Superprime Six?
JJV has coined an amusing name for Chris Dodd, Kent Conrad, Alphonso Jackson, Donna Shalala, Richard Holbrooke and James Johnson: the “Subprime Six.” It has a nice ring to it, and just like the Keating 5, all but one are Democrats. Plus, seven being a prime number, it follows that six, being lower, is a subprime one.
The analogy is not perfect, however. For one thing, while two of the Keating 5 were ultimately cleared of wrongdoing, it’s hard to see how any of today’s 6 could be. For another, all five of the Keating 5, whether ultimately found to have engaged in wrongdoing or not, did at least have a common thread of having met Charles Keating. By contrast, I find it doubtful that any of the ultra-privileged souls JJV describes as “subprime” have ever had the misfortune of watching subprime-time TV or eating subprime rib, let alone having to make payments on a subprime mortgage. Quite the opposite, in fact.
[Full disclosure: I am a former employee of an insurance subsidiary of the lender at the center of this controversy. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Friend Of Angelo, whom I met only briefly on one occasion, and who almost certainly would not recognize me on the street today.]
