Real smart post by David Goldman/Spengler on what Larry Summers got that $5 million from a hedge fund for. Goldman's speculation:
industry standard would be a point or so for AUM, so if Summers used
his political contacts to get another $500 million into D.E. Shaw’s
kitty, a $5 million ticket would not be unreasonable.
On February 5 I reported that Larry Summers had travelled through
Asia in July 2007 pitching sovereign funds and other Asian investors on
AAA-rated structured securities — the very same “toxic assets” that the
Obama adminstration proposes to get off banks’ books. Was he paid for
helping to shuffle assets around sovereign funds? If so, does his
previous activity compromise his current effectiveness?
Interesting. Goldman calls for more info. He's a neoconservative and a Zionist apologist, by the way; and this just demonstrates my point about the Israel lobby. Some day smart Jewish journalists are going to feel safe enough to dig into the lobby. Right now they stay away out of self-preservation. Seymour Hersh says he'd rather run thru the streets naked than talk about the issue. When I asked a Jewish journo friend recently for career advice, he quipped, "Don't write about Israel." That's all going to change. Smart Jewish writers are gonna feel OK about talking about Jewish influence at last, without bringing pogroms down on grandmother's head. Dan Fleshler's forthcoming book on the lobby is going to strike a great blow for this freedom of discussion. Joe Klein's recent statements about Jewish neocons with divided loyalties–also pushing open the door.
And when that door opens, look out! Because as Goldman's shrewd analysis above suggests, people need to speculate and notion stuff in order to even get near the truth. That's how intellectual exploration happens. When J Street really takes hold, when Obama finally comes out forcefully against West Bank colonies, then Jewish journalists will at last sense they have permission to go after the lobby and talk about its power. And wow, it will end the legalistic obfuscation/smearing (Dershowitz/Goldberg) that has marked this debate so far, and open the conversation on the real issues: how the lobby works, who's behind it…
