Mood:
on fireTopic: "Kudlow's Kreeps"(4)
Frodo is a capitalist. Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, Steven Jobs may or may not be nice guys, but they each, individually, assumed the majority of the fiscal and the emotional risk in order to create and grow business opportunities for themselves, and for countless millions around the small blue planet. Frodo recognizes that some succeed in spite of themselves, and others fall prey to simple bad luck. What they have in common is that they tried, they worked hard, they worried, and they reaped from that which they had sown. Frodo will never decry the wealth and accoutrements that accompany hard-won success, despite his empathy for those who fall along the sidelines. For those who inherit wealth, Frodo has no interest, and he hopes that they are taxed at maximum rates.
Frodo is also, as discussed many times before, a behavioral scientist. He recognizes that simple causal relationships cannot necessarily scientifically define human behavior. It is, impossible, in Frodo's way of thinking to say, for example, that "if you give a person enough money, he will spend half of it, and save the rest." There are simply too many "unknowns" to apply either history or predictive polling to test such an assumption.
The internecine struggle in the United States Senate over the President's Stimulus proposals has provided Frodo with input regarding the strengths of capitalism as well as the folly of human behavior. Larry Kudlow, of CNBC, has been the object of some interest by Frodo, and after listening to parts of his show last night, Frodo is as mad as a hornet, and is prepared to tell that pompous derelict exactly why.
First off, Kudlow has never met a suit "off the rack." He appears as if everything from his perfectly-knotted tie to his color-conscious shirt has been applied to his torso as if it were Saran Wrap. Physically, absent the tonsorial applications, he could be a homeless guy on Peachtree Street. There is absolutely nothing attractive about him, except the outer wrappings. He is shrill, and he interrupts. He makes Chris Matthews look attentive.
Last evening, Kudlow had a bevy of fiscal market experts at hand, nameless to be sure, discussing the impact of spending one's way out of a recession. Among those receiving queries from the grand poobah of Brooks Brothers was some chickee with long brown, straight hair. The hair was so long that it offered the possibility of toilet application in an emergency. Kudlow was wandering off on a tangent, but he asked the chickee to whom a CEO owed his loyalty first, to his share-holders, or to his country?
Frodo could not believe the Ann Coulter-type response, i.e. "to his shareholders."
But what really pissed Frodo off was the fact that Kudlow absolutely imitated "de Tar Baby." He say nuttin'.
Mr. Kudlow, how many CEO's are there in Arlington Cemetery? Would it be proper for a CEO to request a deferment from military service in order to oversee an acquisition? Are there any committments that truly take precedence over your country's call? Do you really believe that Jeff Immelt owes a greater allegiance to those of us who own GE stock, than to his country?
Mr. Kudlow, your extremely bad judgment; your tolerance of an uninformed and irrational response by a nameless chickee with no mind whatsoever puts you on a special pedestal in the Frodo Hall of Fame.
Larry Kudlow, you are an Orc, but well-dressed, adds Frodo.
