Wall Street To Congress "You Can't Handle The Truth"

The guys over at Themis Trading had a funny note on yesteday's tongue lashing of the Wall Street excutives on Capitol Hill. They said they were rooting for just one of these financial titans to take on the persona of Jack Nicholson's Colonel Jessup from A Few Good Men, and tell our lawmakers "the truth!"

You can't handle the truth!

Son, we live in a world that has leverage, and that world needs to have men that make loans. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Congressman Frank?

I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for homeowners and curse the bankers. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that the taxpayer TARP money, while tragic, probably saved the economy, and that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves jobs.

You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties you want me taking on risk, you need me taking on risk...

I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a politician who has taken sweetheart loans, and consistently rubberstamped these questioned practices, and then questions my business practices..

I would rather you just said "thank you," and went on your way."

Themis Trading closed saying "Enough of the silliness. Time to do the people's business and not waste anymore time grandstanding and pontificating about the past."

We agree.

Among those executives that testified yesterday were: J.P. Morgan's (NYSE: JPM) Jamie Dimon, Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC) Ken Lewis, Citigroup's (NYSE: C) Vikram Pandit, Morgan Stanley's (NYSE: MS) John Mack, Goldman Sachs' (NYSE: GS) Lloyd Blankfein, Wells Fargo's (NYSE: WFC) John Stumpf, State Street's (NYSE: STT) Ronald Logue and Bank of New York Mellon's (NYSE: BK) Robert Kelly.

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