the six Miss Americas who went. Watch it here:

Watch the latest business video at FOXBusiness.com

Moving, isn’t it? And after Obama’s “Push Me, Pull Me” policy for Afghanistan, I am sure our troops needed this lift.

And for a bit of a shift, since we will be decorating our Solstice Tree today, I have a fitting tune for you. First, may I just say, I freaking love having a tree inside my house. The way it makes the whole house smell brings a smile to my face every time. Until I have to sweep up the needles on the floor, aided in their decline by my four energetic cats.

Anyway, for a little treat, here is a moving holiday tribute:

I meant “moving” in the cracking up laughing sense!

Hope you enjoyed it. I gotta get to that tree.

My friends over at the GoverNuts Headquarters have asked me to help them share a little holiday cheer with the unregulated media monitors – you – on this blog. They, The Nuts, enjoy the writers and the ever-clever POTUS (Oh, be still. That’s PEOPLE Of The United States) who add colonoscopic, penetrating insight to real world opinions and news, through the comment sections here. Though they lost their protocol director during the transition to their new digs the Nuts did find their near iconic, street-level guide to art of unraveling modern political cryptography. While they were Hoping to just Change the locks they Opened a large simi-Transparent box and found the lost promises volumes of their debut CD, The GoverNuts – Political Graffiti, and they want to share the wealth.

Actually I think they are a bunch of socialized capitalists because they want you to buy this CD for your friends, family and self so they can donate $4.00 from each CD to the NoQauarter spam-killer for mandatory, voluntary reeducation. Actually it will go towards this website’s operating costs, and that’s good for the Nuts because they are counting on NQ people to provide them fodder for their 2010 release, tentatively titled “ “ to accurately depict all of the great DC accomplishments of late.

The debut CD was written around political and governmental shenanigans that seem to be repeated every cycle by the parties in power. So, instead of burning the few electron-producing chemicals that remain in my head trying to tell you more about the GoverNuts, I will just drop in a few lyrics from the CD.

Hide your wallet. Politika Rock

The polilitika rock is a pile of crock
But I guess we like the rhythm of the blues
Everybody’s swaying to political sayings
And turning on the late night news

Now the GoverNuts got a brand new band
And they think it’ll go all the way
But when they put your hands in your pockets
You can almost hear them say

Politika roll (big money) politika rock
Well we vote ‘em in because we think it’s a sin
To see a politician work a real job

---

Many blog regulars will remember the fantastic filmmaker, Flineo. He produced the below embedded video last fall and many formerly respected luminaries said: “Naw! They won’t bring Chicago Politics to Washington. Would they? No way!”

Chicago Politics, most interesting politics
The circus is coming to your town
With jerks, buffoons and elephants
From the House of Delegates
And certified administrative clowns

---

This is one aptly titled “Hail to the Mob.”

The big boys put a contract out on capitol hill
Well here’s the deal. Why don’t you all just go home!
We’ll take over. We won’t write no bills
There’ll be no more debates under the capitol dome

Balanced budget. Who do we owe this money to anyhow
Who was dumb enough to loan us this much in the first place

Hail, hail to the mob – We’re going to get it right
- No more parlimentary gobligook
- Peace. Not democracy
- Our way is your way
Hail, hail to the mob –

It’s the Chicago Way.

---

And now a word from the Sinclair Congressional Campaign Committee (If he were The Law Man) Hey. It was on the front page of the Globe, so it has to be true – right?

And evening with me could be the thrill of your life
My shift is almost over let me give you a ride
I got a suitcase full of goodies that I saved form a bust
And the local bar is part of my security trust

---

I really think I heard this next one was the transition team theme song. With all the issue-naked Hollywood stars and booty-slappin’ rappers hanging out with the boyz at the Frat House on 1600 this Nuts’ tune, Pornographic Pit, seems to fit nicely.

We’ll..Turn this whole damn town
Into a pornographic pit
Run out all the preachers
And bring in all the pimps

Put a banner on the interstate
Saying: “Welcome Everyone”
To the world’s largest
Pornographic pit

..they’ve given a whole new meaning
To home town U.S.A.

---

With all the Poultry Committees popping up everywhere telling us how we can look at people, issues and ideas, being UnPC may be the new PC. Overheard coming from the Left Lawn: Chicken Liveration

Come one – Gather all. Now is the time for the Chicken Liveration. Chicken’s Rights!
Brak bak ba ..

Over on the hill by the chicken house
The chicks were having a ball
With pigs at the door, a real live band
And corn from wall to wall

Well everything was going fine
Till off in the distance they heard
A band of people (people!) people
Speaking those people words

It was a very good year because we ate a lot of chicken

Well Clara McClacker said: “Stop the ball!”
Now’s come a time for one and for all
To gather together in the Chicken Liveration

---

What? Think the Right is off the hook? There’s even an oldie on the CD that was penned after the 1994 revolution.

We woke up and saw what they’d done
They’d given us no place to run
The moral minority is now the majority
“Let’s pray” is the priority.

It’s balanced.

The GOP holds a party
And puts a gorilla with religion at the door
While the democrats gather down at the river
And pass around the hat for more.

---

Well. There’s the introduction to The GoverNuts – Political Graffiti. Go order your copies so you can wrap them up and send them to your former friends. Also, please remember.. and this is very important. I’ve sold this thing (my After-Death Voting Rights) many times, and my kids need the residuals.

When I’m dead please bury me in downtown Chicago
So I can still keep casting my vote!

[First published at No Quarter USA on February 22, 2009. See the original and its comments HERE ]

I wrote this piece in a moment of prescience about six months ago, only a month after the Coronation Inauguration of our current White House Resident. Even then, while most of America still found him enchanting, which is to say “while they were still hypnotized,” I knew the day would come when the Obots would start waking up and wondering, “OMG! What the hell have we done?”

I imagined it would be that kind of feeling you get when the honeymoon is over, when you wake up next to the person you have just pledged your life to, and see a total stranger… and it’s someone you don’t like anymore. So I imagined what one might say to a friend or family-member when she realized she had made a fool of herself over some nogoodnik.

*********************************************

Awww. Poor baby. There, there. It’s going to be OK.

So the guy you thought was Mr. Wonderful turns out to be Mr. Disappointment. He’s let you down in so many ways. You thought he would change your life for the better, and now you wish you’d taken time to get to know him before making that big commitment. It’s called “vetting.”

After your previous long and painful relationship, you had a chance to do it right this time, and you blew it. You made a bad choice while you were on the rebound, and now you’re stuck with him.

We tried to warn you, but you wouldn’t listen.

Rebound relationships are usually doomed from the start. You’re so happy to be free of the old one, you rush into the next with your hair on fire.

You start thinking how all the happiness you’ve been missing is just around the corner, in the person of that attractive stranger you hope to meet real soon.

Before you know it, you’re making the rounds, asking friends for introductions, looking for love. Having just ended a bad relationship, you are a bit vulnerable, whether you realize it or not. You find yourself willing, even eager, to believe in magic again.

So, as it usually happens, along comes someone that sweeps you off your feet. Someone who seems really exciting and not at all like The Monster you just got out of your life. This person is different! This person could be The One! Your Savior!

It’s called “infatuation.” You are chemically ready to form a new partnership with a new love. It’s over-powering! It’s so fun! So exciting! So… insane!

You don’t even KNOW this person, and yet there you are, giving all you have to a virtual stranger, swept up in the “newness” of it. You keep saying, “it’s never felt like this before! This must be true love!”

“I feel like I’ve known you my whole life!” you exclaim passionately. Or perhaps it’s, “I feel like we were meant to be together! You are the one I’ve been waiting for!”

You are so excited, you can’t stop talking about your new love to all your friends. While they may share your happiness, inside they are trying to think how to tell you to slow the hell down!

They may know something about this person that you don’t, or maybe they just think you are not thinking clearly. They try to warn you to be careful. Slow down. Think it through. What do you really know about him?

And how do you respond to this caution from your friends? Not well!

You become defensive and paranoid. You think it’s ridiculous anyone would question your judgment.

“Why are you against me finally being happy? Why can’t you see how wonderful we are together?”

Your friends may ask if you have checked up on this person, if you have done any background investigating, or if you have some references to vouch for this stranger. The nerve of these people!!

You are willing to defend this stranger with your life. You are ready to dump lifetime friendships for this person who has bowled you over with giddy excitement. Whatever New Love says is the ultimate truth!

“And besides, all his friends are so cool! And they all think we are perfect together! So who needs fair-weather friends who can’t support my decisions and accept that I am now a better person and in a better place than before? Who needs you?!”

They try to reason with you, but to no avail. You are already over the edge. You are convinced this is it!

Now that you are committed to New Love, your Old Love is now The Enemy, along with all the old mutual friends! And the in-laws! And the people at your old hang-outs, and all your old friends who don’t enthusiastically support your new obsession. So you shut them out, every one of them.

Your new life now established, it’s time to settle down again and just be a couple.

Now for the first wavelets of doubt.

First, he disses your family and friends, more and more. He seems to care nothing about your life outside of him. He’s always needing money. You begin to wonder about the whole thing, and start to question him about a few things in particular.

Who was that on the phone? Why do you hide your email?

What happened to the money I had hidden in the cookie jar? What do you mean, “our” money?

Why can’t we go out this weekend? You have other plans? With who?

Are you lying to me? I can’t believe this! I gave up my whole life for you, and now you lie to me!

Is that even your real name? I feel like I don’t even know you anymore!

You told me when we met that you were going to do all these things, but now you’re saying something completely different! Whatever happened to our plans? Why are you turning away from me? Don’t you even care what I think anymore?

The Rebound Relationship everyone warned you about came into your life when you wanted someone different to change your life, to give you hope for something magical, to transform your life from the dreary to the new and exciting. And now, POOF! It’s over. And you are sadder, but wiser.

And your life has changed, all right. New Love has already maxed out your credit cards. Your bank account is empty. Mr. Wonderful is even bad-mouthing you while spending your money, and laughing at you because you were so gullible.

And your old friends, who tried so hard to warn you? Most of them will take you back, if you show a little remorse for treating them badly, and show that you have come back to your senses.

But for now, just have a good cry. There, there. It’ll be OK.

Why did the ragged rascal run around the rugged rock? There are searching questions to be asked!

The video is an oblique attack on political correctness and those dreary Sea Penn fans. (I have finally got around to watching Sean Penn’s performance in “Milk”. I think it’s a caricature that gives gay people a bad name. I will have more to say on that in a forthcoming video).

One viewer on my Youtube channel wrote that the poltically correct wording for “around the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran” is “”Around the irregularly-surfaced mineral chunk the pristine apparel-challenged mischievous person moved swiftly”.”

I love George Carlin. He is a hero from my youth. Revered from the first time I heard “The Seven Words”. And I still mourn his passing in 2008. So I was a bit surprised by my reaction to viewing Carlin’s excellent riff on “Who Really Controls America.”

Oh, I still marveled at the painful truths he revealed to his audience. I was still awed by his ability to connect dots that the rest of us couldn’t even see. But strangely, I found myself envious of the audience’s ability to clap, cheer and even laugh. They were like some alien creatures from another era. They still had that Pre Election 2008, Pre Economic Meltdown, Pre Bank Bail Out mindset that wanted to believe - life is good. They knew Carlin spoke the truth. Yet, they still were able to believe that the best was yet to come.

_____

And if you think I’m being overly dramatic. And Mr. Carlin was exaggerating for the sake of laughs. Then you probably believe the Andy Borowitz’s piece below (h/t BGD) is just satire.

Goldman Sachs in Talks to Acquire Treasury Department:
Sister Entities to Share Employees, Money

In what some on Wall Street are calling the biggest blockbuster deal in the history of the financial sector, Goldman Sachs confirmed today that it was in talks to acquire the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

According to Goldman spokesperson Jonathan Hestron, the merger between Goldman and the Treasury Department is “a good fit” because “they’re in the business of printing money and so are we.”

The Goldman spokesman said that the merger would create efficiencies for both entities: “We already have so many employees and so much money flowing back and forth, this would just streamline things.”

Mr. Hestron said the only challenge facing Goldman in completing the merger “is trying to figure out which parts of the Treasury Dept. we don’t already own.”

_____

And if you still believe the Federal Reserve is still chaste and pure and doing good, then you might want to view this video by Lagan Sebert, Harry Hanbury and AmericanNewsProject.

h/t- Sonic Ninja Kitty
______

Then read this little excerpt from Glenn Greenwald’s recounting of The events preceding Goldman Sachs’ new “blowout profits”

UPDATE: … back in September, the Federal Reserve allowed Goldman (and a few other surviving institutions) to convert from an investment bank into a bank holding company. The Wall St. Journal claimed at the time that the move meant the firm would “come under the close supervision of national bank regulators, subjecting them to new capital requirements, additional oversight, and far less profitability than they have historically enjoyed.” …

But what the conversion did allow was access to lending from the Federal Reserve. Since then, the Fed has increased its balance sheet by $2 trillion while steadfastly refusing to disclose the beneficiaries of that credit. Thus, even aside from the bailout money it directly received and the billions in bailout money which it indirectly received (through AIG), Goldman has had access to massive amounts of Fed lending in order to fuel its bulging profits. …

As of Tuesday, the House bill to require a full-fledged audit of the Federal Reserve by the end of 2010 had won 275 co-sponsors and the companion bill in the senate has 17 co-sponsors. Sounds great. But lets not forget that the road to passage travels right through the House Financial Services Committee chaired by, none other than - Barney Frank. More Greenwald:

UPDATE III: It’s worth recalling this bit of central truth, blurted out in April by the number two Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Dick Durbin:

And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.

That was nice and blunt. That same week, it was announced that the newly-hired top lobbyist for Goldman Sachs, Michael Paese, was — immediately prior to his hiring — the top staffer to Rep. Barney Frank on the House Financial Services Committee chaired by Frank. …

_____

Now, if you still believe Ron Paul’s bill will magically pass through Barney Frank’s committee intact, maybe you need to start at the beginning and watch Carlin’s riff again, then read…

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