"Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
When a President's in trouble, he should turn to the good book . . . of "Godfather" dialogue.
In this case, I'm picking up on Peter Robinson's call for Obama to dump Geithner.
"Godfather II" shows us the way, with consigliere Tom Hagen telling capo-turned-rat Frankie "Five-Angels" Pentangeli it's time to go, for his family's sake . . .
HAGEN: “The Roman Empire... when a plot against the Emperor failed, the plotters were always given a chance to let their families keep their fortunes.”
PENTANGELI: “Yeah, but only the rich guys. The little guys got knocked off. If they got arrested and executed, all their estate went to the Emperor. If they just went home and killed themselves, up front, nothing happened.”
HAGEN: “Yeah, that was a good break. A nice deal.”
PENTANGELI: “They went home and sat in a hot bath and opened their veins, and bled to death. Sometimes they gave a little party before they did it.”
HAGEN: (Throwing away his cigar while Pentangeli's still puffing on his) “Don't worry about anything, Frankie Five-Angels.”
PENTANGELI: “Thanks, Tom. Thanks.”
Two points here:
(1) A more forceful President, not this one, would have demanded the Treasury Secretary's resignation right after the downgrade.
A more honorable Treasury Secretary would have beaten him to the punch -- since it was he who said that this wouldn't happen.
This ties into one my greatest complaints about modern politics: no one resigns, seemingly without their back to the wall, their options exhausted, or one step ahead of the law.
Can you name the last time a public servant did the honorable thing and resigned . . . because it was their idea -- not their boss's or attorney's suggestion?
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Jan '11
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
It takes the ability to admit things went wrong, or are going wrong.
They think they've done a good job. Maybe the better movie is Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry: "a good man's got to know his limitations."
Dec '10
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
I hate myself for saying it, but...R. Budd Dwyer?
Aug '10
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
I guess an early sign that this will happen is if the next time Geithner is being questioned in Congress he looks in the back of the room and sees his terrified brother sitting next to Rahm Emmanuel.
Dec '10
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
Bill Whalen
Can you name the last time a public servant did the honorable thing and resigned . . . because it was their idea -- not their boss's or attorney's suggestion?
Yeah, I can. It was in 2009, in Alaska. The incumbent Governor stood accused of a plethora of ethics violations, and even though she knew the charges were entirely bogus, she realized that the honorable thing to do was to step down and let Alaska have a full-time Governor rather than cling to office and rob the people of the time she would have had to spend on defending herself.
I marvel that no one sees this as an act of honor and decency. Instead, people rail about her being a "QUITTER!!!1!!eleventy!!"
Dec '10
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
Is resigning from the office of Secretary of the Treasury really at all like committing ritual suicide? At all?
Geithner, I understand, offered to resign but Obama refused his resignation -- one can't have 100 percent turnover on one's economic team and be regarded as even marginally competent. Had Obama accepted Geithner's resignation, it's likely Timmy would have landed within a month or two in a high-six-figures job in the private sector, being handsomely remunerated for his access if not his competence.
Aug '10
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
Hubris is in the house.
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
AmishDude
I hate myself for saying it, but...R. Budd Dwyer? · Aug 8 at 12:57pm
Cyrus Vance resigned as Secretary of State when Jimmy Carter ignored his advice and made an attempt to free the hostages.
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
Long ago, in September, 2009, I posted a piece on Powerline inspired by the fact that Charles Gasparino had reported in The New York Post that Jamie Dimon and the like had told him that Geithner and Larry Summers were complaining that they had virtually no input with regard to major policy decisions. In such circumstances, honorable men would resign. They didn't.
Apr '11
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
"...such is the tragi-comedy of our situation—we continue to clamour for those very qualities we are rendering impossible. You can hardly open a periodical without coming across the statement that what our civilization needs is more 'drive', or dynamism, or self-sacrifice, or 'creativity'. In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful."
- C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man ("Men Without Chests")
May '11
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
I view Geitner being more like Fredo. An idiot older brother who is basically incompetent. Maybe Obama should send him on a solitary fishing trip. Obama can supply the boat.
Dec '10
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
Stuart Creque: Is resigning from the office of Secretary of the Treasury really at all like committing ritual suicide? At all?
Geithner, I understand, offered to resign but Obama refused his resignation -- one can't have 100 percent turnover on one's economic team and be regarded as even marginally competent. Had Obama accepted Geithner's resignation, it's likely Timmy would have landed within a month or two in a high-six-figures job in the private sector, being handsomely remunerated for his access if not his competence. · Aug 8 at 1:09pm
My first real job was making pizzas. Timmy's first real job will net him in a year what decent folk make in a generation. Perhaps the progressives aren't entirely wrong about the unlevel playing field.
Edited on Aug 8, 2011 at 1:48pmAug '10
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
Aug '10
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
Maybe there is more to Barack and Tim"s relationship than just president/secy treasury and it's not about job performance, besides people in Barack's world have tenure.
from this article:
Ann (Obama mother ) ran a "micro-financing" project, financed by the Ford Foundation, in Indonesia's most vulnerable areas. Supervising the funding at Ford in the late '60s was Peter Geithner, whose son would eventually serve hers as U.S. secretary of the treasury.
May '10
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
I thought Rove fell on his sword after the Pubbies lost the House in 06...
Aug '10
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
Deven Sharma, the president of Standard and Poor's, has stated clearly and unequivocally that the downgrade resulted from insufficient cuts in spending-- not the political bickering, not the dark machinations of the Tea Party, not the Republicans' refusal to follow Dear Leader off the cliff-- INSUFFICIENT CUTS IN SPENDING.
Edited on Aug 8, 2011 at 4:40pmThe fault for this lies at Obama's door. Period. I've no doubt, however, that while the rest of the country-- and, indeed, the world-- is worrying about what happens next, that irresponsible, tantrum-throwing child in the Oval Office is concerned only about how he can avoid the blame.
I've suspected for some time that on his desk is a sign that reads "The buck stops with George."
May '11
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
Rumsfeld resigned (thank goodness) after it was clear that his over reliance on special forces cannot win wars, especially counter-insurgencies. When it was decided to use common sense and fight the insurgency in Iraq with simply larger numbers of people he resigned. Good riddance.
Feb '11
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
Not quite the same as a resignation as you mean it, but resigned to not being confirmed, Miguel Estrada withdrew his name from consideration.
Jan '11
Re: "Don't Worry About Anything, Frankie Five-Angels"
In such circumstances, frightened men would resign. All responsibility and no voice equal scapegoats. Why would they feel so comfortable in these positions?