250px-Seppuku.jpgHaving grown somewhat bored of the “Obama Economic Superfriends Application Process Lacks Best Practices Diligence Guidelines” story for a while, but still unable to resist secretly reading Bloomberg stories on the topic, we came across a curious quote from Senator Charles Grassley. Specifically:

…executives at firms that seek government help need to take responsibility for “driving their corporations into the ground” and adopt a “Japanese ethic.”
“One of the things you do is, you either go out and commit suicide, or you go before the American public and you take a very deep bow and you say, ‘It’s all my fault and I’m sorry and I’m going to straighten it out.’ Or you might resign.”

Leaving aside for a moment a discussion of the effects a bushido code might have if adopted on Wall Street (but, by all means, please feel free to address this in comments), it is hard to argue that a few well placed acts of seppuku (and the cascading acts of oibara) wouldn’t have rather… interesting results on The Street.
Mixed emotions, dear readers. Like Larry Wildman going off a cliff… in my new Maserati.
A “Don’t Short Me, Bro” mug for the commenter coming up with the best “Death Poem” and name of kaishakunin for your favorite disgraced Wall Street luminary. Go.
Grassley Says Obama Team’s Vetting of Nominees ‘Too Rushed’ [Bloomberg]

Comments (76)

  1. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:04 PM

    too Harry – didn’t Caray

  2. Posted by Gordon Gekko | February 6, 2009 at 3:07 PM

    Sir Larry Wildman….Like all Brits (politicians) he thinks he was born with a better pot to piss in

  3. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:09 PM

    After apologizing and bowing deeply you then go home and cut your guts out with a sword. I have a nice one in my dresser … I’ll be more than happy to loan it to out failed executives.

  4. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:09 PM

    Death Knell Haiku
    Wall Street douchebag’s head
    Thain, will you not bend
    Lewis rusting bloody blade

  5. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:10 PM

    Haiku?

  6. Posted by Private | February 6, 2009 at 3:11 PM

    In this time of frosty fear
    My chosen path is hardly clear
    Apathy clouds my day to day
    Sinking emotions cause disarray
    These restless nights I cannot keep
    Lost beneath my blanket deep
    This darkness plagues my lust for life
    Each breathe I take is constant strife
    And so I’ve lost my motivation
    This soul retreats to hibernation

  7. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:12 PM

    Too squinty, didn’t see.

  8. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:13 PM

    Two words- You First

  9. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:13 PM

    got to meet the hottie with the million dollar body
    they say its over budget but you’d pay her just to touch it come on
    needs to hit the big screen and shoot a little love scene
    if hollywood had called her she’d be gone before ya had her come on
    pretty little lady with the pretty pink thong
    every sugar daddy hittin on her all night long.
    doesn’t care about the money she could be with anybody
    anybody ain’t it funny how the honey wanted you all along
    (you naughty thing)
    your ripping up the dance floor honey
    (you naughty women)
    you shake your ass around for everyone
    (your such a mover)
    i love the way you dance with anybody
    (the way you swing)
    and tease them all by sucking on your thumb
    your so much cooler when you never pull it out
    cuz you look so much cuter with something in your mouth

  10. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:14 PM

    Just a moment, is this the guy from the same government responsible for 9-11, Katrina, social security, Fannie, Freddie, thousands dead fighting the wrong war, medicaid, tax code…..
    He wants what again?
    The raw fucking hypocrisy makes me sick.
    Fuck it – Friday is finally here.

  11. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:16 PM

    Everyone’s a hypocrite. The Spendthrift Republicans of yore and are sounding very much Reaganesque right now.
    Pork is good and well, as long as it’s their pork.
    Washington is a joke.

  12. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:17 PM

    I once ran a bank, who with leverage
    Got drunk- like a fool with a beverage
    The House offered aid
    But gave me a blade,
    So, to our death we will bleed and will haemorrhage

  13. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:17 PM

    @5 FAIL

  14. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:18 PM

    @11 – “the same government responsible for 9-11″? Since when is Al Quaeda a government, and are you sure “this guy” is a member? Or perhaps he’s his osn sleeper cell?

  15. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:19 PM

    giant bonuses (5)
    are part of the salary (7)
    we don’t deserve them (5)
    TRB

  16. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:19 PM

    I think the knuckleheads in Congress should practice some bushido

  17. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:20 PM

    @17
    bullshito

  18. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:21 PM

    Leverage
    The branch bends
    House crumbles
    Ends

  19. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:21 PM

    Some of us Madoff
    But most of us were laid Off
    Which ones got paid off?
    LiboRob

  20. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:23 PM

    Haiku is for fags and chaz gasfags.
    ballsdeep

  21. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:23 PM

    Kaishakunin –> still trying to figure out what that is. I think kaishaku is suicide or death and nin is person, so suicide/death person? Anyone else know what that means?

  22. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:23 PM

    @20 wins.

  23. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:24 PM

    I am like a fish
    Gasping for one final breath
    In my east side pad
    I love to play with my rod
    But the returns were not reel

  24. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:24 PM

    Stan O’Neil fucked Mother Merrill
    He did it at his peril
    Cut your guts and heart, man
    Your Stan the man
    A kaishakunin you don’t deserve
    But Barney Frank agreed to serve.

  25. Posted by merkin capital partners | February 6, 2009 at 3:26 PM

    @11 9/11…Katrina…social security…wrong war..Medicaid.
    i never knew chuck was such a powerful force.
    Bin Laden, God, FDR, LBJ/Nixon, and LBJ again, are all really pissed at your comment.
    Tax code is total bullshit though.

  26. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:27 PM

    hey what ever happened to that $1 BB ponzi that markolopolous was going to expose the day after his testimony?

  27. Posted by BSD | February 6, 2009 at 3:27 PM

    @22 – it’s the friend who cuts off the head of the guy who just committed seppuko to spare him further pain and just finish him instantly. Meridith has been trying to be kaishakunin to Count Vikula, but he just wants to do it the hard way and bleed out.

  28. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:30 PM

    P(h)easants with pitchforks.

  29. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:30 PM

    @11
    How fucking ignorant can you possibly be? *responsible* for katrina, 9/11? Jesus christmas, we’re not talking about Poseidon here, we’re talking about a politcal party. If only the gov’t were powerful enough to summon hurricanes. Fuckwit. Responsible for social security? How? Responsible for Fannie & Freddie? How? Perhaps you should watch this:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL36nwCSYUM
    Frank Raines = outstanding. we do not have a crisis. Meeks should be strung up and beaten for his ignorance and condescension.

  30. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:30 PM

    there once was a man from lehman,
    got his bonus and was a-beamin’,
    til barack got picked,
    and his paycheck got dicked,
    and now he makes his money donating semen.
    SR

  31. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:32 PM

    play a hand of bridge
    take a bong hit of good dope
    let those hedge funds fail
    “we are starting to rebound”
    oops it all ended badly
    kaishakunin-Warren Spector

  32. Posted by BSD | February 6, 2009 at 3:33 PM

    They took away my jet,
    So I couldn’t pull a Cooper.
    Took on too much debt,
    Now I’m bleeding out the pooper.
    -Pandit

  33. Posted by StillNoCouch | February 6, 2009 at 3:33 PM

    As many have foretold,
    my excesses were quite bold.
    Now at home, I’m feeling quite old,
    Save it not, for my wonderful commode.
    My rug and my chairs,
    counting my expenses ? Why split hairs ?
    I needed that jet,
    and on that you can bet.
    Don’s ask me to repay,
    I still don’t have a job yet.
    JT

  34. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:33 PM

    Asset values rose
    I wanted to join in
    But then they went the other way
    Not the same as Lycan
    -Stan 0′Neil should have to use a spork

  35. Posted by BSD | February 6, 2009 at 3:34 PM

    They took away my jet,
    So I couldn’t pull a Cooper.
    Took on too much debt,
    Now I’m bleeding out the pooper.
    -Pandit
    Kaishakunin – Dollar Dominatrix

  36. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:35 PM

    Suicide?!?! FUCK. THAT.
    Japs have it all wrong, indeed
    I. Me. My. MINE. MINE!

  37. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:37 PM

    Oh Massive Failures
    For which we have created
    Home I masturbate

  38. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:37 PM

    For Dick Fuld, kaishakunin Gov. Schwarzenegger
    Fuld falls on face,
    Bags of money under eyes;
    Goldman wins again

  39. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:37 PM

    @28 Thanks, that makes sense

  40. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:42 PM

    Rumor Mongering
    We were well capitaliz’d
    Verily, I bleed.

  41. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:43 PM

    For Dick Fuld, kaishakunin Gov. Schwarzenegger
    Fuld falls on face,
    Bags of money under eyes;
    Goldman wins again

  42. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:46 PM

    There once was a great man named Bernie
    Who is reaching the end of his journey
    I idolized Fonzi
    So I set up my Ponzi
    Now my brethren want to put me in a gurney

  43. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:48 PM

    @21…Classic! “So there I was…”

  44. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:50 PM

    TARP money is fake;
    Why don’t they just give us coal?
    Save Santa the work.

  45. Posted by miami | February 6, 2009 at 3:53 PM

    Do not stand at my grave and weep,
    I am not there, in Vegas asleep.
    I am a thousand winds that gate.
    I am the diamond glint on hate.
    I am the contango on ripened grain.
    I am the fish in autumn rain.
    When you wake up long the soy crush,
    I am the swift, uplifting rush
    Of quiet birds in circling flight.
    I am the Bloomberg glow at night.
    Do not stand at my grave and weep.
    I am not there, I do not sleep.
    Do stand at my grave and JO&C.
    I am not there, I did not die!

  46. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:55 PM

    @46 – Nice Dr. Seussian work there.

  47. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 3:55 PM

    Death Poem for Dick Fuld: kaishakunin Governor Paterson…. could be a long and ugly process.
    Each Christmas past, all clients got, a stocking filled with Coal.
    Tricky Dick had convinced them all, this would become the world’s new Gold.
    He took this coal and sliced it up, making the finest house of cards;
    Filling up his bonus pools, creating I-banking stars.
    The rating agencies, they got their share,
    But Fuld got the dog and they got but a hair.
    Now the curtain has been lifted, the game gone and crashed,
    And we all know for sure, this paper was but trash…
    Put into trash cans Agencies said, ‘are AAA, yes are quite sturdy’,
    All the players had full pockets, and hands fully dirty.
    The gig is up, destruction reigns, and it’s amazing now to think,
    How these people at the top, have not ended in the clink.

  48. Posted by miami | February 6, 2009 at 3:56 PM

    ‘name of kaishakunin for your favorite disgraced Wall Street luminary’
    Einhorn + Callan.

  49. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 4:06 PM

    my profits, a sham.
    took the money and a-ran.
    now stuck in penthouse.

  50. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 4:08 PM

    Hey 30 eat me. I could become really ignorant reading your screed – SS is in great shape – Katrina aftermath – your gov., Freddie, Fannie – your gov., with all the fucking technology billions of $$ can buy they missed 9/11
    Wake up fuckhead.
    Or do you subscribe to “if you don’t like this country leave”
    Keep on drinking baby

  51. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 4:08 PM

    Goldman repays TARP
    Rules no longer apply there -
    Nightmare or wet dream?

  52. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 4:16 PM

    Death by mbs
    sharp sword easier to swallow
    than not making rain

  53. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 4:25 PM

    jebus christ hates all of you.
    Evil KneKneal.

  54. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 4:40 PM

    Minus forty percent is
    The new kickin’ it you see
    The public are dumb

  55. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 4:40 PM

    Death Poem for John Thain, Kaishakunin being Ken Lewis
    The birds would come to the roof,
    Of this mighty banking empire,
    Watching the people beneath,
    Profit: their only desire.
    On seeds, the birds grew fat and old,
    Given by the bankers below,
    So when the news broke: “the bank had been sold”,
    It came as a blow.
    The birds wondered,
    Who would feed them now?
    And when the story to was told,
    The seeds were no more,
    So the birds left by the score.
    And when the last bird flew away,
    Just a tiny little Finch,
    So fell the curtain,
    On the bank once known
    As Merril Lynch.
    NF

  56. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 4:48 PM

    Our financial system is a joke
    So pull out that final smoke
    Lately I’ve been watching survivor man
    So I can live when the Sh*t hits the fan
    It’ going to suck when all our bank accounts show zero’s
    Thank God I bought all those Amero’s

  57. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 5:04 PM

    Did you see the episode where SM was on a beach and used a large fallen tree trunk as shelter, started a fire for the night and then next day video-ed himself talking about how the fire set his tree-trunk roof on fire? Hilarious.

  58. Posted by NAS Keflavik boi | February 6, 2009 at 5:22 PM

    Insurance giant!
    A lifetime’s work piss’d away;
    Credit Default Swaps.
    kaishakunin – Hank “the Spank” Greenberg

  59. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 6:00 PM

    I the mighty Sandy from Citi
    So much weight is on my shoulders
    But for me there is no pity
    I’m getting stoned with boulders
    As this is now my very sad end
    Raise the alert level to orange
    And to those who want me to bend
    Fuck you! Nothing rhymes with orange

  60. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 6:03 PM

    Stocks fall like cherry blossoms
    Many yen float down river
    A margin call sings.

  61. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 6:21 PM

    With rue my heart is laden
    For fat bonuses I had,
    With praise from rose-lipd analysts
    They thought I was Jack the Lad.
    In banks too broke for saving
    The trader boys are laid,
    And defunct I-Bankers sleeping
    In drawers where assets fade.
    -With apologies to Houseman

  62. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 8:29 PM

    There once was a man from nantucket,
    who had so much cash he said fuckit,
    then along came obama,
    made ‘tucket man run to his momma,
    crying “we had to cancel the junket”.

  63. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 8:36 PM

    @61, nice.

  64. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 8:49 PM

    Lol. Only in America would smne think he needed to put the number of syllables ok each line of his haiku. We are n deep shit LOL

  65. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 9:03 PM

    So much depends
    on the red wheelbarrow
    glazed with rain
    beside the white chickens

  66. Posted by guest | February 6, 2009 at 9:03 PM

    Snip from latest piece just posted now:
    ‘Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis Should Shut His Pie Hole’
    “He’s still incredibly out of touch with the American people. Listen early on as he says that $500k in salary is ok. That he’ll make do. Ken, some advice, before you open your pie hole again: remember that the average taxpayer earns less than $40k in this country and most work just as hard as you. Plus none of them has billed taxpayers for $45 billion nor requested a $120 billion guarantee on shit assets, nor did any of them give Merrill $15 billion to spend on bonuses. You are unique in your achievements.
    And yet you still have a job (seriously wtf?), for which we are paying you $500k. I just contemplated that sentence. Why are you being paid at all for 2009? You should have been shit-canned months ago for driving BAC into the ground with the 2 most ill-conceived bank purchases of the last decade.”
    http://dailybail.com/home/2009/2/7/bailout-cnbc-bank-of-america-ceo-ken-lewis-should-shut-his-p.html
    includes cnbc video from today.

  67. Posted by guest | February 7, 2009 at 10:21 AM

    67, you’re still hawking your populist blog on DB??? Yahoo finance. Heard of it?

  68. Posted by guest | February 7, 2009 at 3:22 PM

    Did DB steal this idea from Blue Jersey?
    http://www.bluejersey.com/tag.do?tag=haiku
    Oh the humanity!

  69. Posted by guest | February 7, 2009 at 3:37 PM

    dimon lewis mack
    the never ending winter
    and the coming crash

  70. Posted by american bandersnatch | February 8, 2009 at 7:59 AM

    The old world quakes
    BSDs scream and stagger
    Dimon hard avenger

  71. Posted by american bandersnatch | February 8, 2009 at 8:01 AM

    The old world quaking (5)
    BSDs scream and stagger (7)
    Dimon hard vengeance (5)

  72. Posted by american bandersnatch | February 8, 2009 at 8:42 AM

    One more:
    Five hundred thousand? (5)
    For this I lost Old Lane and (7)
    Tranches of my soul (5)
    Meredith to provide the coup de grace

  73. Posted by guest | February 8, 2009 at 11:18 AM

    you suck at haiku.
    pandit sucks teat.
    lewis knows not what he sucks.
    35 best financial stories from this weekend so far, plus bailout comedy. all in one link.
    2 from Dealbreaker and EP made the cut.
    http://bit.ly/CL38

  74. Posted by guest | February 8, 2009 at 12:03 PM

    I saw him emerge from the town car
    right foot first
    it looked like the maw of a rabid dog
    but I said to myself:
    at least he has at least half his hair
    maybe
    at least he has a black card
    maybe
    MANhattan has been castrated
    Wise men don’t build their own monuments
    They do good and leave that shit to the people

  75. Posted by guest | February 8, 2009 at 7:45 PM

    MBA from Wharton.
    10 years with McKinsey.
    I know nothing.

  76. Posted by american bandersnatch | February 9, 2009 at 1:25 PM

    @76 -Nice

Leave a comment

You can log in with your account or comment as a guest below.