Childish or Churlish?

So by now we all have our own POV about Wall Street, financial reform and the current standing of the bank otherwise known as Goldman Sachs.

No matter what we may think or believe individually, what passes by in the public square never ceases to amaze.

The latest case in point comes courtesy of a private equity executive who probably will wish that he wasn't quite as candid as he was after reading today's New York Times' Dealbook column, http://http//www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/business/27sorkin.html?ref=business. Then again maybe he will simply rationalize the view deeper as fact. Who knows. Here's an excerpt:

"I don't want to use the word childish but...it's childish." That's how Kenneth Griffin, the founder of Citadel Investment Group described the Security Exchange Commission's decision to pursue a civil fraud case against Goldman for their role in creating a sub-prime investment that went sour...

Classic. I don't want to but will thanks to my vaulted position. But wait, it only gets better. Here's another excerpt (we strongly suggest reading the piece in its entirety for context.)

"...I think the Goldman case has clearly energized the Democrats with respect to passing the regulatory reform."

Fair enough. We're all entitled to an opinion. The fatal flaw in this type of thinking though is how it tends to create conspiracy theory. Follow the logic and see if you agree or disagree. By adding this last line, Griffin seems to be saying that the fact the SEC took this action means that political fallout and momentum behind reform legislation will increase. That may be the case, but by connecting two separate events, the belief now trickles into the widely mediated territory of fact. It also does not acknowledge any resemblance of fault by the original party, which in this case, is Goldman Sachs -- not the SEC or efforts to reform the system.

For another example that now seems like decades ago, consider the original case for the Iraq war, which unsuccessfully attempted to implicate Saddam Hussein with the 9/11 tragedy.

The gray area between fact and opinion is where efforts to solve a problem get horribly off track. To borrow an age old line, don't let facts get in the way of a good argument.

###