Friday, April 17, 2009

Just Checking


Is there anybody who still believes this crap:
Cerberus specializes in providing both financial resources and operational expertise to help transform undervalued companies into industry leaders for long-term success and value creation.
Because, well....

Sure, I admit, that sounds better than saying, "We're a bunch of politically connected hacks with access to lots of money who take over distressed companies through highly leveraged acquisitions, and try to flip them or carve them into pieces for quick profit, and demand multi-billion dollar government bailouts when we screw up."

2 comments:

  1. Is there anybody who still believes THIS crap: that the 'axis of evil' only included North Korea so it wouldn't be 'all Islamic'.

    From the Wash Examiner:
    "Who's Laughing at the ‘Axis of Evil’ today?
    By: Byron York
    Chief Political Correspondent
    04/16/09 9:00 PM
    In the 2002 State of the Union address, President Bush referred to Iran, Iraq and North Korea as the "Axis of Evil." AP
    There are undoubtedly people who have a more vivid memory of Will Farrell’s "Saturday Night Live" version of the "Axis of Evil" — the one in which Farrell, as President George W. Bush, denounced Iran, Iraq and "one of those Koreas" — than of the real thing from Bush's 2002 State of the Union address. A lot of comedians made a lot of fun of the "Axis of Evil" concept. But now, more than seven years later, it's looking pretty solid."

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  2. That notion got out there thanks to Bush's speechwriters - the people who penned the phrase:

    "The most disturbing revelation in Frum's book is how the phrase "axis of evil" got into Bush's 2002 State of the Union address in the first place. It came out of a memo on Iraq by Frum that was incorporated in the speech almost verbatim -- with two crucial changes. Frum had used the phrase "axis of hatred" and had applied it only to Iraq. But Condoleeza Rice, among others, wanted to include Iran as well, Frum says. Then, since the Administration didn't want to seem to be targeting only Muslim nations, North Korea was added. Chief Speechwriter Michael Gerson "wanted to use the theological language that Bush had made his own since September 11 -- so 'axis of hatred' became 'axis of evil,'" Frum explains."

    It's of course, very possible to view North Korea as being governed by an "evil" administration while finding this rationale for its inclusion in a so-called "axis of evil" ludicrous on many levels. Which, if you think about it, is actually probably why you're so offended by how the Bush Administration went about coining that phrase.

    But that's something for another day. Do you have anything to say that's relevant to the topic under discussion?

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