Move Along, Nothing To See Here

I read the interview and the article below within minutes of each other.

(Full interview here.)

Michael Zezima: Monsanto has given the planet "gifts" like Agent Orange  and Roundup Ready crops, PCBs and GMOs, yet, for most humans, it has pretty much flown under the radar. To what would you attribute the fact that the vast majority of us rail mostly at governments, instead of the far more dangerous and powerfulmultinational corporations?

Marie-Monique Robin: The problem is that the corporations act behind the scene, manipulating information, studies, press and the experts of the regulatory agencies. To speak quite frankly, I had never imagined before that a company could resort to such procedures, to sell its harmful products, in complete impunity, during decades: concealing scientific data, lying, manipulating regulations, corruption, pressuring scientists and journalists, threats. The problem is also that governments do not take any legal action against companies which are repeatedly affecting the environment and the health of consumers. If Monsanto were a private person, it would be convicted as a great criminal, but current law protects the criminal companies, which are never held accountable for the damage they cause. (Emphasis mine.)

Oh, you mean like this?

SEC Split Over Goldman Deal

Republican Disputed Move to Impose Big Fine While Diluting Charge; 3-2 Vote

Thursday's settlement—in which Goldman agreed to pay a $550 million fine, but didn't have to admit it committed fraud—capped one of the most closely watched cases in the SEC's 76-year history. The agency had charged Goldman with intentionally duping clients by selling a mortgage-security product that secretly was designed by another Goldman client betting that the housing market would crash.

Paying a fine. Half a billion. That's just the cost of doing business. Chump change to Goldman. Move along, nothing to see here. No trial, no examination of Goldman's practices.

News of the SEC's lawsuit grabbed big headlines in April, but news of the settlement will be accompanied by crickets and tumbleweeds.

This is an obvious and noxious consequence of a legal system that cannot address criminal behavior by corporations, which I've written about here and here.

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On a related note, with my wife out of town I really went wild last night and watched a 4-hour BBC documentary, A Century of the Self. You can view it here, starting with the first of four parts. You'll learn about Edward Bernays, nephew of Sigmund Freud and progentior of the 20th century's darkest art, commercial propaganda, better known as "public relations." You'll get a good sense of how and why consumerism, corporatism devoured our quaint and old-timey notions of capitalism and democracy. And best of all you get to be the kind of insufferable twit who can claim to watch 4-hour BBC documentaries.

Finally, as a reminder, please keep reading Glenn Greenwald. The man's output nearly defies belief. His almost-daily posting on politically important issues is chock full of links to and about the people and issues he covers. I hesitate to throw labels at him, but lets just say he pisses off Republicans and "center-right" Democrats in equal measure and is scathing in his analysis of what passes for punditry and consensus in Washington. Put another way, this man is my hero.