Wow.
A girl just walked past my door panting, "Oh my god....Brittany....guess what....I was watching Wheel of Fortune and this girl....SHE HAD THE SAME DRESS I HAVE!"
Oh, college. You promised sanctuary from such people. How you dissapoint.
Anyways, Jim Cramer.
He went on the "Daily Show" last Thursday and, in a replay of the Stewart-Crossfire incident 5 years ago, was exposed as a media hack who not only shunned his journalistic duties but had a role in the economic collapse. So his television career is screwed.
And I'm not sure how I feel about that.
On one hand, he's a reckless prick. His show encouraged short selling, where you buy stocks and quickly sell them for a higher price soon after. I THINK that's what it is. Anyway, he helped convince viewers to buy into these lucrative yet high risk stocks that brought on the recession.
If you've never seen Kramer's show "Mad Money," watch it. Or watch a clip via youtube; it might not be airing on CNBC much longer. It's so frickin bizarre. The set might have been designed by Nickelodean, or maybe it was borrowed from the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 people. There's big red buttons; they make noises. There's flashing lights, loud red bits of plastic. And yet Kramer manages to act gautier than his surroundings. He hobbles about the stage, sleeves rolled up, eyes pulsating, forehead sweating, face reddening.
It's a winning format: an accesible, entertaining stock market show that makes investing short and easy. Don't research where your money's going, just listen to Cramer.
He's ace at what he does.
He really is. Want proof? Jane Sherman. She's Brian's mom (a friend from home.) WASPY, blond, lock jawed, conservative, always clad in golf wear or inconspicous formal attire, she would sit in the sunroom of the family's white-washed lakehouse (complete with gym and wine cellar) in a white wicker sofa surrounded by stacks of Wall Street Journals and a TV- on which Mad Money would play.
It was funny. Partly due to her reserved disposition, but mainly because we all knew SHE knew her shit, having managed a Los Angeles investment firm in the 80's. Why spend time with Cramer? "Because he REALLY know his stuff. He's it," she'd respond.
Cramer isn't just some cheap layman's sage. He's revered amongst the elite, regarded as one of the best analysts and financial reporters out there. And yet he dedicates his time to a program that promotes lazy entrepreneuralism. It asks the viewer to buy without asking why, because it's easier that way, because Cramer says so.
Here's where Stewart was pissed. Cramer, Stewart said, failed his responsibilities as a financial journalist. He steered his viewers away from the bigger picture and focused on specifics that might make them rich. Worse yet, those "specifics" were risky buys, the ones that led to the collapse. Stewart went as far as accusing Cramer of erroding the work ethic of Americans, by fostering an environment in which a game of economic roullette outweighed the value of real work.
It was intense. And while Stewart did a fantastic (and neccesary) job of reprimanding Cramer, using the Daily Show's arsenal of archival footage to expose the man as a coniving twit, I can't help but ask, was it fair?
Cramer did, after all, have the guts to come on the show, to participate in a real dialogue between Wall Street elitist and outsider, and to publicly accept his share of the blame for the meltdown. His decision was a far cry from the behavior exhibited by bank CEO's and investment guru's since October, who've isolated themselves from the public in an effort to avoid blame or worse, continue to operate under the delusion that their methods need not be altered.
The interview's ramifications won't be good for Cramer. His credibility lies in ashes. His show will be off the air soon as a result. Sure, he has blood on his hands. But it's unnerving that he's the only one who seems to be paying for his actions. Or ever will. Thing is, after Stewart's interview, the likelihood of other wrongdoers sitting down with serious, probing journalists seems grim.
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