I’ve written several articles skewering HBO for producing political projects destined to air immediately prior to the 2012 election, where the vast majority of the cast and crew are passionate Barack Obama supporters, and where the content is aimed at the Democrat’s two favorite Republican villains: Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney. So, when I sat down to watch HBO’s Too Big to Fail, I prepared myself for the worst. What I didn’t expect was the big surprise awaiting me.

Too Big to Fail, which premieres on HBO on May 23, 2011, features a star studded cast recounting the events that led to the financial crisis and bailouts by the U.S. government in 2008. It is a mini-series packed into a 98-minute made-for-television movie where several essential characters are quickly introduced and where finance and economics are casually discussed. It may help if one has a baseline of knowledge about the crisis before watching the movie. If one doesn’t know who Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, and Timothy Geithner are or what Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, and AIG are, it may prove slightly difficult to follow.

Although the Director, Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile), was limited to telling a very long and complicated story in a very short amount of time, he was able to skillfully pull it off. Perhaps this is because the screenwriter, Peter Gould (Breaking Bad), deftly adapted Andrew Ross Sorkin’s 2009 prize winning New York Times Bestseller, Too Big to Fail. (more…)

The narrative currently being written by the new left posits that opposition to their attempts to reform health care is fueled by political impotence, crackpot extremism and racism. Alas, elected officials demonstrating contempt for the people they represent has sadly become the rule rather than the exception. Calling the American people Nazis and fools may make a more compelling story than the truth, but it will not alter the fact that Americans simply do not want the expensive, top-heavy government healthcare boondoggle currently being stuffed down their throats.

The new left is always convinced they are the smartest folks in the room. We hear some version of their arrogance all the time: they know better how manage our retirement dollars; they know better how to manage private industry, they know better how to deliver health care. The American people may be many things, but contrary to the tale being spun by the new left, they are not a bunch of dull-witted penny stinkers. Even when our math is poor our noses can smell a pile of political doggy doo a mile away. (more…)

In “The Last Undercover” I chronicle my three year infiltration of NAMBLA, the North American Man Boy Love Association. I allude to another undercover investigation but do not discuss it in detail because criminal prosecution is still pending. So while posing as a pedophile I also spent three years targeting a Chinese criminal syndicate. Since I only had one undercover cell phone, when it rang I didn’t know if I was supposed to be the lover of prepubescent boys or a macho international arms dealer. The FBI dubbed the investigation OPERATION SMOKING DRAGON and it was a great case. By the time we wrapped it up more than thirty federal indictments (with multiple defendants) were returned.

The investigation included charges of conspiring to sell surface-to-air missiles, the sale of counterfeit currency, clothing, and cigarettes. It also included counterfeit postage stamps…yep, the Chinese were counterfeiting our 37 cent postage stamp (I’m sure now they are doing the Forever Stamp but all my connections are in federal prison so I guess I’ll have to pay for them like everyone else). I obtained hundreds of thousands of the counterfeit flag stamps packaged 100 to a roll. One postal inspector told me it was one of their largest seizures ever. I say all that because last week I had an issue with the post office and my “celebrity” status apparently carried no weight.  (more…)

I went to the post office today.  I know, there was no way to avoid it, I’d rather have a root canal, but I had to mail this very large package.  So I’m standing in this long line…watching as the three pleasant but weary postal workers attended, very slowly, to the customers.  Each new customer was greeted with a forced-pleasant, “Hi, how are you?” and then attended to the customer’s request.  This one had three odd-sized packages.  That one wanted to buy some of those new stamps.  Another wanted to send a registered letter.  The line slowly moved along.

On the up side, it gave me a chance to study all the people in line.  An occupational habit, I study people wherever I go, particularly when I’m a captive to some long, slow-moving queue.  The line moved so slowly, in fact, that I had the opportunity to memorize what all 32 line-standers were wearing, the color of their hair, the shape of their faces, my best guess at their ethnicity, their height….and as I was starting to indulge myself with guessing each person’s weight and how I would do working at a carnival, my thoughts began to wander.  (Did I mention the line in the post office moved very slowly?) (more…)