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Get Those Guys
"I was watching Rush Limbaugh the other night, and I was horrified. I would have Rush Limbaugh drawn and quartered. He was sticking up for these Wall Street pigs. [I think] there should be public show trials, mass denunciations and executions." -- director-screenwriter John Milius, renowned for his conservative political views, speaking to CNN's Thom Patterson.
John Milius; medieval stocks and pillories
Milius has rarely been more right-on. I'm saying this because I said more or less the same thing in early January, calling not for mass executions but recommending that the Wall Street & Washington scum who led and deceived us into this abyss need to be publicly humiliated. People took this as a joke, but it wasn't and it's not. I mentioned this idea at a party last night to a smart guy who knows the financial ropes, and he chuckled. Only guys like Milius seem to understand the rightness of such a move.
"Taxes are going to have to go up and entitlement programs are going to have to scalpeled down," I wrote. "And 'if we do nothing,' Barack Obama has told the N.Y. Times, 'then we will continue to see red ink as far as the eye can see.'
"But without a sense of justice in this process, average middle-class citizens -- especially the seniors -- will be beside themselves with rage. Obama needs to go after the greedy bad guys and make them suffer for their misdeeds in ways that are vivid and theatrical and dramatically satisfying. Send the worst of the Wall Street scalawags to jail. Make the greedheads who don't go to Sing Sing or Danbury or Leavenworth pick up trash in public parks while dressed in orange jumpsuits, and not just for 30 days -- make them do it for two or three years, day in, day out. And take their money -- take it right out of their bank accounts the way Charlton Heston led the Hebrew slaves to the grain silos of the high priests in The Ten Commandments -- and distribute it to struggling small banks, deficit-plagued municipalities, crippled companies and the desperate poor.
"People understand that everyone is going to have to make do with less, but they want and need to see justice meted out in a way they can see. All governments know that a failure to dispense and demonstrate an appropriate sense of justice will sooner or later result in a citizen's revolt against the government. The overall economic remedy will be complex and prolonged, but in this particular instance the answer is simple. Make the bad guys suffer. And that doesn't mean slapping their wrists."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 9, 2009 at 10:19 AM
Essentials
comment #1
actionman
says ...
Maybe we should get Obama to send The Comedian over to Madoff's high-rise apartment.
Posted by actionman
at March 9, 2009 11:27 AM
comment #2
Rich S.
says ...
I've always thought that the il Duce treatment would be particularly fitting.
Posted by Rich S.
at March 9, 2009 11:28 AM
comment #3
crazyeight
says ...
What can we recommend happen to President Obama and his administration after they collectively waste trillions of dollars to enact their agenda?
As long as we're throwing the Wall Street guys in jail-- you know, the people who do their part to generate the wealth that all of America benefits from-- we might as well throw the politicos in jail, too.
APE REVOLUTION, Wells. BURN IT ALL DOWN!
Posted by crazyeight
at March 9, 2009 11:37 AM
comment #4
mrmystery
says ...
Does Barney "Let's Roll the Dice on Fannie Mae" go to jail too?
What about dem senators Dodd and Conrad, those lovely "Friends of Angelo" at Countrywide Mortgage?
Send them to the slammer and you can send all the Wall Street creeps along with them. No problem with that at all.
Oh... you're not good with that?
Posted by mrmystery
at March 9, 2009 11:44 AM
comment #5
dukedog
says ...
Lock them all up in a room with "The Rock Obama". Dare to dream.
Posted by dukedog
at March 9, 2009 11:44 AM
comment #6
Howlingman
says ...
One simple word: Thunderdome
Posted by Howlingman
at March 9, 2009 11:47 AM
comment #7
62Lincoln
says ...
This list is a nice starting point, but beware, there are POLITICIANS on the list: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/26/road-ruin-recession-individuals-economy
Posted by 62Lincoln
at March 9, 2009 11:48 AM
comment #8
CitizenKanedforChewingGum
says ...
"As long as we're throwing the Wall Street guys in jail-- you know, the people who do their part to generate the wealth that all of America benefits from..."
I'm sorry to say it, but no, I do not know these people of which you speak...
Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum
at March 9, 2009 11:54 AM
comment #9
bents75
says ...
"What can we recommend happen to President Obama and his administration after they collectively waste trillions of dollars to enact their agenda?"
That's a hilariously crazy question Crazyeight! It seems to have boiled up from the absolute depths of right wing hypocrisy (and cluelessness).
To answer : we can probably recommend the same thing happen to this administration that happened to the last administration that wasted (and whose policies continue to waste) trillions of dollars to enact THEIR agenda.
Absolutely nothing.
The only difference is, we still haven't seen if Obama's expenses are going to work or not. It's pretty fucking obviously Bush didn't spend a single penny in 8 years that benefitted the comman man.
Posted by bents75
at March 9, 2009 12:18 PM
comment #10
bents75
says ...
obvious / common
Posted by bents75
at March 9, 2009 12:19 PM
comment #11
DarthCorleone
says ...
"Mr. Milus, what should we do with these immoral fat cats?"
"Crush them, see them driven before us, and hear the lamentation of their women."
Posted by DarthCorleone
at March 9, 2009 12:40 PM
comment #12
Joshua Mooney
says ...
"Harry got up
Dressed all in black .
Went down to the station
And he never came back .
They found his clothing
Scattered somewhere down the track .
And he won't be down on Wall Street
in the morning .
He had a home
The love of a girl .
But men get lost sometimes
As years unfold .
One day he crossed some line
And he was too much in this world .
But I guess it doesn't matter anymore .
In a New York Minute
Everything can change .
In a New York Minute
Things can get pretty strange ."
Posted by Joshua Mooney
at March 9, 2009 12:44 PM
comment #13
DeafBrownTrashPunk
says ...
too bad the Comedian and Rorscach aren't real...
Posted by DeafBrownTrashPunk
at March 9, 2009 12:49 PM
comment #14
Mowkeka
says ...
You know who should be publically humiliated? People who like a grandiose vision of themselves.
Like film critics...
Posted by Mowkeka
at March 9, 2009 12:58 PM
comment #15
bibliotechnician
says ...
@Mowkeka
And you are at this site because...
Posted by bibliotechnician
at March 9, 2009 1:48 PM
comment #16
bibliotechnician
says ...
"As long as we're throwing the Wall Street guys in jail-- you know, the people who do their part to generate the wealth that all of America benefits from-- we might as well throw the politicos in jail, too."
Moving jobs overseas, running businesses and banks into the ground, all the while lavishing themselves in Roman opulence is "wealth that all of America benefits from?" With friends like these...
Posted by bibliotechnician
at March 9, 2009 1:57 PM
comment #17
JT
says ...
so Milius is a supposed rightie and he's going on TV to knock Rush? dude must want some work.
Wells would get behind Voigt if he'd call Rush a pig.
Don Henly shout out!!!
Posted by JT
at March 9, 2009 2:35 PM
comment #18
Gordie Lachance
says ...
I love the way most people think that the solution to what's going on is always more taxes, less social welfare programs and some good old-fashioned middle-class belt-tightening.
How about putting an end to political and corporate fraud and corruption and embezzlement and frivolous lawsuits and trillions of dollars a year spent on sending robots to Mars? (none of which has anything to to with partisan politics, btw).
Or is everyone just too distracted by this "righties" vs "lefties" bullshit, like a retard with a pinwheel?
Posted by Gordie Lachance
at March 9, 2009 2:44 PM
comment #19
JT
says ...
Lachance: Don't worry, be happy. BHO walks on water!!!
Posted by JT
at March 9, 2009 2:46 PM
comment #20
Ray
says ...
I thought that was one of the best things you've written in a long time, Jeff, and one of the best pieces about the current economic crisis that I've read anywhere.
It's just too bad that Americans are generally too stupid, gutless, and lazy to get up off their couches and do anything about it. They think their act of heroism was electing a black guy to fix it. Well gues what, fatasses? He isn't going to fix it at all. He's already playing politics and making concessions.
Remember how we mocked the meltdown of the Soviet Union several years ago? Get ready to listen to the laughter, America!!!
Posted by Ray
at March 9, 2009 5:08 PM
comment #21
D.Z.
says ...
crazyeight: "What can we recommend happen to President Obama and his administration after they collectively waste trillions of dollars to enact their agenda?"
Yeah, fixing up streets and bridges is a total waste. The real money's in cluster bombs.
JT: I think he's knocking Rush because he can think for himself, which is more than can be said for most righties.
Posted by D.Z.
at March 9, 2009 6:31 PM
comment #22
D.Z.
says ...
http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2009/03/10/tomo/index.html
Posted by D.Z.
at March 9, 2009 7:15 PM
comment #23
D.Z.
says ...
No child left behind? Yeah, right.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090310/ap_on_re_us/homeless_children;_ylt=A2KIKujT7LVJa1YBSyxH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTE5bzN1OXQ4BHBvcwM3BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDMWluNTBhbWVyaWNh
Posted by D.Z.
at March 9, 2009 9:50 PM
comment #24
BurmaShave
says ...
Wow he really does look exactly like Walter.
Posted by BurmaShave
at March 9, 2009 10:33 PM
comment #25
vp19
says ...
"what should we do with these immoral fat cats?""
Eunuchize them! Eunuchize them!
Posted by vp19
at March 9, 2009 11:25 PM
comment #26
Gordon27
says ...
"Milius is a supposed rightie"
HAHAHAHA.
Yeah, he's a "supposed" rightie. Not like he's been famously outspoken about it for the 30+ years he's worked in Hollywood. Just an allegation, concocted by the mainstream media and perpetuated by Jeff, to knock Rush Limbaugh. Just keep repeating that...
Posted by Gordon27
at March 10, 2009 12:33 AM
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