This is what happens when a journalist actually asks a banker a question.

[Seedersandleechers]

?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Warpy]

1. Yes the banker babbles, gibbers, and obfuscates.

He might almost have been trained in US politics.

[dcmfox]

12. You got that from me. :)

I put it on LL

[dionysus]

2. damn!

That guy is awesome.

[Demo_Chris]

3. That's journalism! Thanks for posting this!

[LonePirate]

4. If only the US had a journalist with an ounce of that man's determination and grit.

American journalists are too afraid of offending their corporate masters or losing access. The American media needs to start serving the public and doing their job like this good man, who should be a national hero in Ireland.

[JHB]

6. Part of it is probably the forum that was in...

...a place where he was considered to have every right to persistently questions the guy over his non-answer. There was no expectation that the banker could just "let the clock run out" and move on to something else.

[pa28]

5. Depressing. I'm 42 and old enough to remember journalists like this in the US.

Try this now and you get marginalized or fired. Soledad O'Brien is the latest example.

[Blue_Tires]

19. +1

[ljm2002]

7. Yes it's what I call "corporate-speak"...

...where the person responds to the question but doesn't address the actual question asked. In this case, the reporter wanted to know why the Irish people were being held responsible for paying back money that they were not a party to, and the "answer" was that it was, ah, a hard decision and we understand you may not like it but it's the decision that was made (I am of course paraphrasing). So he never even came close to answering the question asked, but he and his female sidekick claimed the question had been answered and "Can we please move on now".

Oh for the days when we had reporters who would latch onto a question and insist it be answered.

[caseymoz]

15. In mental health, it's called "word salad."

Normally a symptom of schizophrenia. In this case, the syntax is broken

[ljm2002]

17. Except that in corporate-speak...

...it is not a symptom of mental unbalance, it is purely intentional. The intent is to obfuscate and confuse and do anything rather than communicate directly and truthfully. And the reason they have this intent is to press things to their own advantage. It is very calculated, and you will see not only politicians doing it but also corporate spokespeople. They have honed it to a fine art and they count on the people listening to not be critical thinkers and to not challenge them.

In fact, we have gotten to the point that if one of our MSM reporters were to press the point like this Irish gentleman did, it would be considered rude of him to do so. That would probably be the news story, if the critical questioning ever saw the light of day at all.

[caseymoz]

18. He didn't quite succeed in corporate-speak, though.

If I had to judge his "artistry." His stammered, babbling reply and insistence on "I answered the question" wasn't smooth. Yes, that was his answer, and he's sticking to it.

[ljm2002]

23. Yes on that we agree! n/t

[ReRe]

8. Sen Warren had a banker....

...doing the same thing up in the Senate about a month ago. Mumble, mumble, mumble, er, uh, mumble. If you do get a response from them, it's unintelligible. Just a bunch of random words that don't don't resemble a sentence. Bablng idiots. That's all they are. Guilty babling idiots, just like a child lying about having his hand in the cookie jar, while his hand is IN the cookie jar.

[hibbing]

9. love it

Hi,
And to think that here asking a Vice Presidential candidate of one of the two major parties what magazines or newspapers she reads is characterized as a "gotcha question".

Peace

[vanlassie]

10. And why did that banker have to get protection from the woman next to him???

[Spitfire of ATJ]

11. Ask a simple question,...get treated like the simple question means that you are a simpleton....

I hate these pompous, arrogant thieves.

His ANSWER when you listen boils down to this:

The banks promised rich people a big return that didn't happen and now the Irish People need to give the banks the money so the rich people will like the banks again.

They don't CARE if it results in the Irish People HATING the banks or the rich. It's the DUTY of the Irish People to see to it the rich are happy.

[2naSalit]

13. An absolute

crock of poo...!

[Snarkoleptic]

14. "Can we please move on?"

That's the best they can do?
This is what it looks like when the oligarchy wantonly extracts money from the masses.
Unreal!

[YOHABLO]

16. Yes, it's always "Can we please move on?" or ''we'll have to leave it here'' God I hate these ..

people. Mainstream journalism is dead. There is no upsetting the ''powers that be'' or off with your head. The minute you chastise corporate America, you are applying for unemployment.

[tsuki]

20. Hey, it's my view also.

[Whisp]

21. master thieving fucking scuzzbucket. n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

22. His (non-)answer was appalling

The journalist is quite right in emphasizing that these were unguaranteed bonds on a defunct bank. Unguaranteed: that means you can lose everything, including all your principle. Period. End of story. So, the Euro banks take out unguaranteed bonds on a some Irish bank. Why did they take out these kinds of bonds? For the higher interest rate, of course. if your bond is riskier, you pay a higher interest rate. But here, they get the higher interest rate without any of the risk, since the taxpayer has to swoop in and pay off the bonds anyway.

That's what's so galling about all these bail-outs: the bankers literally fuck you coming and going. They fuck you on the front end by insisting that you are a risky investment, and thereby jacking up your interest rate. This method was perfected in the neo-colonialism of so-called "Third World" debt throughout the 1970's, 80's, and 90's: charge Argentina a high interest rate to borrow, and then they have to keep taking bonds to pay off the last one, and then you jack up the interest rate on every new bond issue. Why is the interest rate so high? In the logic of finance, the interest rate is high because you may default. You pay more for money because the lender is scared you won't be able to pay it back. Then they fuck you on the back end by guaranteeing that you don't default through various takings from the public in general, like the bailout being described here.

If the debt (the bonds) were going to be guaranteed through public takings, why the fuck was the interest rate so high in the first place?

It makes no sense in their own logic, in the finance assholes own construction of the world. If there was no danger of default EVER, then the interest rate should have been extremely low, like a Certificate of Deposit or some other guaranteed or semi-guaranteed payout. You can't on the one hand demand a high interest rate for fear of default, then, on the other hand, absolutely demand that no default should occur. Fucking despicable thieves. Throw the lot of them in fucking prison and let them rot.

[Buns_of_Fire]

24. I'm all for allowing journalists to throw their shoes during these events.

1) There would probably be a lot fewer of them to endure.

2) In the same vein, when there WAS one, the speaker would probably have committed to answering the damned questions. Or they're a shoe collector who was really good at dodgeball back in elementary school.

[woo me with science]

25. IF YOU HAVE NOT LISTENED TO THIS, PLEASE DO.

This guy puts our fake, purchased media to shame.

[Seedersandleechers]

29. K & R

[WillyT]

26. K & R !!!

[ZombieHorde]

27. Amercian version:

"Mr. Banker, could you please tell us why you're so awesome?"

[bvar22]

30. American Version:

"We don't begrudge them their wealth.

They are savvy businessmen!

Look at all the baseball players

Its the Free Market!" ---

[woo me with science]

28. kick

[malaise]

31. That's a higher level of obfuscation

Love how he wouldn't let them skate from his question