Well, I want the bankers reading this to know that I was somewhat hesitant to post the videos below.  It’s not really my sort of thing.  Not because they are attacking the big name banks, lord knows I’ve done more than my share of that… but because they’re just… oh, I don’t know… they’re too broadly targeted… or maybe because they’re too cheery.  I’m not really sure.  I certainly don’t have any beef with any of the folks that work at some Chase Bank branch, and I don’t really like the idea of making those bank employees feel persecuted or somehow unsafe… or that they are hated, because they are not… at least not by me.

However, the people that wrote and performed the adaptations of our Christmas classics deserve to be recognized, and millions of others who are suffering as a result of the foreclosure crisis deserve to know they are not alone.

You know, two years ago I was invited to speak at a conference put on by the American Bar Association for bank lawyers… it was held in Park City, Utah… and I was on a panel with Tom Pahl from the FTC.  I enjoyed going after Tom a bit and he was a good sport about the whole thing… but watching these videos caused me to recall what I said to the 200+ bank attorneys as I wrapped up my talk about the foreclosure crisis.

I said that in my view, the pendulum was swinging too far to their side… that they may feel like they’ve taken an early lead, and that they are safe in their position… but, that it was a deceptive feeling… a false sense of security, if you will.  I pointed out that historically, divides such as the one being deepened and widened at that time, between the distressed homeowners and their mortgage servicers… well, they just never end well.

I said that at the end of battles like the one that was obviously shaping up between bankers and homeowners, they shoot the Romanovs and then we all wonder what happened to Anastasia, a reference to the murders of Czar Nicholas II and his family during the Bolshevic Revolution in Russia back in 1917.  (I know… you knew that.  I was just being clear for those who might not have known.)

At the time, I thought my audience understood my point, but today… two years later… I’m not sure they did.  I was trying to say that there are certain points beyond which things don’t snap back… like if you pull an elastic band far enough, it loses its elasticity forever.  Or like an argument between two family members that just went too far and destroyed a family forever.  I think many would say that we have already past that point as far as the bankers are concerned, and I think to some degree that’s probably true… it’s certainly close to being irrevocable damage, if it isn’t already.

And I wonder if Secretary Geithner, Fed Chair Bernanke and the bankers realize that passing that point doesn’t mean that bankers win… it means we all lose, but make no mistake… it means that they lose a lot more than we ever could.  Maybe they don’t see it.  I guess they do not.

Anyway… here we go… Christmas Caroling for the Banksters…

Mandelman out.

Well, I want the bankers reading this to know that I was somewhat hesitant to post the videos below.  It’s not really my sort of thing.  Not because they are attacking the big name banks, lord knows I’ve done more than my share of that… but because they’re just… oh, I don’t know… they’re too broadly targeted… or maybe because they’re too cheery.  I’m not really sure.  I certainly don’t have any beef with any of the folks that work at some Chase Bank branch, and I don’t really like the idea of making those bank employees feel persecuted or somehow unsafe… or that they are hated, because they are not… at least not by me.

However, the people that wrote and performed the adaptations of our Christmas classics deserve to be recognized, and millions of others who are suffering as a result of the foreclosure crisis deserve to know they are not alone.

You know, two years ago I was invited to speak at a conference put on by the American Bar Association for bank lawyers… it was held in Park City, Utah… and I was on a panel with Tom Pahl from the FTC.  I enjoyed going after Tom a bit and he was a good sport about the whole thing… but watching these videos caused me to recall what I said to the 200+ bank attorneys as I wrapped up my talk about the foreclosure crisis.

I said that in my view, the pendulum was swinging too far to their side… that they may feel like they’ve taken an early lead, and that they are safe in their position… but, that it was a deceptive feeling… a false sense of security, if you will.  I pointed out that historically, divides such as the one being deepened and widened at that time, between the distressed homeowners and their mortgage servicers… well, they just never end well.

I said that at the end of battles like the one that was obviously shaping up between bankers and homeowners, they shoot the Romanovs and then we all wonder what happened to Anastasia, a reference to the murders of Czar Nicholas II and his family during the Bolshevic Revolution in Russia back in 1917.  (I know… you knew that.  I was just being clear for those who might not have known.)

At the time, I thought my audience understood my point, but today… two years later… I’m not sure they did.  I was trying to say that there are certain points beyond which things don’t snap back… like if you pull an elastic band far enough, it loses its elasticity forever.  Or like an argument between two family members that just went too far and destroyed a family forever.  I think many would say that we have already past that point as far as the bankers are concerned, and I think to some degree that’s probably true… it’s certainly close to being irrevocable damage, if it isn’t already.

And I wonder if Secretary Geithner, Fed Chair Bernanke and the bankers realize that passing that point doesn’t mean that bankers win… it means we all lose, but make no mistake… it means that they lose a lot more than we ever could.  Maybe they don’t see it.  I guess they do not.

Anyway… here we go… Christmas Caroling for the Banksters…

Mandelman out.