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Faulking Opinions - Feb 27, 2006 - Printable Version
- We Have a Landslide!!!
by Mark Faulk
While so-called “journalist” Herb Greenberg of MarketWatch.com whines about freedom of the press, saying in his column last week, “And to think I was foolish enough to believe I lived in America and there were these things called the First Amendment and freedom of the press,” voters in a CNBC poll today on the Kudlow and Company Show sang a different tune, voting that the SEC did not overstep it’s authority in issuing subpoenas to Greenberg and Dow Jones reporter Carol Remond to force them to turn over documents pertaining to a lawsuit filed by Overstock.com and its CEO Patrick Byrne alleging stock manipulation. CNBC’s Larry Kudlow seemed stunned by the polls results, ending his show with "Did the SEC overstep their authority by issuing subpoenas to reporters? And the answer is: They did NOT overstep their authority, 80% to 20%. Isn't THAT interesting?”
I hate to tell Mr. Kudlow this, but the jig is up. America is finally realizing that they’ve been had, and that Remond and Geeenberg are no more unbiased reporters than the hacks that the Bush Administration paid to hawk their agenda to an unsuspecting public. In this writer’s opinion, they are about as credible as Jeff Gannon, the White House “journalist” (damn, that word is really taking a beating here, isn’t it?) who turned out to be a $200-an-hour “gay escort” who was planted by the White House to lob softballs at the President during press conferences.
Let’s give Greenberg and Remond the benefit of the doubt, and say that they are journalists….I’m sorry, I could barely get that out with a straight face. Whew, give me a second to regroup here.
Okay, I’m fine now. Forget Greenberg and Remond, they’re hacks, and in the end, they will be exposed for what they really are….and what they obviously aren’t, which is unbiased journalists.
The SEC later backed off of their subpoenas, and Bush appointed SEC Chairman Chris Cox said that he didn’t even know about the subpoenas until he read in the news. This is the guy in charge of overseeing our stock market system? He can’t even keep up with what his own people are doing.
I am as big of an advocate for free speech that you will ever meet, but I don’t believe that hiding under the banner of “freedom of the press” gives a pass to any so-called reporter who puts pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Along with the right of free speech comes the responsibility of not abusing that right.
How the Greenberg/Remond saga plays out remains to be seen, but let’s hope that they, or any other self-professed journalist, are not allowed to sully the name of respectable writers who at least maintain their independent integrity.
Oh, and in the less than an hour that it took me to write this little piece of….uh…..journalism? The CNBC poll that asked the question: “Did SEC overstep its authority by subpoenaing business journalists?” It’s now up to a resounding 86% of respondents voting “NO”, while only 14% answered “YES”. When was the last time 86% of Americans agreed on anything?
That is, as politicians like to say, a landslide, a clear mandate. The people have spoken, and they want justice, they want an end to stock market manipulation, they want justice.
And that, at least in this journalist’s opinion, is the Faulking Truth.
Update: In a another stunning development, Jim Cramer just announced on his show "Mad Money" that he too has been subpoenaed by the SEC in the Overstock.com lawsuit against Gradient Analytics, and then, in a blatant show of arrogance, threw the subpoena on the floor on his CNBC show today. Since the SEC appears to have already caved in to pressure from Bush-appointed Chairman Chris Cox, it appears unlikely that they will actually enforce the subpoenas, even though 86% of the viewers who responded to a CNBC poll said that the SEC was within its authority to issue those subpoenas.
To vote on and view the CNBC poll, go to:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CNBCTV/Promos/P145743.asp
To read about the Cramer subpoenas, go to:
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/markets/marketfeatures/10270634.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
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