by Karl Denninger
\nThe Market Ticker<\/p>\n
Seriously folks?<\/p>\n
You don’t understand why\u00a0The Ticker\u00a0<\/em>has faded to black?<\/p>\n REALLY?<\/strong><\/p>\n Let me start with this:\u00a0Why do drug dealers shoot each other on street corners?<\/strong><\/p>\n Answer: Joe the drug dealer cannot call the cops and tell them that Jack the drug dealer\u00a0ripped him off and sold him a bag of oregano<\/strong> instead of weed. \u00a0<\/em>Joe also can’t\u00a0sue<\/strong>Jack. \u00a0Thus, when the threshold of his tolerance is crossed Joe has only the use of\u00a0direct force<\/strong> available to him\u00a0because he has no recourse to the law to settle his dispute with Jack.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The FIRST foundation of civil society is The Rule of Law. \u00a0Without it there is\u00a0literally nothing\u00a0<\/em>other than the Law of the Jungle,\u00a0commonly known as “he who has the biggest teeth (or the most guns)\u00a0and is willing to use them first wins.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Let me remind you that Han Solo,\u00a0who is widely regarded through the Star Wars series as a\u00a0hero<\/strong>,\u00a0shot first\u00a0<\/strong>at Mos Eisley. <\/em>\u00a0George Lucas\u00a0edited\u00a0<\/em>that in the second release of the film (and later had to put it back after fan outrage)\u00a0but it is a fact that Han shot first in the original theatrical release.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>Why did Han shoot first and kill Greedo? \u00a0Because he knew there was no Rule of Law\u00a0and he had no recourse to the law,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>which incidentally was later proved to be an exactly correct expectation when he was made an ornament in Jabba’s castle.<\/p>\n Now I want you to stop reading, go get an adult beverage or a cup of coffee, and\u00a0think<\/strong> long and hard before you continue reading about the above.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n BECAUSE THE ABOVE IS THE ISSUE THAT, IF WE FAIL TO ADDRESS IT IN THE PRESENT TENSE, RUNS THE RISK OF RESULTING IN AN IRREVOCABLE SERIES OF EVENTS IN THIS COUNTRY UP TO AND INCLUDING POSSIBLE CIVIL WAR.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Did you go get your drink, consume it, and think?<\/p>\n Good — you may now continue.<\/p>\n This site was founded back in the early part of the financial crisis, spring of 2007 to be exact,\u00a0because the Rule of Law\u00a0<\/em>was being blatantly disregarded — specifically, with regard to “Prompt Corrective Action” and banks that were paying out dividends with\u00a0fictitious<\/strong> earnings.<\/em><\/p>\n Did anyone go to prison for doing that? \u00a0No.<\/strong><\/p>\n Did anyone go to prison for selling “good investments” to clients\u00a0that they described in their own internal emails and on recorded internal conference calls as “vomit” and “dog squeeze”? \u00a0<\/em>NO.<\/strong><\/p>\n Did anyone go to prison for\u00a0claiming\u00a0<\/em>to Congress (and all testimony to Congress is under oath) that they were “adding liquidity” to the system during the meltdown\u00a0when I found, in public records, that in fact over $60 billion was\u00a0pulled<\/strong> from the system into the maw of Lehman’s collapse? <\/em>\u00a0That facially appears to be perjury, incidentally.\u00a0The answer is again\u00a0<\/em>NO<\/strong>, and one of the people directly responsible (at the time the head of the NY Fed) was actually\u00a0rewarded\u00a0<\/em>for this act (among others) by being appointed to head the Treasury Department (Tim Geithner.)<\/p>\n Did anyone get prosecuted for the\u00a0felony\u00a0<\/em>of perjury in filing literally hundreds of thousands\u00a0<\/strong>of\u00a0knowingly false\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>documents in foreclosure actions across the country? \u00a0NO<\/strong>.<\/p>\n How many\u00a0hundreds of thousands\u00a0<\/em>of Americans lost jobs and homes as a direct result of this? \u00a0How many lives were\u00a0ruined? \u00a0<\/em>Now ask this:\u00a0How many people were made whole on the damage they suffered as a result of these acts,\u00a0all of which were facial violations of the law?<\/em><\/p>\n NONE.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It is\u00a0broadly illegal\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>to price-fix via\u00a0any<\/strong> mechanism where market power exists. \u00a0So says 15 United States Code, Chapter 1.<\/a> Go read it. \u00a0Virtually the\u00a0entire<\/strong> US Medical System operates on business models that are\u00a0facially in violation\u00a0<\/em>of that section of law. \u00a0The latest outrage is an\u00a0off-patent\u00a0<\/em>device called an “Epipen”<\/a> used for severe allergic reactions; if you need one and don’t have it you have a very good chance of dying<\/em>. \u00a0They cost about $60 10 years ago, and are about $100 today\u00a0anywhere else in the world. \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Except here in the United States — where they’re $400, and if you get on a plane, buy a bunch and bring them back to sell (to make a profit and undercut the price)\u00a0you go to prison. \u00a0<\/strong>The exact same sort of price-fixing\u00a0with the direct support of the US government and FDA\u00a0<\/em>is present in virtually\u00a0every<\/strong> area of medical practice — from drugs to devices to hospitals. \u00a0All of this facially appears to be illegal; were I to even have had a\u00a0discussion<\/em> with a competitor on fixing pricing when I ran my Internet company\u00a0that would have been a federal offense.<\/strong><\/p>\n How many people are\u00a0dead\u00a0<\/em>— broke — or\u00a0both<\/strong><\/em> as a direct result of these practices? \u00a0There is an entire\u00a0industry\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>that accounts for nearly one dollar in five spent on\u00a0all<\/strong> items in our economy and it has multiplied its share of spending by a factor of roughly\u00a0six<\/strong>\u00a0through the use of these tactics. \u00a0You, I and everyone else in the country are being overcharged\u00a0by a factor of five times<\/strong> as a result,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>it’s destroying the Federal budget and has or will destroy state and local budgets also.\u00a0You can’t run a car repair shop without quoting prices before you start turning wrenches and yet it is essentially\u00a0impossible<\/strong> to get a price, nor to bind the hospital to any figure they give you, for a procedure before it is done.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What did you see James Comey do in regards to Hillary Clinton and her “private” email server, on which she knowingly stored and transmitted classified information? \u00a0The head of the FBI – the nation’s top police officer<\/strong> –\u00a0stood at the podium and described, facially, a felony violation of the law, which I remind you does not<\/strong> require intent,\u00a0<\/em>and then said “no prosecutor would bring the case.” \u00a0Then<\/strong>, one business day later, he sat in Congress\u00a0and described\u00a0knowing\u00a0<\/em>that a\u00a0second felony violation of the law, perjury, had taken place in that he admitted he knew she had lied before Congress about ‘never’ having done so\u00a0and yet he insisted that he needed a “referral” to “investigate” said act.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n If you were being interviewed because the FBI thought you robbed a bank\u00a0and on your kitchen table was a bale of marijuana\u00a0<\/strong>do you think they’d need a “referral” to bust you for the weed? \u00a0You know damn well the handcuffs would be on you in seconds, so why weren’t they on Hillary?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Next,\u00a0if there was no\u00a0intent<\/strong> as Comey claimed he could not find\u00a0why did she lie repeatedly, both to the public and Congress, about the presence of classified information on her server? \u00a0<\/strong><\/em>You don’t\u00a0lie<\/strong> about something you aren’t trying to hide\u00a0and you don’t hide something that doesn’t incriminate you! \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Prosecutors argue this every single day before juries and get\u00a0thousands\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>of convictions every year on exactly that basis — the accused\u00a0lied<\/strong> about something they did and that lie\u00a0is evidence that they knew what they were doing was wrong as that’s the only reason to lie about it!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Another section of the same law\u00a0<\/strong>attaches liability to\u00a0anyone\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>who is involved in these acts and fails to report them. \u00a0That facially involves Bill and Chelsea Clinton as well as Hillary’s entire senior staff! \u00a0<\/strong>This issue is, again,\u00a0not\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>just limited to Hillary’s conduct. \u00a0As persons with security clearances (with the possible exception of Chelsea)\u00a0they all were aware of the law and their\u00a0positive\u00a0<\/em>obligation to immediately report any breach of security of classified information, and failure to do so\u00a0is a criminal offense.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Finally, contrary to Comey’s assertions (which were\u00a0also\u00a0<\/em>a lie, and since they were made to Congress\u00a0were also Perjury, a felony violation of the law<\/strong>) there indeed\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>people who not only have been\u00a0but are being<\/strong> prosecuted for quite-similar violations of the law with regard to classified data. \u00a0Specifically there are service members who have been\u00a0<\/a>arrested<\/em><\/a>, not just demoted or had their security clearances revoked,\u00a0for putting classified information on unauthorized devices. \u00a0<\/strong>One, Kristian Saucier, faces 20 years in prison; there is no apparent public evidence that this individual ever allowed anyone outside of trusted Navy circles to see the images. \u00a0Comey made the\u00a0blanket<\/strong> statement that the government does not prosecute people who do not give said information intentionally to our enemies; his statement before Congress was a\u00a0lie<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you believe this is a singular instance you have your head firmly planted somewhere that the sun never shines. \u00a0As yet another example out of literally hundreds I cite the recent shooting at\u00a0Pulse<\/em>; 50 people died. \u00a0The wife of the shooter has disappeared and the FBI has\u00a0pointedly refused\u00a0<\/em>to answer as to where she is, despite the fact that it has been disclosed that she drove the shooter to the club\u00a0and knew he was going to do it. \u00a0<\/em>That makes her an accessory just as you or I would be charged with murder if we drove our girlfriend or boyfriend to a bank to rob it and he or she shot dead a teller. \u00a0There are now reports circulating that this woman was allowed to flee the country and is in the Middle East where she cannot be extradited nor has she been indicted. \u00a0<\/em>Before you say\u00a0one more word\u00a0<\/strong>about how “blue lives matter”\u00a0you first have to account for and subtract back off the\u00a050 murders that didn’t matter\u00a0when we had someone who we could charge with them that was both alive and able to be arrested, indicted and prosecuted<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If I, as an ordinary person, fire a gun\u00a0I own every single round that comes out of the barrel\u00a0<\/strong>until it comes to rest. \u00a0Even if I am perfectly justified in drawing and firing that weapon if I shoot an innocent person\u00a0I remain responsible for the round that did not go where I intended it to and the results of same. \u00a0<\/em>Now contrast this with the police of\u00a0any<\/strong> stripe, who may fire\u00a0indiscriminately,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>emptying weapons containing\u00a0dozens\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>of rounds\u00a0even into targets that are facially wrong such as a pair of women in a truck when they are seeking a\u00a0man\u00a0<\/em>in California,\u00a0<\/strong>and yet they are\u00a0never<\/strong> held accountable for the damage those rounds do to either person or property.<\/p>\n How many people are\u00a0dead in Orlando not as a result of a terrorist\u00a0but rather due to the rounds fired by\u00a0police, along with their intentional 3+ hour\u00a0delay in entering the building? \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Where are the\u00a0manslaugher<\/strong>\u00a0(or felonious assault) charges for the persons who were hit with\u00a0wildly-sprayed\u00a0<\/em>rounds from police weapons during that breach? Why has there been\u00a0no\u00a0<\/em>accounting for those rounds and the persons killed by them? \u00a0Why is there\u00a0never<\/strong> any accounting for said rounds fired by the police\u00a0wildly and with outrageous disregard for innocent persons in the vicinity? \u00a0<\/em>You or I would be charged immediately<\/strong> for such a flagrant display of gross negligence, likely with multiple felonies.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now consider all of the above\u00a0flagrant<\/strong> violations of the law, all of which were observed by many officers of the law of all stripes — federal, state, county and local. \u00a0Exactly how many of said officers made an arrest and processing of said suspects (including other police officers, CEOs or politicians) for behavior they personally witnessed\u00a0<\/em>that was (and is) a facial violation of the law, turning over same to a prosecutor?<\/p>\n Effectively zero<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If that’s not enough the shooter in Dallas was cornered — “treed” if you will, isolated in a parking garage from which he could not escape. \u00a0Rather than wait him out\u00a0<\/strong>and arrest him, then go through this entire pesky “due process” thing including a trial and sentence\u00a0even though he was not presently shooting at anyone\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>the police instead mounted a\u00a0bomb<\/strong> on a robot and blew him up. \u00a0You got that folks? \u00a0Yeah, he was obviously guilty as hell\u00a0but if you catch someone having just killed your daughter and he’s cornered in your shed, either out of ammo or choosing not to shoot at that time,\u00a0you cannot blow the shed up rather than arrest him! \u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Due process of law? \u00a0What’s that? \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Boobus Americanus cheered that on too and yet what you just invited the\u00a0next guy to do is throw a grenade or make damn sure he has a really BIG bomb with him instead of surrendering when cornered! If one person has no right to due process of law THEN NEITHER DOES ANYONE ELSE — including the cops.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Folks,\u00a0all<\/strong> of what has gone on of late\u00a0is traceable and chargeable to the destruction of\u00a0The Rule of Law<\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0The destruction of millions of American’s financial status, their wealth, their freedom, their health\u00a0and frequently their very lives\u00a0<\/strong>are destroyed because\u00a0CERTAIN PEOPLE,\u00a0<\/strong>namely the rich, politically powerful, those wearing a “blue” costume of some sort or those who happen to run big corporations can\u00a0and do<\/strong>\u00a0whatever they wish and are simply\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>prosecuted for violations of the law that you, I, or anyone else would be\u00a0and are.<\/strong><\/p>\n When you back a bear into a corner it will attack you because it perceives that as the only remaining course of action that it has available to it\u00a0other than death.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n We\u00a0created the conditions under which drug dealers resort to shooting each other\u00a0because we made the consensual act of trade in and consumption of certain substances a crime,\u00a0<\/em>and by doing so\u00a0denied them any other recourse under the law for disputes among themselves.<\/strong><\/p>\n They are at fault for shooting at one another\u00a0but it is our responsibility because we\u00a0intentionally removed their recourse to the law.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n We\u00a0created the conditions under which millions of Americans, most of whom are\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>drug dealers,\u00a0believe they have no recourse to the law\u00a0<\/em>through our\u00a0willful and intentional acts\u00a0and then we sit still, swill beer and post on Facebook\u00a0<\/em>when the\u00a0fact\u00a0that ordinary Americans have no recourse to the law as soon as someone rich, powerful or wearing a costume who wants to screw them<\/em>\u00a0is shoved in our faces\u00a0instead\u00a0<\/em>of demanding that all of this crap stop.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0That message – “you have no recourse” –\u00a0<\/em>has been\u00a0driven in day after day as every “important person”, cop or company you care to name pulls some stunt that would result in anyone else\u00a0<\/em>facing down an\u00a0immediate felony indictment and walks away laughing<\/em> or, equally as bad, collects hugs, donuts and, for corporate executives, million dollar bonuses.<\/strong><\/p>\n Specifically, and in reference to recent events, it is our refusal\u00a0to demand that police officers be held accountable for\u00a0every\u00a0<\/em>round they fire just as is any other person.<\/strong><\/p>\n It is our\u00a0refusal to demand that those in political power\u00a0who perjure themselves are prosecuted\u00a0<\/em>while if\u00a0you lie you go to prison for obstruction of justice.<\/strong><\/p>\n It is our\u00a0refusal to demand that “law enforcement officers” who aid and abet someone who can facially be indicted for\u00a0multiple counts of murder\u00a0<\/em>“disappearing” be held accountable as accessories after the fact\u00a0and indicted themselves,<\/em>\u00a0never mind refusing to demand that our former Attorney General and current President who between them, along with dozens\u00a0<\/em>of other “sworn officers”,\u00a0knowingly armed\u00a0drug dealers also face indictment for\u00a0their\u00a0<\/em>acts.<\/strong><\/p>\n It is our\u00a0refusal to demand that the cops who claimed\u00a0<\/a>they had video footage of an innocent man shooting and plastered same all over the media<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>when they\u00a0knewthey did not be prosecuted for\u00a0intentionally causing him to be subjected to death threats and have his reputation destroyed\u00a0while if he had told the slightest untruth to said cops he would have been charged with obstruction, lying to investigators or both. <\/em>\u00a0Worse, instead of tendering that demand and sticking to it\u00a0we bring the cops donuts, pay for their lunches and post all sorts of laudatory crap on social media, cheering on the lies!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n It is our\u00a0refusal to demand that an officer who\u00a0claims\u00a0<\/em>to pull over a car for a broken tail-light\u00a0when both lights are clearly illuminated on the dashcam video\u00a0<\/em>and then\u00a0shoots said motorist be immediately<\/em>\u00a0brought up on murder charges<\/strong>\u00a0and as prime evidence of his guilt we use\u00a0his intentionally false statement that he was stopping the car for a broken taillight.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n It is\u00a0<\/strong>our\u00a0refusal to demand that police officers who\u00a0steal property under so-called “civil forfeiture” when they have no actual offense they can charge the owner with<\/em>\u00a0be prosecuted and imprisoned for\u00a0grand theft and the\u00a0entire department\u00a0<\/em>so-involved dismantled for\u00a0Racketeering<\/em>, exactly as you or I would be if we all got together and held people up at gunpoint claiming that they had committed some crime, stealing everything they owned.<\/strong><\/p>\n It is our\u00a0refusal to demand that executives in the medical and pharmaceutical industries face the music for conduct that facially appears to violate hundred-year old anti-trust laws that not only mandate a decade long prison sentence for said executives\u00a0they come with company-ruining fines\u00a0<\/em>big enough on a per-count basis to\u00a0destroy any corporation that pulls this crap.<\/strong><\/p>\n It is our\u00a0refusal to demand that\u00a0all\u00a0<\/em>of the “finance professionals” who sold\u00a0mathematically impossible\u00a0<\/em>schemes in the pension and insurance space to teachers, police officers, firemen and others go to prison and have their firms confiscated for promising that which is\u00a0impossible.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n And it is our\u00a0refusal to hold accountable\u00a0all in a given role who are aware of this rank corruption, have taken an oath to uphold the law and have violated that oath\u00a0<\/em>by either not doing their job directly\u00a0or sitting silently while others refuse to do so.<\/em> \u00a0It is illegal for a person to be associated with Daesh\u00a0even if they do not personally commit a terrorist act. \u00a0<\/em>Given that fact why can any member of a police force or other government agency, whether federal, state or local,\u00a0cover up or refuse to investigate\u00a0<\/em>blatantly unlawful behavior\u00a0without everyone involved in same being charged as co-conspirators when the law clearly defines that someone who acts as an accessory before or after the fact is\u00a0equally liable.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n