Notoriety

While the word "notoriety" can be used to mean fame or renown, most often it's synonomous with dishonor or infamy. To a greater or lesser extent, the latter usages apply to the three major stories of the last week, which coincidentally ended a tumultuous first half of 2009.

MARK SANFORD
It took some doing but the heretofore little known South Carolina governor has one-upped his many hypocritical holier than thou "family values" (now there's a slogan!) GOP brethren such as Mark Foley, Larry Craig, David Vitter and John Ensign along with several right-wing "preachers" by singing Don't Cry for Me Argentina to his Evita (a.k.a. Maria) while literally and figuratively taking a hike from family, gubernatorial duties, etc. The 2012 Republican field of presidential possibilities has been so seriously reduced that TNB hears that Dick Cheney may be resuscitated, both literally and figuratively. Of course, the Democrats have Eliot Spitzer, John Edwards (and Bill Clinton) but at least they don't generally pretend to be saintly.

MICHAEL JACKSON
The legend of the roller coaster life of the wondrously talented but remarkably flawed King of Pop will only grow with time. Already the conspiracy theories are being promulgated. To no one's shock, it is now being "revealed" that Michael was not the biological father of his three children. If you could ever peek behind their disguises (one has to feel truly sorry for these kids who have never interacted with other children along with everything else that has gone on) it was obvious that they are 100% white. Skin diseases or whitening or whatever does not change reproductive genes. There are also questions as to whose fertilized eggs were used. Just the beginning! The only comforting news is that the two relentless camera hogs, Jesse Jackson (no relation) and Al Sharpton (no relation) are hard at work, just helping the family.

BERNARD MADOFF
The most telling part of the sentencing, along with the understandable venting by some of the many victims of the King of Fraud, was that the judge received no letters of support from family or anyone. This too is understandable, since just about anyone who ever knew Uncle Bernie, even those who might have been enablers or worse (see J. Ezra Merkin, Walter Noel, Robert Jaffe and others who will soon be totally ruined) was screwed by him. An amazing "talent" which as so often happens with criminals could have been put to positive uses. Maybe as a diplomat, dealing with say Iran's President Amadinejad, who (once he got over some ethnicity issues) would have been eating out of Bernie's hand or at least stuffing oil revenues in our pockets.

Almost too much notoriety for 7 days. Hopefully, July 4th fireworks will seem much quieter.

Why Become President

It used to be that every boy (and then later every girl) supposedly aspired to become President of the United States one day. Obviously, less than 50 (so far all men) have made it in well over two centuries. Do you often wonder why anybody would want this job?

Sure, there is incredible fame, especially ultimately when your likeness appears on postage stamps, currency and statues not to mention the airports, highways and ships that might be named after you.

And the perks aren't bad--nice house, private airplane fleet, great security (although the need for this is pretty scary), lots of people seeing to your every wish, etc. So what's the downside? Well, for starters, look at the following:

• Every policy, decision and yes utterance is analyzed and often severely criticized (often only for political "advantage"). The ubiquity of the Internet, twittering and blogging (along with the 24/7 news cycle) has greatly increased the spotlight shining on any current President. Is Barack Obama too wimpy when it comes to Iran, too harsh when it comes to Israel, too socialistic when dealing with GM and Chrysler and so on? Pick your side of these and numerous other issues--you'll find many who agree and probably an equal number who'll disagree, often vehemently, with the President's position. Obviously, a thick hide is necessary for this job.
• Every personal trait is also discussed ad nauseum in today's transparent world. Has the President actually snuck a cigarette or two, perhaps to relieve a little stress or perhaps because like many, it is very difficult for him to quit? Why should this matter? Has he used the Marine helicopter to take Michelle to a play in New York? Do you really care? None of us were going to ride in it anyway.

The ego of politicians is certainly a factor in explaining why anyone would want to become President. TNB can understand this, because until 2008 when John McCain (nine months TNB's junior) was derided for being "too old", TNB fantasized about lightning striking. Those perks!!!

Will Fraud Ever Stop

Winston Churchill famously remarked that people who don't learn from past mistakes are doomed to repeat them. This is certainly apt when considering the lessons of various futile attempts over the years to combat financial fraud.

In TNB's own accounting profession each major scandal (unfortunately many) has been met with new auditing rules and other methods intended to prevent or uncover fraud. Landmark situations, each of which generated strong but ultimately somewhat ineffectual responses, included McKesson Robbins (1938), The Great Salad Oil Scandal (1962) and Enron (2001). Then there were (are?) the ever present Ponzi schemes culminating in the (so far) granddaddy of them all, which was only brought to light when more of Bernie Madoff's investors demanded withdrawals than new pigeons could be found.

Why don't new and improved regulations, standards and awareness succeed better at curtailing fraud? Besides an unfortunate "willingness" (greed) on the part of some prospective victims, the psyche of the fraud perpetrators usually includes an ego so large that being caught is not contemplated. And/or the sociopathic nature of these people is often not noticed, as again best exemplified by that distinguished gentleman now sitting in a New York jail awaiting his June 16 sentencing.

It sounds cynical, but as this posting is being typed and despite everything noted above, no doubt new and improved frauds are now being created. Thus TNB's advice echoes that of the Sergeant at roll call on the old Hill Street Blues TV show "just be careful out there".

Racism is Alive

Over 50 years have elapsed since the landmark Supreme Court desegregation decision Brown v. Board of Education while more than 40 years have passed since the enactment of major civil and voting rights legislation. Not to mention of course the election of a man of color as President.

Naturally, all this means that racism in the United States has been eliminated, right? Well, things have markedly improved in the last half century in education, job and housing opportunities, etc. But in the hearts of many (and their mouths) racism is still alive. To cite a few examples:

• Several leading Republicans such as Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh have called Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor a racist for some benign remarks about Latina women (like herself) she made outside of the courtroom in the past. Of course, both of these gentlemen (!!!) have pristine racial diversity records. Limbaugh once advised an African-American female caller to take the bone out of her mouth and lauded James Earl Ray as a hero for assassinating Martin Luther King, Jr. Judge Sotomayor will need to go some (she obviously won't) to be a "racist" comparable to either of them. Since neither Newt nor Rush has a Senate vote on her confirmation, let's just assume that the Republicans in that body will generally give her a fair hearing such as the last two nominees (Roberts and Alito) received from the then-minority Democrats.
• Speaking of Sotomayor, recent GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee had to be also pandering to his "base" (who are these people?) when he called her "Maria" obviously alluding to the doomed immigrant Puerto Rican heroine of West Side Story. Sort of racist, you think?
• Arkansas GOP senatorial candidate Kim Hendren recently called NY Sen. Chuck Schumer "that Jew". Does Hendren feel the same way about Va. Rep. Eric Cantor, considered a major Republican future star?

Actually, it has become far easier to disseminate such garbage with today's technologies. Gingrich tweeted his venomous message, which seems appropriate since he's for the birds.