Hubris

Hubris, n. arrogant pride or presumption ... it's been a major part of the Street for as long as there has been, The Street. It's really interesting to watch as a bunch of arrogant congress (not the fun kind) people criticize "Wall Street Bankers" for doling out $18 billion in bonuses. If it's happening at Goldman and Morgan Stanley after they waltzed into changing their charters to become national banks and received $10 billion each then, then we taxpayers are really getting taken to the cleaners.

I especially enjoyed the comments of Rudy Giuliani in defending the bank's right to pay whatever they please. Golly, it seems like it was only yesterday when Rudy was a prosecutor and needed a cause, which turned out to be the insider trading scandal, to ride into politics. In those days, the country's mayor was hauling (totally innocent - and he knew it) people away just so that he could get on the evening news. Seems to me that he railed against the fat cats back then. Funny isn't it, now that old Rudy's a fat cat himself, how the worm has turned. That that dope can be taken seriously is way beyond my ability to comprehend.