This Is Embarrassing

You’re a god damn journalist now, man. Get a hold of yourself.

In the New York Times today, Wall Street banker-turned-writer William Cohan hath published an op-ed about hedge fund guy-turned-horrific Trump mouthpiece Anthony Scaramucci, gravely titled “This Is Not the Mooch I Know.” This piece, as best I can tell, is premised on the idea that criticism of a hedge fund guy-turned-horrific spokesman for a less than sane racist power mad narcissist is more meaningful when the critic proves he has a complete lack of judgment. For example:

Anthony is the living embodiment of the American dream. From Ghost Motorcycles, his family’s scary-seeming motorcycle shop on Long Island, he made his way to Harvard Law School, Goldman Sachs (for two tours of duty), and then to the pinnacle of finance, where he was the founder of SkyBridge Capital.

The classic American dream—moving from the middle class to the class of people who soaks clients with egregious layers of hedge fund fees.

Over the years, Anthony became the impresario of the fund’s annual SALT Las Vegas conference, which brings together the leaders of finance, politics, film, sports and the military in a well-organized forum where the free exchange of ideas is celebrated.

No. The free exchange of ideas would involve Black Panthers carrying shotguns marching into the SALT Conference like it was the California state capitol in 1967. The SALT Conference involves rich people paid to toss friendly questions to other, richer people.

Anthony has the skills to make a big difference in this White House. He is smart, generous and funny, open-minded and ambitious — but not in an obnoxious way. He cares about being able to disagree without being disagreeable. I have always been impressed by the way he could proclaim his support for Mitt Romney, Scott Walker, Jeb Bush or David Koch while at the same time admiring Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The ability to espouse contradictory viewpoints at the same time is not a virtue, but a sign of insincerity. Please edit before publication!!!!

We have shared many beers at Bill’s, on East 54th Street, debating our opposing political viewpoints and sharing our life experiences. We first really got to know each other at SALT, where he invited me on four occasions and paid for me to interview, on stage, the likes of Oliver Stone and Michael Lewis. One year, SkyBridge bought copies of my controversial book, “The Price of Silence,” about the Duke lacrosse scandal, to give away to conference attendees, even though the SALT regular David Rubenstein, the powerful founder of the Carlyle Group and the chairman of the Duke board of trustees, objected vehemently.

This is one of the single most embarrassing paragraphs by a journalist I have read all year. The fact that this is presented as a qualification that is supposed to make the criticisms of Scaramucci that follow more credible is astounding.