Tyell Morton's Brush with Hysteria
See that young fellow in the photos posted above and just to the left? His name is Tyell Morton. He is an eighteen-year-old senior at the Consolidated High School in Rushville, Indiana. Handsome kid, huh? And by all accounts he's a good kid. Just your typical free-spirited teenager from what could be any Midwestern town. And what a sense of humor! Seriously, this is a guy after my own funny bone. Get this: As a prank, he sneaked into the girls bathroom of his school and placed a life-sized, inflatable doll inside. Isn't that funny? This kid is a laugh riot! A comedian waiting to happen!Wait! It get's better!
This is one of the funniest things I've ever heard! A security camera caught him entering the bathroom with the package containing the uber dolly in hand, and exiting without it. HA! HA! HA! I CAN'T STAND IT! Someone saw this scene transpiring on a video monitor and....and....AND CALLED THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE! THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE CALLED IN THE BOMB SQUAD!!! HAAAAH! MY GUT IS BUSTING!!! And now - are you ready for this? He's....He's....He's....HE'S BEEN BANNED FROM TAKING PART IN HIS CLASS'S GRADUATION CEREMONIES! IS THAT A RIP??? HE'S ALSO BEEN LABELED A TERRORIST!!! That's right! A TERRORIST! Isn't that a scream??? HA! HA! I LOVE IT!!! But wait! Wait! I haven't even gotten to the punch line! Are you ready for this??? Hold onto your sides:
HE'S FACING EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON!!! I SWEAR TO YOU I'M NOT MAKIN' THIS UP!!! EIGHT FREAKIN' YEARS! IS THAT A KNEE SLAPPER OR WHAT??? GUFFAW!!! GUFFAW! GUFFAW!
Please excuse me while I take a deep breath. As a matter of fact, let's all take a deep breath....
When I first learned of this barely believable story before the sun came up this morning, I could not help but notice that Tyell Morton is an African American. Yeah, yeah. I notice those kinds of things. So sue me!
Now listen folks, I realize that the white power structure in this country has this perverted and insatiable need to incarcerate huge numbers of black people - but I'm not even taking issue with that here. Honest! It's something I can learn to live with (I'm white. It's easy). But what the heck, it would seem to me that this is taking matters to the....uh...."extreme" shall we say? Would we even be talking about this story at all if Tyell was named Rusty and was the red-headed, freckle-faced son of the mayor of Rushville? What the hell do you think the reaction would have been if that were the case?
"Ha! Ha! Ho! Well you know what they say! Ha! Ha! 'Boys will be boys!' Ho! Ho! Ha! Ha! Ho!
At this hour, Tyell is being charged with two criminal counts:
1: Institutional criminal mischief (class "C" felony) and
2: disorderly conduct (class "B" misdemeanor)
He has been released from jail on $30,000 bail after languishing there for a week. The state of Indiana owes Tyell Morton a heartfelt apology.
To be perfectly honest with you, this whole stupid affair makes me kind of ashamed of my Indiana roots (My mother is a native of South Bend). It is not what Tyell did that he is being punished for. It is because everyone involved embarrassed themselves silly by overreacting to what he did - in such an insanely comical manner. They need to save their clueless, egg-covered faces by throwing the book at this kid. And remember: that is exactly what he is - a kid - a young adult at childhood's twilight. Let's get a grip here.
The trials and tribulations of Tyell Morton have me thinking back to some of the pranks I pulled off as a precocious (and extremely lovable, I assure you) teenager. Truth be told, and with all due respect to him, as a prankster, Tyell is pretty low budget. The crowd I went around with took pranks to new plateaus never before dreamed of by the prankiest practitioners of pranksterism. Sticking an inflatable doll in the girls bathroom? HA! We used to do that sort of thing in our sleep!
There was this old, weathered bungalow on the outskirts of town where that old gang of mine used to gather at to hang out and party under the stars. Late one Autumn afternoon we decided to dismantle it. We literally just took the place apart, piece-by-piece. Why? Because we could. What the heck! No one was living there and it had been abandoned decades before. Besides, we probably saved the town the cost of removing it as they eventually would have had to do; a thought that never even entered our tender and twisted minds at the time - but one that does somewhat lessen the guilt all these decades later.
And how could I possibly leave out this memorable, late night frolic from the early winter of 1975, when me and my old partner-in-crime, Dan O'Brien, led the local police force on a high speed chase that went to the very edge of the village. They followed us straight onto a field that was covered with a foot of freshly-fallen snow. Because the vehicle Dan was driving had four-wheel drive, we were easily able to maneuver our way back to the road again. They got stuck. Hang your head in shame, Tyell Morton. You think you're so hot.
NOTE TO THE GOSHEN, NY POLICE DEPARTMENT:
This was thirty-six years ago, guys. Chill.
And then there was the day John Harragin, Kevin Swanwick and I blew up the local nursery school....I'm just kidding. We never did anything that weird, I promise.
"It was a senior prank. They're blowing it out of proportion. I didn't hurt anybody. I didn't intend to embarrass anybody. What did I do wrong?"
-Tyell Morton
What indeed. If Tyell Morton had a history of delinquent behavior, the severity of the reaction to his harmless prank would be bad enough, but this kid has never been in trouble a day in his life! Not only that, he's a good student with a great future. One of his persecutors told reporters that this sort of mischief can no longer be looked upon as a harmless, schoolboy prank; that we live in less innocent times, and that Tyell should have taken to heart the lessons of Columbine before he pulled off his wicked little stunt.
REALITY CHECK:
The Columbine High School Massacre in Littleton. Colorado occurred on April 20, 1999 - twelve years ago. Tyell was six-years-old at the time. It is difficult to believe that he even remembers that tragedy let alone taken anything to heart from it.
When I heard about his plight, my immediate reaction was that he deserved to be suspended for two days - at best. Upon further reflection and two cups of extremely caffeinated coffee however, I came to the opinion that he didn't even deserve that. This is not justice, folks. This is crass hysteria.
Tyell, if you're reading this I have a message for you: In a twisted, convoluted sort of way, this horrible episode might very well turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you. Your life is a reality TV series waiting to happen, pal. You need to hire yourself an agent pronto. I'm available.
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net
AFTERTHOUGHT:
The friends of Tyell Morton have started a Facebook page in support of him. Go there and give him a pat on the back. He could use it. Here's a link:
FREE TYELL MORTON
Eight years. Honestly, can you believe these chuckleheads?
UPDATE, 6/19/11:
I was interviewed Thursday evening regarding the case of Tyell Mortin by Mario Solis-Marich on Colorado Public Radio. If you've absolutely nothing better to do, here's a link to listen to it. I come on about twenty-eight minutes in:
http://www.am760.net/cc-common/podcast/single_page.html?more_page&podcast=mariosolismarichcast&selected_podcast=6-16-11%25205pm%2520.mp3
To read other recent postings on this disgusting, commie loving, french-fry-eating site, please go to the following link:
"The Rant" by Tom Degan
Shameful, left wing propaganda.
I TELL YOU, THERE OUGHTTA BE A LAW!
Shh! And please pray for peace.
UPDATE FROM TYELL'S FACEBOOK PAGE:
"Perhaps this will be the final update for awhile. The charges have officially been expunged from Tyell's record, the state issued an apology to him and he's working full time at an automobile manufacturer. We thank you for all your help on this case and we were more than thrilled to hear that Tyell and his family are finally able to move on!"
Tally ho!
posted by Tom Degan @ 12:21 PM
105 comments
105 Comments:
TD, taking a deep breath over the LACK of finding anything in Governor Palin's emails? Or just trying to act like it didn't happen?
That action is power hungry hate filed left wing at their worst.
Tom:This story is just as sad as the street justice melted out,daily here in Pittsburgh to AA Males!
Sometimes our culture just amazes me and not in a good way. It's totally crazy and things my son did, my husband did, and my father did, all could have had them thrown in prison if they did it today or were the wrong color for whatever region in which they lived. It makes a person fearful for any possible progress.
LOL I love how their captcha system reroutes you all over the site. This case really chaps my EVERYTHING!!
As I said on the FB page, a girl commented to me that in Fort Wayne, back in 2006, some kids broke into the high school, put glue in the classroom locks and managed to come out of it with a fine.
I find it hard to believe that the damage in that incident way exceeded the 2,500 dollar amount that it takes to justify "criminal mischief", I think this is a case of "embarrass the county, go to jail, go directly to jail"..... Thank you so much for posting this for us.
There are two possible ways to deal with a box found in a small town high school bathroom…the Barney Fife method and the Andy Taylor method.
Under the Barney Fife method, you evacuate the school, call the local police, the state police, Homeland Security, the FBI, and the bomb squad.
Under the Andy Taylor method, you open the box and see what’s in it.
When you discover that the box contains an inflatable doll, under the Barney Fife method, you conduct an investigation, arrest a teenager, charge him with felonies, and set bail so high that it takes his family a week to raise it while the kid sits in jail.
Under the Andy Taylor method, you throw the box in the trash, mutter to yourself “dumb kids,” and get back to more important things.
It seems that this town has a lot of Barney Fifes and, unfortunately, no Andy Taylors.
Peter Murphy
P.S...I, too, grew-up in Indiana. And, as a teenager, did a lot worse things than this. I occasionally got caught, and the worst punishment I received was cleaning toilets every morning for a week.
Give him the electric chair......
Alcoholic Anonymous?
Well, I for one am glad this kid is off the streets! What's next? Whoopee cushions in the teachers' lounge? Crank calling the school switchboard and peppering old Mrs. Lattigan (who has a heart condition, mind) with questions about Prince Albert in a can and her running refrigerator?
No, no.... it's kids like this one who break down the moral and institutional fiber that holds our solid undergraduate (from which, on national average, on in five students drops out of or fails to graduate from) together.
If we let this go, we're only encouraging this freewheeling, off-the-cuff behavior. America can not sit still for this kind of tomfoolery (no offense, Tom). Neither will we put up with any hijinks, shenanigans, goings-on or escapades, either.
And thank you, Tom, for giving me the excuse to use every one of those words in a single blog comment. I can now die happy.
FREE TYELL MORTON!!!
~A~
This comment has been removed by the author.
(Aside to Peter Murphy -- I think you have just landed on my new philosophy of life. From now on, when faced with a situation that requires a response, I can ask myself... Am I being Barney? Or am I being Andy? Thank you.)
Tom, this is what an encroaching police state looks like. With the extension of the USA Patriot Act endorsed by our "liberal" president, any provocation that the state deems unacceptable to the corporate-state will be viewed as terrorism at their discretion. As you're aware, Obama signed a four-year extension of three key provisions in the USA Patriot Act: (1) Roving wiretaps; (2) Searches of business records (the "library records provision"), and; (3) Conducting surveillance of "lone wolves" — individuals suspected of terrorist-related activities not linked to terrorist groups. Unfortunately, it's this last area that poor Tyell Morton falls under.
Welcome to 1984.
Oh I just love the Andy/Barney comparison. It's way too true We live in a world run by Barneys, and not an Andy in sight. Can we please fire all the Barneys? And the Barnettes? Sarah & Michelle are definitely Barnettes! Lets stop even considering hiring any more of them? Oh reminds mo of the old joke about the diff between the Rayguns admin and the Boy Scouts? The Scouts have adult leadership!! Its not that one is a liberal Barney or a conservative Barney!! It is that they ARE Barney!! Pay attention people! Well some of you already are
Bad News in Wisconsin Tom!
The Wisconsin Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for the state's contentious collective-bargaining law to take effect, ruling 4-3 that a lower-court judge who put the measure on hold improperly interfered with the legislature.
The law eliminates nearly all collective-bargaining rights for most of the state's public employees. The workers will have to contribute more out of their paychecks for their health insurance and pensions, and it will become tougher for unions to retain members.
This is just too much. Money to prosecute this? The citizens of IN need to speak up about this massive incongruity. Is this a new norm that we have established? Sadly, I think some executives and legislators believe it is. We will arrest you and throw you in prison for everything! And if we don't have anything on you, we'll call it TERRORISM! Legislation was recently passed in TN to ban disturbing images from being posted online, punishable by up to a year in jail. Define "disturbing"? Unfortunately, this is happening all over.
What were those 10 steps that Naomi Wolf wrote about? [rhetorical--but I DO realize that I have just been put on the "watch" list]
~sigh~
Heads need to roll over this, and I don't mean Tyell's. I joined the Facebook group.
Thanks for your comment on my blog, BTW. For some reason Blogger won't let me comment on my own blog...
Mary, you wrote...
"What were those 10 steps that Naomi Wolf wrote about?"
We're definitely checking them off, aren't we?
Welcome to the Corporate-State. Fascist from its inception, Heinrich Himmler and Hermann Göring would have been proud.
Hi Tom,
Related book recommendation: "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander, associate professor of law at Ohio State University.
Excerpt: “Our prison population quintupled in a few short decades for reasons that have stunningly little to do with crime or crime rates. Incarceration rates—especially black incarceration rates—have soared regardless of whether crime was going up or down in any given community or the nation as a whole. Mass incarceration has been driven primarily by politics—racial politics—not crime."
Little early to play the "race card" isn't it TD? Normally the "race card" isnt used by the left unless things aren't going their way, I mean 2012 elections are still over a year a way.
Oh, I forgot, playing the "race card" brings out the left's base. They need it now since the current Prsidents plans arent working, have to deflect blame on to racism.
A zero-tolerance policy is the best policy. Putting one kid in jail for eight years is a small price to pay for Law & Order®. His lesson will teach others to curb their hijinks. I mean, did the documentary 'Animal House' teach you nothing? First they're leaving blow up dolls around. Next they've moved on to the hard stuff. That's right; whoopie cushions!
That's why Andy was the Sheriff and Barney was the Deputy. If it was the other way around Mayberry would have been a horrible place to live, just as bad as Amerika !!! The reason we have too many Barneys is that we have too many Goobers. As JG said.....welcome to 1984 !!!
My guess is that Tyell shagged the prosecutor's daughter.
He'll get off. We still have juries in this country, Patriot Act aside. If he has a defense fund, I am going to make a contribution. This is another example of government out of control.
Didn't the secret service apprehend the a 7 year old recently?
This police behavior will be nothing compared to what we all will go through given the direction of the TSA. What would it be like if Obama had a national security force funded like the military? They would need to arrest every other person for something to justify themselves.
boltok, maybe there is hope for you yet !!! I thought you conservatives were big fans of a totalitarian police state !!!!
EEsq
It is Obama, Holder and Napolitanto who are literally sticking their hands up out asses. Not evey your beloved W did that.
All government beyond basic services and services to the TRULY needy should be deemed guilty until proven innocent.
Unfortunately this " government " makes way too many of us TRULY needy !! These so called Democrats must be real fans of Adolph Hitler that's for sure !!
@ Avram - I had to read that book for one of my classes last semester and it was great, depressing, but excellent. I had the opportunity to hear Professor Alexander speak at a lecture, I believe it was in April, and she was inspiring. It was so depressing, but she really emphasized that our current system has NOT developed a class system; it has actually developed a CASTE system. Big difference. I think this is what most of my classmates had a problem with. There were a few that understood and were just critical of her concepts, but the majority could not distinguish between class warfare and a caste system.
This case is probably about race. People who use the term "race card" are usually racists.
Correction - this case might or might not be about race, but now things are all ready stacked against him because of his race. Don't deny it. He has to go through litigation which is racially biased. And after any incarceration, it automatically turns into a race issue as per Michelle Alexander's et.al research.
MM said, "People who use the term "race card" are usually racists." Is that a fact that you can support or just your opinion?
@ anon - fact. See citation
Man, your right wing commentators need to learn how to spell.
Avram Mirsky said...
Man, your right wing commentators need to learn how to spell
Hey Avram, anybody tell you your outfit is out of fashion or do you like to look like an idiot?
Better to look like an idiot than be an idiot, Anonymoose.
Anon, Don't screw with Captain America. You can't be sure if he is the real Captain America, a few of them show up on this blog. You will be screwed if he is the real thing, don't risk it.
Well, maybe it's a good thing there's NO security cameras in the bathroom but that would clear him of being a terrorist at least. This is way out of proportion like the 5 year old who bought a toy water pistol to school and got expelled for it. It looked like a REAL gun supposedly...do you think someone could have talked to him privately about, called his parents and ask that he not bring it agagin and let him get back to class...but no, that would have made sense.
When I was in high school, smoking was allowed outside the building in the back. We had kids who regularly snuck in alcohol, and other substances and no one got anymore then their wrist slapped and a detention. A whole hour after school and a mark on your high school record! WOW! The only thing that got the police there and a suspension was any sort of actual violence - a fight was probably the worst of it - and this between two boys. A relatively minor incident...(Shrug) Every year there was always a rumor of a race-related rumble but it never happened nor would it have - the caucasian kids couldn't figure out who in the world would want to beat up the African-American kids or the Asian kids. We didn't have a clue about racial tension.
Young Tyell Morton is a terrorist. Okay, it's official, law enforcement has gone crazy. Barney is now sheriff of Mayberry and there's a bullet in his six-shooter. Andy has retired...there is no sense left. Maybe it's because Matt Dillon left us last week to go keep peace in heaven? Hmm...we miss you, Marshall Dillon...law and common sense are no more.
boltok,
Thanks for the heads up on Capt. America.
I was shocked to see the rioting in Vancouver, B.C. after there team lost to the Bruins in the Stanley Cup. But what shocked me the most was this comment posted on the VANCOUVER SUN's web page:
"matt canada
6:28 AM on June 16, 2011
This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore matt canada. Show DetailsHide Details
Have at them rebels!!! This pent up frustration release was needed as the result of the many years of the thousands of small business owners running their corrupt family tax deductables in communities such as Vancouver and Richmond which has caused an ill effect for other families growing in the Lowermainland.
Many of these small busnesses that the HST now addresses such as the thousands of restuarants should not even exist without the freebies previously given away by the immigration ready government.
Who here thinks its right that a person working in Vancouver or Richmond should deduct from their total income(which sometimes also includes government salaried positions); home business expenses for computers, car leases, cell phones, and an entire home office that their kids use to do thier homework? It was unlawful tax deduction behavior by the BC small business owners damaging the rest of BC."
Sounds like many of the posts on this blog, the reason for the problem is there are some people not being taxed enough! Pretzel logic indeed!
Avram, you easily noticed...
"Man, your right wing commentators need to learn how to spell."
Their hopeless grasp of basic English grammar and spelling is only exceeded by their misunderstanding of the real enemies and dismantlers of their nation, their economy, and their freedoms.
Obviously, the corporate-state agenda to dumb-down the electorate has paid big dividends for them.
(Sadly, I've seen better written composition on subway walls.)
Anonymous "Sounds like many of the posts on this blog, the reason for the problem is there are some people not being taxed enough! Pretzel logic indeed!"
Indeed. Especially as that's not really what he said.
Try: "Damn government takin' from me to give to the damn chinks and pakis comin' over here and cheatin' on their taxes!"
Tom,
I would like you to know first that I have resigned from Congress. Thank you for not posting what a dirt bag and half wit I am because I am a marxist Democrat. Keep the marxist blinders on.
"Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye (republicans), but do not notice the log that is in your own eye (democrats)?
MOE, YES INDEED!
How the hell you get this "Damn government takin' from me to give to the damn chinks and pakis comin' over here and cheatin' on their taxes!"
FROM THIS: "It was unlawful tax deduction behavior by the BC small business owners damaging the rest of BC."
Is something only a citizen from that country of POOR LOSERS could do.
I agree with Andrew "half wit" Weiner!
Also, me!
Who in the hell is Andrew Weiner?
Tap Tap Tap
I'm being interviewed on Colorado Public Radio this evening. Here is a link to listen on line:
http://www.am760.net/pages/mario_solis-marich.html
I go on at exactly 7:45 PM EST. Tune in if you've nothing better to do.
Cheers!
nice post Andrew "half wit" Weiner!
Its amazing how fast Tom Degan changed the subject about "half wits" and posted a new post about Tyrone after his post "Clash of the Half Wits"!
I guess Tom really felt like a fool when your story spread like wildfire and he did not have the balls to criticize you because you and him are marxists!
Anonymous "MOE, YES INDEED! How the hell you get..."
The key phrase that colours the rest is "the immigration ready government".
Tom Degan "I'm being interviewed on Colorado Public Radio this evening."
I've always said that you had a face for radio. It goes with your voice for, um, magazines.
@ Tom - Word! I will tune in on my radio on my hour long drive to the airport to bring my husband to work...
Modusoperandi,
will you have a problem in the future if i refer to you as Moe, because you remind me of Moe in the 3 stooges?
Do the left wing canucks know who the 3 stooges are?
How are you taking the Bruins win? Did you participate in any of the riots?
I also agree, too!
Right on Tom,
Free Tyrone Morton NOW!
The sockpuppets are out in force today. Never a good sign.
Yet another young, successful black male fed into the maw of the Prison-Industrial Complex. Yeah, that's a bit melodramatic, but it is what it is. A fresh-faced white kid wouldn't have garnered much beyond a firm scolding and some days at home, at the most.
I bet he'll be let go at some point, with charges dropped. It'll be telling if he somehow ends up with a criminal record behind this, something that'll effect his college applications or military admissions, and chances to receive scholarships. I wouldn't put it past the bastards who even thought it was a good idea to arrest this kid. And I predict the state will drag it's heels on giving him a clean slate.
Frat Boy and international terrorist George Bush dragged us into the Iraq War on lies at a cost of hundreds of thousands of lives lost, an environmental and cultural catastrophe, and untold billions of dollars wasted. His punishment? Secret Service protection for life, a fat pension, and lucrative speaking engagements.
Truly, a white man's world.
Anarchists!
Nice article in our NYTimes "Who Is James Johnson?" June 16,2011
The Fannie Mae scandal is the most important political scandal since Watergate. It helped sink the American economy. It has cost taxpayers about $153 billion, so far. It indicts patterns of behavior that are considered normal and respectable in Washington.
The Fannie Mae scandal has gotten relatively little media attention because many of the participants are still powerful, admired and well connected. But Gretchen Morgenson, a Times colleague, and the financial analyst Joshua Rosner have rectified that, writing “Reckless Endangerment,” a brave book that exposes the affair in clear and gripping form.
The story centers around James Johnson, a Democratic sage with a raft of prestigious connections. Appointed as chief executive of Fannie Mae in 1991, Johnson started an aggressive effort to expand homeownership.
Back then, Fannie Mae could raise money at low interest rates because the federal government implicitly guaranteed its debt. In 1995, according to the Congressional Budget Office, this implied guarantee netted the agency $7 billion. Instead of using that money to help buyers, Johnson and other executives kept $2.1 billion for themselves and their shareholders. They used it to further the cause — expanding their clout, their salaries and their bonuses. They did the things that every special-interest group does to advance its interests.
Fannie Mae co-opted relevant activist groups, handing out money to Acorn, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other groups that it might need on its side.
Fannie ginned up Astroturf lobbying campaigns. In 2000, for example, a bill was introduced that threatened Fannie’s special status. The Coalition for Homeownership was formed and letters poured into Congressional offices opposing the bill. Many signatories of the letter had no idea their names had been used.
Fannie lavished campaign contributions on members of Congress. Time and again experts would go before some Congressional committee to warn that Fannie was lowering borrowing standards and posing an enormous risk to taxpayers. Phalanxes of congressmen would be mobilized to bludgeon the experts and kill unfriendly legislation.
Fannie executives ginned up academic studies. They created a foundation that spent tens of millions in advertising. They spent enormous amounts of time and money capturing the regulators who were supposed to police them.
Morgenson and Rosner write with barely suppressed rage, as if great crimes are being committed. But there are no crimes. This is how Washington works. Only two of the characters in this tale come off as egregiously immoral. Johnson made $100 million while supposedly helping the poor. Representative Barney Frank, whose partner at the time worked for Fannie, was arrogantly dismissive when anybody raised doubts about the stability of the whole arrangement.
Anonymouse "Nice article in our NYTimes "Who Is James Johnson?" June 16,2011"
News Flash: Big Business Crooked, Sociopathic, Amoral. Washington and Wall Street Joined at Hip, Leaving Taxpayers on Hook for Billions. No Punishment Expected.
Morgenson and Rosner write with barely suppressed rage, as if great crimes are being committed.
You want outrage? Try Matt Taibbi (blog at Rolling Stone.
The financial meltdown wasn't caused by imprudent mortgage lending by Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac. It wasn't yours, or your neighbor's, overdue mortgage payments that brought the entire world's house of cards down. Much more dangerous was the bundling of mortgages into collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). But even that wasn't the death knell. It was Wall Street's writing of credit derivatives -- to the tune of trillions of dollars. This was the guarantee of global financial collapse -- not Fannie's and Freddie's paltry mishandling of a few billion dollars. That was chicken feed.
Sorry folks, I know this is sort of off topic, but I'm getting tired of Anonymous belly-aching about Freddie and Fannie, as if they were the cause of global financial ruin. They were just two of the dominos -- that Wall Street set-up and pushed.
"The financial meltdown wasn't caused by imprudent mortgage lending by Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac."
"Much more dangerous was the bundling of mortgages into collateralized debt obligations (CDOs)"
JG what caused (CDOs) these to happen?
If the housing loans were not a problem or imprudent, what was dangerous about bundling them?
OR
what mortgages were dangerous, the ones backed by Freddie and Fanny or a non govt supported lending organization?
Provide sources for your statement JG, back up it with proof. Answer the questions with attacking the questioner.
P.S. my spell check says there is no such word as collateralized.
I guess this error on your part is due to conservative trolls?
"Avram Mirsky said...
Man, your right wing commentators need to learn how to spell."
JG "Their hopeless grasp of basic English grammar and spelling is only exceeded by their misunderstanding of the real enemies and dismantlers of their nation, their economy, and their freedoms."
P.S.S. My spell check says there is a problem with your word "dismantlers".
@ Troll - Provide sources for your statement JG, back up it with proof. Answer the questions with attacking the questioner. Or what? You will take him to Blog Court? Is John Larroquette a part of this endeavor?
You need to seriously update your spell check program, or you need to quit relying on it so heavily. Either one will suffice.
@ Troll to answerwhat caused (CDOs) these to happen? Have you been in a cave?
Bad legislation, deregulation.
Anonymous "Provide sources for your statement JG, back up it with proof. Answer the questions with attacking the questioner."
Why? I do that all the time and you never read them. Or if you do read them you don't read for comprehension. Or if you do read for comprehension, when you're done reading you get a mule to come over and kick you in the head.
As the great philosopher Dean Vernon Wormer once said, "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son." I don't know about fat or drunk, but you've got the stupid part down solid. And if you think that's rude of me, you obviously haven't been me, trying to converse with you while doing so in the good faith you so clearly fail to possess. At this point, it's about the nicest thing I could say about you.
wikipedia:
"James A. Johnson (born December 24, 1943) is a United States Democratic Party political figure. He was the campaign manager for Walter Mondale's failed 1984 presidential bid and chaired the vice presidential selection committee for the presidential campaign of John Kerry. He was involved in the vice-presidential selection process for the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama."
It brought tears to my eyes reading the NYTimes article "Who Is James Johnson?" June 16, 2011 and learning what a wonderful man James Johnson is. James is a Democrat who helped the poor to purchase a home, and while doing so was able to put $100 million in his pocket! Helping the poor and putting $100 million in your pocket is truly a miracle! Hallelujah! What a wonderful Democrat! I just wonder why we have not heard more about this wonderful man?
Anonymous, you asked...
"JG what caused (CDOs) these to happen?"
Google it.
...and you asked...
"what mortgages were dangerous, the ones backed by Freddie and Fanny or a non govt supported lending organization?"
Any of them, certainly, but as the investment houses gobbled up all the credit derivative-backed CDOs that they could grab, which were rated highly by Standard and Poor's, Moody's, and other securities raters, and as the bundled adjustable-rate mortgages ballooned, the dominos were set in motion. Greedy Wall Street, fueled by greedy investors wanting to make something for nothing, caused these Ponzi schemes to hatch (ground zero: London). The rest is history. The Fed intervened and funneled trillions of dollars to prop-up the greedy banks, who stood to collapse upon themselves if they didn't.
Read about it. You might learn something.
By the way, it isn't over, either. There are trillions of these things sitting out there...waiting to collapse and create round two...and more.
...and you foolishly added...
"my spell check says there is no such word as collateralized."
There is. Google it. As Mary mentioned, update your spell-check program.
And finally, you demanded...
"Provide sources for your statement JG, back up it with proof. Answer the questions with attacking the questioner." [Emphasis my own, just to show everyone here how stupid you really are -- demanding I attack you ;-)]
As Modusoperandi already mentioned, why bother? He always does and you never bother to read his documented sources. So I won't either. You'll just have to take it on faith -- or, you can google it.
So the problem wasn't the government forcing the lenders to give out mortgages to people who couldn't make the payments? The problem was the greedy banks who sold the shit loans to Fanny and Freddie.
Crazy and twisted.
Anonymous "So the problem wasn't the government forcing the lenders to give out mortgages to people who couldn't make the payments?"
{citation needed}, I'd phrase it as "Fannie/Freddie had lowered standards, but unlike others (see: Countrywide or any of the "No money down, no job, no credit? No problem!" lenders), they had standards". F/F wasn't pulling the market downhill, it was following it (with a shove from two, now three, presidents).
"The problem was the greedy banks who sold the shit loans to Fanny and Freddie."
Mis-rated, bundled, opaque mortgages.
And, yes, F/F had crooked players too.
"Crazy and twisted."
You have no idea. Start here, or here.
Anonymous, did you bother to read the Matt Taibbi article, Mortgage Bubble Blamed, Ludicrously, on the Government, that Modusoperandi was gracious enough to spoon-feed you?
Excerpts:
"Every time the AEI or some other stooge comes out with one of these 'But the government made us lend this shit!' arguments, we need to stand up and repeat: no, sirs, it did not. This was not a government program to put people in homes. This was an international fraud scheme to disguise crappy American home loans as AAA-rated safe investments so that they could then be hawked to foreigners and insurance companies and pension funds. The fact that a whole bunch of people who probably didn't deserve credit ended up owning mortgages and buying homes was actually an incidental side-effect, a kind of collateral damage, to the underlying fraud scheme. Not about greed, Richard Hahn? This crisis was about banks bundling subprime mortgages and selling it off as AAA-rated gold to pension funds."
and...
"This has to be repeated: Fannie and Freddie did not invent this scheme to turn subprime crap into AAA-rated gold. They were not the ones who were mismarking dicey home loans; that was the fault of the ratings agencies, who did so because they wanted to retain relationships with the big banks. Here's what Fannie and Freddie did do; they followed the market and bought lots of these loans after the banks had already collected them and chopped them up and mismarked them. As Barry Ritholz points out, they were essentially just another in a long line of dumb banks that jumped ass-first into the MBS market once it started to bubble up."
Anonymous, maybe if you'd stop drinking the Fox News Kool-Aid, your blinders would start to loosen. By the way, please don't ask me any more annoying questions unless...and this is a big leap of faith on my part...unless you can assure me you've read both articles (completely) provided by Modusoperandi.
sounds like MOE must be drinking the Fox kool aid.
Anonymouse,
Thanks for FACTS about Fannie and Freddie in that 1999 NYTimes article.
Many people here drink Jefferson Guardian's cool-aid in large gulps.
The most incredible "fact" he made was that over 50% of GDP is spent on the military. This man needs medication. He rarely makes a spelling mistake, however, kind of like most teachers. hmmmmmmmm. We can give him extra credit for his spelling but not for the content of his long and drawn out conclusions based on "facts".
Tom,
Deleting posts again?
This is for you Jefferson's Guardian from your own NYTimes:
Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending
The New York Times
September 30, 1999
Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending
By STEVEN A. HOLMES
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29— In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers,the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.
The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.
Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.
In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.
"Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990's by reducing down payment requirements," said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and chief executive officer. "Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market."
Anonymous, you wrote...
"This is for you Jefferson's Guardian from your own NYTimes:"
I don't own the New York Times, and neither do I own stock in the company. Where did you ever get the idea that I did? (You still are clueless, aren't you? Amazingly clueless!)
...and you also wrote...
"Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending"
Yes, and thank you for collaborating and verifying exactly what Mr. Taibbi asserted in his article. Now, we're getting somewhere! (Bet you didn't even read the articles, did you?)
Anonymous, how many of those were NINJA loans?
Can ya'll just ignore him please? This is supposed to be about Tyell, and he just wants to hijack the thread and make it about him...If you ignore him he will just look like the moron he is by cutting and pasting over and over again....no one buys his bs...we all know what caused the financial crisis...it was Obama putting a swingset on the white house lawn..lol..
Jefferson's Guardian said
"Yes, and thank you for collaborating and verifying exactly what Mr. Taibbi asserted in his article."
Are you asserting that Mr. Taibbi plagiarized the 1999 NYTimes article "Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending"?
Since the article was written in 1999, is there any way we can blame it on Dubya Bush, whose presidency started in 2001, for Fannie Mae's role in lowering the quality of home loans in the US which helped in causing the 2008 collapse?
P.S. I love your pretzel logic. Could you run it by me one more time how much of the US GDP is spent on the military?
Fannie and Frankie Mae, examples of liberal policy failures at it's best!
But want ever you do, don't confuse a liberal with the facts, their minds are already made up and might I add, closed.
Thank you Faithful NYTimes Reader said... for your posts of provable history. The "Affordable Housing Act is what started this depression.
On signing the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, President Clinton said that it, "establishes the principles that, as we expand the powers of banks, we will expand the reach of the [Community Reinvestment] Act"
In 1999 the Congress enacted and President Clinton signed into law the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act. This law repealed the part of the Glass–Steagall Act that had prohibited a bank from offering a full range of investment, commercial banking, and insurance services since its enactment in 1933.
Clinton Pressure to Promote Affordable Housing Led to Mortgage Meltdown
by Hans Bader on September 16, 2008 · 52 comments
The current mortgage crisis came about in large part because of Clinton-era government pressure on lenders to make risky loans in order to “make homeownership more affordable for lower-income Americans and those with a poor credit history,” the DC Examiner notes today. “Those steps encouraged riskier mortgage lending by minimizing the role of credit histories in lending decisions, loosening required debt-to-equity ratios to allow borrowers to make small or even no down payments at all, and encouraging lenders the use of floating or adjustable interest-rate mortgages, including those with low ‘teasers.’”
Here's some more facts, JG, if you can handle them.
"The liberal Village Voice previously chronicled how Clinton Administration housing secretary Andrew Cuomo helped spawn the mortgage crisis through his pressure on lenders to promote affordable housing and diversity. “Andrew Cuomo, the youngest Housing and Urban Development secretary in history, made a series of decisions between 1997 and 2001 that gave birth to the country’s current crisis. He took actions that—in combination with many other factors—helped plunge Fannie and Freddie into the subprime markets without putting in place the means to monitor their increasingly risky investments.
He turned the Federal Housing Administration mortgage program into a sweetheart lender with sky-high loan ceilings and no money down, and he legalized what a federal judge has branded ‘kickbacks’ to brokers that have fueled the sale of overpriced and unsupportable loans. Three to four million families are now facing foreclosure, and Cuomo is one of the reasons why.” (See Wayne Barrett, “Andrew Cuomo and Fannie and Freddie: How the Youngest Housing and Urban Development Secretary in History Gave Birth to the Mortgage Crisis,” Village Voice, August 5, 2008).
And in closing,
"In 2005 the Republican Congress House GOP leaders put forward H.R. 1461 [109th]: Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2005. The bill would have stripped control of Fan & Fred from the Housing and Urban Development Department where Cuomo had turned it into a regulatory farce.The bill would also introduce advocacy provisions barring money from Fan & Fred being used as a slush fund for liberal lobbying organizations. Despite Democrat opposition to that measure the bill passed the House, but could not get a vote in the Senate even after the anti-lobbying provision was removed. It is wrong to say the Bush Administration did nothing."
Facts can be a bitch sometime.
Peter Fegan has a great blog called "The Spirit of a Progressive". Have a look when you have a moment or two. The guy is good!
http://www.spiritofaprogressive.blogspot.com/
Thanks Tom...It's nice to have a quasi-different perspective.
I just want to apologize to everybody for fabricating facts and having my head stuffed very far up my butt!
Friendly Troll "Deleting posts again?"
Posts disappear. It's ineffable.
Mary Mayhem "Can ya'll just ignore him please? This is supposed to be about Tyell, and he just wants to hijack the thread and make it about him…"
Oh, come on! You know damn well that Tyrell is involved!
Anonymous "The most incredible 'fact' he made was that over 50% of GDP is spent on the military." (emphasis mine)
{citation needed}
"Since the article was written in 1999, is there any way we can blame it on Dubya Bush, whose presidency started in 2001, for Fannie Mae's role in lowering the quality of home loans in the US which helped in causing the 2008 collapse?"
Again, how many mortgages that F/F gave were NINJA?
Just the Facts! "In 2005 the Republican Congress House GOP leaders put forward H.R. 1461 [109th]: Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2005...Despite Democrat opposition to that measure the bill passed the House, but could not get a vote in the Senate even after the anti-lobbying provision was removed."
122 Aye, 74 No is "Democratic opposition"?
"It is wrong to say the Bush Administration did nothing."
Cross out the "Bush" and you're closer. Dubya lobbied against it (ironically because it wasn't strong enough).
"Facts can be a bitch sometime."
Obviously.
Let me some up for you:
* 1977 - Carter enacts vicious [voluntary] legislation that forced good, wholesome banks to give mortgages to lazy negroes.
* 1997 - Cuomo forces Fannie/Freddie to give away free money to sneaky negroes. This forced private mortgage institutions to give away free money to even sneakier negroes.
* 1999 - Clinton enacts vicious deregulation that forced investment banks to bundle up mortgages, chop them up and sell them off to retirement funds, cities and nations.
* 2005 - Democrats prevent anybody from doing anything about Fannie/Freddie.
That's a remarkable timeline. I particularly like the gaps. And the complete lack of Republicans (including a total lack of them in either House or Senate that they controlled in 1999 when Gramm-Leach-Bliley passed, or when they couldn't stop Barney "The Powerhouse" Frank in the House/Senate that they controlled). And the [listed] fact that Carter's CRA-centered mortgages were so bad that they lasted at least 28 years.
Gee MOE, followed the links you provided and did not find any statements about Negroes there within. Are we to believe then, that those statements about "sneaky, lazy Negroes are yours and reflect your racist views?
I always thought racism was exclusive to the USA, never to be found in Canada.
Just the Facts! "Gee MOE, followed the links you provided and did not find any statements about Negroes there within."
That's the constant subtext. From the CRA to sub-prime, it's all Atwater (the CRA was brought in to minimize redlining, for God's sake). That you can't hear the dogwhistles doesn't mean that they aren't there.
"I always thought racism was exclusive to the USA, never to be found in Canada."
Who said that? Surely not me.
Also, since you linked a Brooks' column, here's the antidote. And, What Fannie-Freddie did do: Chase the market (not lead it).
Anonymous "So,MOE all that you said is true, about Negroes?"
Obviously. And by "obviously" I mean that if you think an African-American (or Mexican-American or illegal. Or anyone, really) could walk in to Countrywide, say "I've got no job, no credit, and I have no money" (and, if you prefer, add "and the government says you have to give me a loan"), and walk out with a $500K mortgage, your head is full of rocks.
...
"…I think the common misconception about all of this is that the reason all of these people were suddenly buying these houses was because the government was forcing banks to lend to all of these people. Exactly the opposite was true. These securitization practices were suddenly making it possible for banks to take that guy’s worthless loan and chop it up and disguise it as a triple-A rated security and sell it off to some fund in China or Holland. It’s basically like taking oregano and selling it as weed to somebody. They just found a way to do that, and as soon as they figured out they could get away with taking all these bad loans and selling them off to people who didn’t know what it was, then they suddenly started looking for people to give those loans to.” ~ Matt Taibbi
...
Wups. Replace "Countrywide" with "pre-1999 non-investment bank".
Anonymous, you incorrectly quoted me by stating...
"The most incredible "fact" he made was that over 50% of GDP is spent on the military."
I did? Please prove that I said 50% of GDP is spent on the military. I'll tell ya' what, birdbrain, there's fifty bucks in it for you if you can cite the post, the comment (with time-stamp), and can quote -- verbatim -- where I wrote that.
I challenge you, with one final caveat: that you pay me $50 if you can't find it. Are you up for it, or are you just another lying and mindless conservative? (I think the latter.)
Anonymous, I said...
"Are you up for it, or are you just another lying and mindless conservative? (I think the latter.)"
Actually, I think both.
So MOE you admit you are a racist and you believe the liberal democrats who passed these bills were behind the scheme that they and their banking buddies could make billions of dollars($)!
Now we are getting some where.
Just the Facts!, so you admit that you're a pedophile and that it was you who have Old Yeller rabies. Now we're getting somewhere.
"so you admit that you're a pedophile and that it was you who have Old Yeller rabies. Now we're getting somewhere." Nice try at deflection MOE but I have never called any dogs
"sneaky or lazy" much less posted same on a blog as you called all Negroes on this blog.
I'm not deflecting. Your "Ah ha! Gotcha!" was the answer to not-what-I said. I merely did the same thing back to you to show you what you did.
Again, the CRA was against redlining. The subtext, as I said, is that "those people"* got mortgages that "they" shouldn't have gotten. If you can't see that, you haven't been paying attention.
* "Those people" also includes Mexican-Americans and illegals, but that's incidental to the point.
MOE, what you said is racist, simply racist and no amount of explaining or trying to make what you said into to a joke will work.
You need sensitivity training, is that covered by your Canadian health care?
Just the Facts!, I wasn't joking, nor was I trying to make what I said in to a joke. I was, and continue to be, quite serious that the verbiage around the mortgage crisis bears the greasy sheen of Dogwhistle politics.
So, Anonymous, where can I pick up my $50?
In the fifties, it was communism. Now, it's terrorism. We just have to be afraid of something. Ok, everyone, be afraid on the count of 3. One, two, three. AAAAAAAAh!
MOE, you are a racist! To call African Americans NEGROES much less ""sneaky or lazy" Negroes is the height of Jim Crow old Southern Democrat code words.
You should be ashamed of your self and banned from this blog by its owner for your statements.
Just the Facts!, pointing out the subtext of the common Rightwing version of the Mortgage Crisis timeline by using the words that the Atwater dogwhistlers try so hard to say without actually saying ≠ racism.
Just the Facts! (aka Anonymous), you said to Modusoperandi...
"You should be ashamed of your self and banned from this blog by its owner for your statements."
No, but you should be for your stupidity.
P.S. Hey, where's my $50?!
JG, never bet you $50, guess you'll have to sell some more of your blood if you're out of cash.
That's how stupid you are.
MOE so Atwater used the words you did? Cant find it any where, maybe you can provide a source for your charge, RACIST!
Just the Facts!, you do know what an Atwater dogwhistle is, right?
Modusoperandi, as you and I already know, many conservatives -- in particular Just the Facts! -- are immune to the messages of figurative language. They tend to speak and read in monosyllabic words only, so the beauty of metaphors, symbols, analogies, similes, and irony are totally lost on them.
If it's not written in the form of a Dick & Jane primer, it's incomprehensible to them.
P.S. Hey Anonymous, have you found, yet, where you claim I said "over 50% of GDP is spent on the military"? It's been over 24 hours since I challenged you. C'mon, where is it? I'm waiting...
I do not know what an Atwater dogwhistle is. BTW how long has Atwater been dead?
Let me get this straight, according to JG when liberals speak racism it is just figurative speech, when conservative use figurative speech it is code for racist language.
Makes sense in my book, not.
Just the Facts! "I do not know what an Atwater dogwhistle is."
That's odd, because I already linked to the wikipedia page on the Southern Strategy, to the very section that includes Lee Atwater. For serious!
If you're just here to throw buns, I see little reason to continue this dialogue.
"BTW how long has Atwater been dead?"
Atwater didn't die, man. Atwater became Rove.
"Let me get this straight, according to JG when liberals speak racism it is just figurative speech..."
You're still missing the important detail. It's not my timeline. It's not my word. It's yours.
"...when conservative use figurative speech it is code for racist language."
Atwater: As to the whole Southern strategy that Harry S. Dent, Sr. and others put together in 1968, opposition to the Voting Rights Act would have been a central part of keeping the South. Now [the new Southern Strategy of Ronald Reagan] doesn’t have to do that. All you have to do to keep the South is for Reagan to run in place on the issues he's campaigned on since 1964 and that's fiscal conservatism, balancing the budget, cut taxes, you know, the whole cluster.
Questioner: But the fact is, isn't it, that Reagan does get to the Wallace voter and to the racist side of the Wallace voter by doing away with legal services, by cutting down on food stamps?
Atwater: You start out in 1954 by saying, "Nigger, nigger, nigger." By 1968 you can't say "nigger" — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "Nigger, nigger."[6][7]
"Makes sense in my book, not."
That's because you're:
1. Talking at us, not with us,
2. Not listening,
3. Not reading our links,
4. Not reading for comprehension,
5. Not arguing in Good Faith.
Moe,
Your time line, you post, your use of racist words.
"Facts can be a bitch sometime."
Obviously.
Let me some up for you:
* 1977 - Carter enacts vicious [voluntary] legislation that forced good, wholesome banks to give mortgages to lazy negroes.
* 1997 - Cuomo forces Fannie/Freddie to give away free money to sneaky negroes. This forced private mortgage institutions to give away free money to even sneakier negroes.
* 1999 - Clinton enacts vicious deregulation that forced investment banks to bundle up mortgages, chop them up and sell them off to retirement funds, cities and nations.
* 2005 - Democrats prevent anybody from doing anything about Fannie/Freddie.
Anonymous/Just the Facts!/etc, it's the Southern Strategy. It's your timeline. Your tactic, your timeline, your word.
We need to turn our feelings into actions. If we want to be noticed, this is one thing we can do. It's not easy though, but if we succeed we will be grateful.
Perhaps Indiana prosecutors do have a sense of humor — they ultimately agreed to drop the felony count altogether and to dismiss the misdemeanor in exchange for Morton doing community service and staying out of trouble. No word on what happened to the doll.
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