Archive 03/03/09 - (1)

   

"Bernie"

                                                                         

Is it that the nickname "Bernie" —

The pet moniker that evokes a "cuddly" feeling —

Has an inherent disingenuousness associated with it?

 

Take three recent examples.

Each of them seems to have a common strain,

A redolence of chutzpah infused with chicanery, deception,

 

Good intentions come a cropper, for a predisposition to greed,

Illustrating a voracious craving for celebrity, superiority,

An inordinate compulsion to become king of the heap.

 

There's Bernie Schwartz.

His name change alone says worlds about his deviousness —

That con artist of many disguises, Tony Curtis,

 

Who substituted his identity as an ordinary Bronx Jew

For that of a Hollywood leading man with goyish good looks

Reaping riches by selling cinematic illusions, celluloid fantasies.

 

Then there's WorldCom's imposing 6'4" Canadian-born CEO,

Who made dizzying, from-the-hip, free-wheeling mergers

Like shooting ducks, in a gallery, with rocket-propelled grenades,

 

A meteor defying gravity before burning up in Earth's atmosphere —

Former milkman and bouncer, gym teacher and motel owner —

Rags-to-riches-to-rags Bernie Ebbers.

 

Oh, and don't overlook $50 billion Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff,

Who, long before his illustrious career as Wall Street megainvestor,

Began as a lifeguard, in Laurelton, Queens,

 

And an installer of lawn sprinklers, to put himself through college —

That friend, confidante, mensch of Jewish financiers and foundations,

Until he confessed, uncontritely, his shameless embezzlement.

 

But then, why don't we ever question, "What's in a sobriquet?"

Would anyone care to venture a Slumdog Millionaire guess

As to Shylock's and the Great Gatsby's nickname?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

03/03/09 - (1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
       

 

 
   
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