"Everybody has been led to believe over the years that AAA means AAA means AAA across the board," Gregory W. Smith, the general counsel for the Public Employees' Retirement Association of Colorado, told Bloomberg. "Anybody that didn't learn in the 2008 crisis that doesn't apply should find another line of work."
How do you not read that and feel even the coolest blood boiling over?
It reminds me of when Jon Stewart finally got Jim Cramer on his show, and showed the clips of Jim Cramer advocating price manipulation to hedge fund managers, and basically saying that the core problem with CNBC and its ilk is that it has a secret handshake, a "Well, knowing people will know how seriously to take our advice," while also generating a deep air of confidence ("In Cramer We Trust") to those who are not initiated.
Like this. AAA. It's supposed to be clear. That's the whole damn point.
Right now, there's a labeling scheme in New York that assigns letter grades for restaurants. A, B, C, D (and the most common, "Grade Pending...").
Do you know how fucking incensed I would be if it turned out that "A" grades don't really mean the same thing for Mexican restaurants as it means for Italian restaurants? If it turned out that the chance of, say, vomiting at an A grade Mexican Restaurant is 80%?
Damn, and I promised that 2011 would be the year I didn't engage in fist-waving anti-Wall Street populism. Maybe 2012...
