The Most Oppressed People in America, An Update
By Granted, birthers are pretty oppressed. But if there’s anybody more downtrodden than the poor sap who has to try to feed a family of four on a mere $500K a year in a desirable urban area, I’d have to say that it’s Bernie Madoff:
“Maybe the judge felt, ‘Well, he’s 70 years old, so even if I give him 20 years, he’s going to be 90 years old,’ ” Mr. Madoff said by phone from the federal prison in Butner, N.C.
“But quite frankly, there’s a big difference with dying in prison, you know, and dying outside with your family.”
[…]
Judge Chin has said in recent interviews that he considered a sentence that might have allowed Mr. Madoff to be freed when he is in his 90s. But he concluded that Mr. Madoff simply did not deserve it, and in court called his conduct “extraordinarily evil.”
Mr. Madoff, in a recent series of interviews and e-mails, took issue with the judge’s description. To characterize him as “this monster and this evil person,” he said, “I just think that was totally unrealistic and unfair.”
“In my mind, Chin was anything but fair, with zero understanding of the industry,” Mr. Madoff added.
Look, we can quibble over who stole how many billions here and who was responsible for what suicide or death in penury there, but why should little things like federal law prevent a good man from dying with his family? If some other white collar crook goes unpunished, everyone should be free!