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July 02, 2009

Saddam And Goldman Sachs: Who Is The Student, And Who Is The Master?

When Matt Taibbi was writing a recent article about Goldman Sachs over the past seventy years, he asked them some basic factual questions. Here's how they responded:

Your questions are couched in such a way that presupposes the conclusions and suggests the people you spoke with have an agenda or do not fully understand the issues.

In 2004, the FBI made Saddam Hussein watch a documentary about the brutal repression of the post-Gulf War Iraqi rebellion against him. Then they asked him some basic factual questions about it. Here's how he responded: (pdfs)

Hussein opined that a documentary such as this...is not a neutral film produced by neutral individuals...

Hussein said it was "beneath him" to comment about this documentary. Hussein characterized the film as not being objective and that it was made as further justification for "what was being done against Iraq"...

Hussein stated that an accused individual should be able to defend himself...He affirmed that he would not comment on such propaganda films.

The funniest part is, you could legitimately argue that Goldman Sachs has killed more people than Saddam.

—Jonathan Schwarz

Posted at July 2, 2009 07:39 PM
Comments

Again, of course, not 'ha-ha' funny, but 'bubonic plague outbreak' funny. (Citation to whoever said that earlier, I laze from finding it.)

Posted by: Cloud at July 2, 2009 08:00 PM

"The funniest part is, you could legitimately argue that Goldman Sachs has killed more people than Saddam."

That is funny!

Posted by: Dennis Perrin at July 2, 2009 08:01 PM

Really, "Your questions are couched in such a way that presupposes the conclusions" is just a brilliant statement, great craftsmanship. I'm at a loss to think of any question which doesn't presuppose its conclusion to some extent, so it's totally a meaningless thing to say - but it sounds so menacing!

I'm going to start using this answer on my family. Spouse: "Honey, what time do you want to go to dinner?" Me: "Your question is couched in such a way that presupposes the conclusion." Spouse: POW!

Posted by: Aaron Datesman at July 2, 2009 08:59 PM

Jon: I'm sure you realized that if you take the letters in

FUCK GOLDMAN SACHS, DO!

and rearrange them, you get

SADDAM FLOGS CHUCK, NO!

(Chuck is of course Chuck Schumer.)

PS: And will someone please stop those damn fireworks that are terrifying my little cat! It's not even the 4th yet. Sheesh. With that noise, all I can do is work on stupid anagrams.

Posted by: Bernard Chazelle at July 2, 2009 09:25 PM

Sadaam hanged for his indescretions, who in Goldman-Sach do YOU have in mind?

Posted by: Mike Meyer at July 2, 2009 10:15 PM

I don't understand the reference to Goldman Sachs killing people. Naturally, all the smart asses will think of clever ways to point up my stupidity, but I hope they don't write them. I really want a straight answer.

Posted by: Rosemary Molloy at July 3, 2009 05:06 AM

I don't get it. You go at people, Michael Moore like, accusing they who are at most marginally responsible for stuff and you expect a gentlemanly reply? Golden rule fool.

Even funnier, considering what has killed more people than anyone. Here's a hint, "it" is all up in Goldman Sach's profit, and "it" showed Saddam that video. And "it" is somehow responsible for fixing shit? IN the future the word 'delusional', the phrase 'naive corn shuckers", and the entire cliche "forest for the trees" may be synonimized simply by "American."

Bernard: possible secret culprit - Oklahomans

Posted by: tim at July 3, 2009 08:32 AM

PS: And will someone please stop those damn fireworks that are terrifying my little cat!

Fireworks? What fireworks? It's not November yet. Something significant happening?

Posted by: NomadUK at July 3, 2009 10:09 AM

And I don't know your idea of a master but this is mine.

Posted by: tim at July 3, 2009 12:12 PM

Yeah, I didn't get the "Goldman Sachs is killing people" reference either, unless it's just meant in a general "Capitalism is killing people" sense. Usually, I prefer my indictments of murdering capitalists to be a bit more specific than that.

But maybe that just makes me a naive corn-shucker too (said with straw between teeth, while twirling rope.)

Posted by: SteveB at July 3, 2009 01:22 PM

neutrality is what the last possible appeals court says it is....

Posted by: hapa at July 3, 2009 02:02 PM

I'm with Rosemary Malloy and SteveB, though I freely admit I know virtually nothing about Goldman Sachs. If I took a guess, maybe their financial dealings have contributed to impoverishing Third World countries, or something like that.

Posted by: Donald Johnson at July 3, 2009 02:16 PM

The people who are wondering how Goldman-Sachs has killed people would do well to read Taibbi's article, which is not online at Rolling Stone's website for some reason, but which can be found in, of all places, this Something Awful forum comment (http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3159732&pagenumber=1).

It's not a full answer to the question, but it's a very good start, and necessary reading regardless.

(In true Something Awful form, there's a picture of a granny in between the two halves of the article; don't miss part two, like I almost did.)

Posted by: ethan at July 3, 2009 04:07 PM

I hope I didn't come off as being overly critical in my last post. I'm well aware that our host isn't getting paid to entertain/inform us. It's just that, after years of reading this blog, I was expecting the phrase "Goldman Sachs has killed more people" to be hyperlinked to a little-known expose of Goldman's role in funding Shell's destruction of the indigenous communities of the Niger delta, or a recently-leaked document proving Goldman loaned Coca Cola the money it gave to death squads in Colombia.

I know this is an unrealistic expectation, but I blame that bastard Schwarz for creating it, through years of incisive and well-documented work. Damn him!

Posted by: SteveB at July 3, 2009 06:05 PM

Here is the Rolling Stone article.

Posted by: cemmcs at July 3, 2009 07:41 PM

I just read it. I understand. I wish I didn't.
Guess you'll NEVER see this on network television, where most of the populace seems to get their "news."
We're screwed, I'm afraid, good and proper.
Thank you, cemmcs--I think.

Posted by: Rosemary Molloy at July 4, 2009 08:08 AM

Certainly one doesn't need to follow Matt "empire's hipster lapdog" Taibbi to know that Goldman Sachs engineers American foreign policy for maximum investment return.

The extent to which people doubt Goldman Sachs's culpability in murder and war reflects not the actual workings of Goldman Sachs being innocent, but rather, the naivete of the doubter.

Of course, Rosemary Molloy and Steve B are at heart Donklebots, and they can't imagine one of The Barockstar Obamiracle's biggest funding sources being imperialist murderer fans. Can't possibly be true -- they're DEMOCRAT supporters, for pete's sake! And that makes them INNOCENT of ALL wrongdoing in Rosie and Steve's Coffee Klatch.

Rosie and Steve aren't naive because they're corn-fed hayseeds. They're naive because they reject evidence of what makes their position untenable or immoral. They consciously ignore the evidence of Their Obamessiah being Bush/Cheney, The Third Term. One can't expect True Believers to get a clue on reality, because that would require DIS-belief, instead of True Belief. And Belief is all, in the mind of the cultist.

I'd wonder what Rosie and Steve's Coffee Klatch discusses when they're not fluffing Obama.

Posted by: Juan Seis-Olla at July 4, 2009 02:29 PM

Juan, you say

Rosie and Steve aren't naive because they're corn-fed hayseeds. They're naive because they reject evidence of what makes their position untenable or immoral. They consciously ignore the evidence of Their Obamessiah being Bush/Cheney, The Third Term. One can't expect True Believers to get a clue on reality, because that would require DIS-belief, instead of True Belief. And Belief is all, in the mind of the cultist.

How do you know all these things are the way you say they are? You peer into people's souls with your Seis-Ollascope? I'm afraid to ask because I wonder if you just have a standard argument that you offer, just like to argue, and just like the attention.

Posted by: grimmy at July 4, 2009 06:37 PM

Of course, Rosemary Molloy and Steve B are at heart Donklebots, and they can't imagine one of The Barockstar Obamiracle's biggest funding sources being imperialist murderer fans.

That's just weird Juan.

Posted by: empty at July 5, 2009 12:17 AM

Oh, for fuck's sake, "Juan" -- why don't you just concentrate on publishing your version of What Is to be Done?, now that you've established that no one on Earth is as much of a radical visionary as you are?

Posted by: Upside Down Flag at July 5, 2009 08:15 AM

Sorry guys, but if you're defending Rosemary and me, that just means you're Donklebots too.

See you at next Saturday's Obama-worship pancake breakfast.

Posted by: SteveB at July 5, 2009 09:12 AM