I want Whatever Christopher Cox is Drinking (Snorting, Shooting, etc.)

After presiding over the greatest loss of wealth in the history of man, having metaphorically fiddled while Rome burned, and having stood impotently, mouth agape, watching the epic meltdown of the world's financial markets, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox is quoted in today's Washington Post as saying the following:

 What we have done in this current turmoil is stay calm, which has been our greatest contribution -- not being impulsive, not changing the rules willy-nilly, but going through a very professional and orderly process that takes into account unintended consequences and gives ample notice to market participants," Cox said. This caution, he added, "has really been a signal achievement for the SEC.

Holy shit!  If I can channel my inner Olbermann, might I just say, catatonia is neither a strategy nor a policy, sir!  Standing dumb founded and thunder struck in the midst of disaster does not bring credit upon you or your agency. 

And then pure delusion sets in:

Cox said the SEC's emphasis on enforcement is as strong as ever. "We've done everything we can during the last several years in the agency to make sure that people understand there's a strong market cop on the beat," he said. "That's why Madoff is such a big asterisk," he added. "The case is very troubling for that reason. It's what the SEC's good at. And it's inexplicable."

He also characterizes his biggest mistake as having allowed a three-week ban on short selling.  This is like the Captain of the Titanic saying after the ship hit the iceberg, "you know, my only regret is that subpar chocolate mousse that we served at dinner last night."  I mean - What.The.Fuck? 

Read the whole thing.  Here it is once again in classic form -- your conservative Republican -- immune to reality even after it has dropped a grand piano from a great height upon him.

Comments

[ballgame]

So ... apparently Mrs. Lincoln did enjoy the play ... for the most part.

[Sir Charles]

ballgame,

You almost made me snort my delicious mulled cider and rum concoction through my nose.

Or as Cox might have put it -- but for the performance of one J.W. Boothe, the cast performed admirably in all important respects . . .

Merry Christmas!

[Marcin Tustin]

Sir Charles,
Apposite as your chocolate mousse metaphor is, what regulations, specifically, would you liked to have seen enacted? It's not obvious that anything less than radical innovation in regulation, probably requiring primary legislation, would have been able to have even ameliorated this crisis.