The Vampire Squid Occupies Trump's White House

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-vampire-squid-occupies-trumps-white-house-w456225?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=dailyv2&utm_campaign=121616_16



After running against Goldman as a candidate, Donald Trump licks the boots of the world's largest investment bank



President-elect Trump has tapped Goldman Sachs COO Gary Cohn to serve as director of the National Economic Council. Kevin Hagen/Redux



Trump at an August campaign rally in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty

"...One surprise election result and a mountain of jubilant #draintheswamp hashtags later, Donald Trump has filled his White House with, you guessed it, Goldman veterans.

His chief strategist, the unabashed white-supremacist loon Steve Bannon, is a former Goldman banker, as is adviser Anthony Scaramucci. Steve Mnuchin marks the fourth Goldman-pedigreed treasury secretary in the last four presidencies, after Bob Rubin, Lawrence Summers and Hank Paulson.

But the real shocker is the recent appointment of Goldman Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn to the post of director of the National Economic Council. Bannon and Mnuchin were former, past Goldmanites. Cohn, meanwhile, is undoubtedly at least the number-two figure at the world's most despised bank, if not the outright co-head with Blankfein. He has been at the center of many of its most infamous episodes, including the Greek affair.

So much for draining the swamp.

The new party line, emanating both from Washington and from Alt-Right yahoos on the Internet, is that people like Gary Cohn are no longer the swindling scum-lords Trump said they were a few months ago, but simply smart businessmen.

As Trump put it, "Gary Cohn is going to put his talents as a highly successful businessman to work for the American people."

This mantra is often used to explain Goldman's legend. Its advocates say they may be cold-blooded, but they're just dern good at what they do.

The bank has worked very hard to nurture exactly that image, particularly when there are darker explanations for the bank's success that they would rather leave unexplored. A great example involves Cohn, Trump's new "top economic adviser."..."

Floridatexan wrote:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-vampire-squid-occupies-trumps-white-house-w456225?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=dailyv2&utm_campaign=121616_16



After running against Goldman as a candidate, Donald Trump licks the boots of the world's largest investment bank



President-elect Trump has tapped Goldman Sachs COO Gary Cohn to serve as director of the National Economic Council. Kevin Hagen/Redux



Trump at an August campaign rally in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty

"...One surprise election result and a mountain of jubilant #draintheswamp hashtags later, Donald Trump has filled his White House with, you guessed it, Goldman veterans.

His chief strategist, the unabashed white-supremacist loon Steve Bannon, is a former Goldman banker, as is adviser Anthony Scaramucci. Steve Mnuchin marks the fourth Goldman-pedigreed treasury secretary in the last four presidencies, after Bob Rubin, Lawrence Summers and Hank Paulson.

But the real shocker is the recent appointment of Goldman Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn to the post of director of the National Economic Council. Bannon and Mnuchin were former, past Goldmanites. Cohn, meanwhile, is undoubtedly at least the number-two figure at the world's most despised bank, if not the outright co-head with Blankfein. He has been at the center of many of its most infamous episodes, including the Greek affair.

So much for draining the swamp.

The new party line, emanating both from Washington and from Alt-Right yahoos on the Internet, is that people like Gary Cohn are no longer the swindling scum-lords Trump said they were a few months ago, but simply smart businessmen.

As Trump put it, "Gary Cohn is going to put his talents as a highly successful businessman to work for the American people."

This mantra is often used to explain Goldman's legend. Its advocates say they may be cold-blooded, but they're just dern good at what they do.

The bank has worked very hard to nurture exactly that image, particularly when there are darker explanations for the bank's success that they would rather leave unexplored. A great example involves Cohn, Trump's new "top economic adviser."..."

That was when they needed useful idiots to vote for him, now it's...