Curtains for Crypto Boy
Sam Bankman-Fried has been convicted of all seven counts of felony fraud and conspiracy. It didn't take the jury long to reach its verdict. I guess they don't read the New York Times.
He'll appeal, probably, but honestly, he didn't have much of a defense. He'll be sentenced in a few months. Where he's going, he won't need as much Adderall.
Sam's biggest mistake was his firm belief, to which I'm sure he adheres to this day, that he's smarter than everyone else. His parents encouraged that, to put it mildly; they seem to have the same belief about themselves. Folks, this is what happens when you have a high IQ and lots of book learning but no common sense or judgment. It pretty much symbolizes the 21st Century version of Stanford University, where the Bankman bunch was the toast of the town for many years until the bubble burst.
As SBF fades into a prison story, don't forget all the politicians who accepted stolen money from him and his gang. Including big-name Democrats in Oregon, in that shady deal brokered by Ron Wyden's people. I'm sure they all have no comment today; when they got caught, they quickly forked the dough back over to the bankruptcy trustee. Maybe now that SBF's criminal case is lost, his family will blow the whistle on some of the campaign finance hanky panky. That would be fun to watch.
Unlike Crypto Boy, those politicians are no delusional wiz kids; they're just sleazy creatures.
Honest question: you hate public financing schemes for candidates. Private financing means candidates and would-be candidates have to raise funds or simply be obliterated anonymously and unknown. (Senator Clay Davis in The Wire: “You think I’m asking people where they got their money when they’re giving it away?”). When Boy Wonder was making his big contributions to D’s (and using a cutout to make equally large ones to Rs, without his name attached), he was apparently still a wunderkind.
ReplyDeleteWhen the grift was exposed, the D’s give back the money — should they have refused the money when he was on the cover of Forbes and such, based on the theory that “Behind all great fortunes is a great crime”?
In my world, campaign contributions would be limited to individuals and capped at $1000 total per individual per year.
Delete“Individuals”? You mean like “Corporations are people, my friends” individuals? The ones whom the bought and sold justices on the Supreme Court of Favors said have a constitutional right to give unlimited amounts to support or oppose candidates, with no disclosure (and no pesky shareholder say), so long as they pretend not to coordinate?
DeleteYour world would be a better world, but it’s not this world. The question is, as the GQP implements its plans for electoral lockup in state after state (see, Wisconsin, NC, etc.), ensuring that unless the D’s can win by 10% or more that they lose the legislatures, how do we stay in a federal system. If Trump connives his way to power again, that’s it for America.
If you look at the email, it's pretty clear that everyone knew the source of the contributions was being faked. Wyden's people were fine with it. It wasn't about Trump. It was about people like Salinas and JMS. The end does not justify the means.
DeleteI think Sam is more of an idiot savant than a truly bright guy. His mom and dad didn’t help. I’m sure they thought they were good parents. But actually they didn’t have a clue about parenting.
ReplyDeleteActually, they did a fine job as parents. They raised their son to be loyal and support them in luxury, up to the point of the indictment.
DeleteTeaching tribute is different than instruction on morals
DeleteAnother fake front man, falls on his sword. There was a lot of big players behind this scam and they are walking away with who knows how much loot. EQUITY Baby!
ReplyDeleteBTW> that drawing looks like Alfred E. Neuman was on trial.
ReplyDeleteI thought that, too. I wonder if Mad mag has featured him yet; he'd be the perfect subject for them. Anyway, the haircut wasn't worth it.
DeleteThe lesson learned here: you can scam as many middle-class families and small business owners as you like with your crypto-fraud, but as soon as you start taking from the big boy 1%ers like GS and Chase, that's when they make a federal case out of it.
ReplyDeleteSam isn’t the frontman for a cabal of mystery sinister new world order operatives. He was just a guy that pulled a bait and switch on people who wanted to believed him.
ReplyDelete