Mish responds to Mike Whitney’s article which I posted yesterday, Was Dominique Strauss-Kahn Trying to Torpedo the Dollar? Mish strongly rejects the idea that DSK’s downfall was aided or assisted by political enemies, and he brings up a good point – which is a problem I had with Mike’s theory – Geithner, and the Fed, are actively trying to devalue the U.S. Dollar.
I disagree with Mish’s comment that "To presume the innocence of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, presumes his accuser is guilty of a crime." Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty (and the standard is beyond a reasonable doubt). The accuser is not being accused of a crime. In a he-said/she-said situation, there may be plenty of reasonable doubt on both sides – in which case, no one is likely to be judged legally guilty of either the crime, or of making false accusations. Nevertheless, I think Mish, Mike and I all agree that DSK has the right to a fair trial. Additional information that comes out in the trial will likely clarify many gaps in the sketchy narrative of the story. – Ilene
Conspiracy Garbage on Zero Hedge
Courtesy of Mish
Day in and day out there are a number of excellent articles on the site Zero Hedge. Moreover there are a number of authors on the Zero Hedge site that consistently write excellent article after excellent article.
I will even volunteer a name in that latter category. Bruce Krasting writes consistently good articles. Krasting is one of the reasons I read Zero Hedge.
However, I am sick of people who take every idea and make a conspiracy out of it. Enough is enough.
I draw the line with this inane defense of Dominique Strauss-Kahn: Was Dominique Strauss-Kahn Trying to Torpedo the Dollar?
I will not excerpt the article so as to introduce cherry pick bias.
Instead I suggest the number of people that have stepped forward speaks for itself. This is not a case where the accused is accused out of the blue by a single person. This is a case where there is a massive amount of pre-existing information.
Moreover, and more to the point I agree with Mike Whitney, the author of that piece of nonsense, that Dominique Strauss-Kahn deserves a fair trial.
Everyone deserves a fair trial. However, "fair trial" does not mean trumping up sheer idiocy and conspiracy nonsense in his defense.
Moreover, as long as we are discussing "fair trial" I would like to point out one simple fact. It is a crime to make false accusations. To presume the innocence of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, presumes his accuser is guilty of a crime.
Perhaps she is. Perhaps not. However, no one needs to grasp at straws in defense of DSK as Mike Whitney did.
This is one of the problems of aggregation sites. There is not a consistent point of view. One day one author says stock market will rise, the next day another author says the stock market will fall.
We are supposed to believe both?
Zero Hedge consistently trumps up the idea "you heard it here first". Given that various authors on the Zero Hedge site express wildly contradictory opinions, the idea "you heard it here first" is undoubtedly true by definition.
If you want to be an aggregator, then be one. But don’t express an aggregation as a "call".
Worse yet, every extreme point of view from hyperinflation to deflation, from attacking DSK to Defending him is all portrayed on Zero Hedge with the same "it’s going to happen" mentality.
Here’s the deal: If you throw up enough conspiracy garbage, some of it bound to happen, no matter how ridiculous it is.
DSK may be found "not guilty" but let’s stop the nonsense that DSK was setup because he was trying to "Torpedo the Dollar".
Not everything is a conspiracy, and right at the top of the list is Whitney’s "Torpedo the Dollar" theory. In fact, given the Fed clearly wants a lower US dollar, the idea that the US would setup someone in the opposite direction is blatantly preposterous.
Aggregation sites that accept every piece of complete silliness offered, are subject to this kind of scathing attack.
