Inspired by yesterday’s Senate hearings on the activities of Goldman Sachs a few years ago, an instant classic by StatsGuy from over at  The Baseline Scenario blog:

“You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth. Son, we live in a country with an investment gap. And that gap needs to be filled by men with money. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Middle Class Consumer? Goldman Sachs has a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Lehman and you curse derivatives. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what we know: that Lehman’s death, while tragic, probably saved the financial system. And that Goldman’s existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves pension funds. You don’t want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want us to fill that investment gap. You need us to fill that gap.

“We use words like credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligation, and securitization… We use these words as the backbone of a life spent investing in something. You use ‘em as a punchline. We have neither the time nor the inclination to explain ourselves to a commoner who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very credit we provide, and then questions the manner in which we provide it! We’d rather you just said thank you and paid your taxes on time. Otherwise, we suggest you get an account and start trading. Either way, we don’t give a damn what you think you’re entitled to!”

When you think back to “A Few Good Men“, there are all kinds of other interesting possibilities – from Kiefer Sutherland to Tom Cruise and, of course, this memorable advice for Lieutenant Commander JoAnne Galloway from Lieutenant Sam Weinberg:

I strenuously object?” Is that how it works? Hm? “Objection.” “Overruled.” “Oh, no, no, no. No, I STRENUOUSLY object.” “Oh. Well, if you strenuously object then I should take some time to reconsider.”

Today’s hearings are finally over – all 11 hours worth. It’s not clear who did themselves more harm – Lloyd Blankfein for explaining what Goldman Sachs did back in 2007 or Carl Levin (D-MI) for making the same points over and over and over again (none of which any of the Goldman crowd seemed to understand no matter how many times it was repeated).

A good portion of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations seemed to quite enjoy using the word “shi**y” today as Levin does in the clip above. I heard at least three committee members utter it including Claire McCaskill (D-MO).