Ilenes Blog

Madoff Media Whores

Written on October 28, 2011 – 1:40 am | by ibkent

Here we are nearly three years out from the worst financial crime in history, and the media remain singularly focused on the musings of the criminal himself – Bernie Madoff – and his family.  Been a bad week for Madoff victims as we’ve had to watch Stephanie Madoff Mack make the media rounds, Ruth Madoff will be the subject of a much-hyped interview on 60 Minutes, and Barbara Walters is just the latest in a string of media whores (there, I said it) chasing Bernie “You-Know-When-I’m-Lying-Because-My-Mouth-Moves” Madoff for an interview, again leaving the truth and the story of the real victims of this crime to scream at the TV with no way to speak out.

Don’t get me wrong, Stephanie Madoff suffered a real and tragic loss.  Her husband and the father of her children is no longer amongst the living. She is left to raise two small children on her own.  But let’s not forget that Stephanie still has a good deal of money to her name, unlike the overwhelming majority of Madoff victims.  In fact, just today, it was announced that she and the other Madoffs are beneficiaries a recent court ruling by Judge Jed Rakoff that, barring any proven complicity, the Madoff family will get to keep over $80 million.  So, please don’t pity Ms. Stephanie Madoff. Perhaps she might want to make a contribution to the not for profit that has been set up to lobby for much needed change.

Next up is Ruth Madoff’s much hyped upcoming interview with Morley Safer to be aired this Sunday on 60 Minutes – a news magazine show that has clearly jumped the shark.  Poor Ruthie – who was allowed to keep over $2 million for herself. Poor Ruthie – who lived the life of Reilly for years on the backs of her husband’s marks.  Poor Ruthie — who worked as her husband’s bookkeeper but wants us to believe she had no suspicions.

Now Poor Ruthie wants us to believe that she and Bernie made a suicide pact because they were “depressed,” after all, they were receiving hate mall, mean phone calls, and on top of everything else, it was Christmas Eve.  Yeah, right, she was so depressed that the security guard that was on duty until 7 pm that night saw nothing amiss, and what exactly did two Jews have to be depressed about on Christmas anyway? Chinese restaurant closed? Favorite movie not playing? (Though nothing would please me better than Bernie and Ruthie denying being Jewish – I wish we had ex-commuication.) How exactly does a lying sociopath like Bernie Madoff feel depressed? And Ruthie can’t even say how many pills she took? What types of pills she took? Trust me, if she wanted to kill herself she could and would have.  The Madoff family has proven time again they care about one thing and one thing only – themselves. Everything else is for show.

As if this interview is not bad enough, I am most disturbed by the video of Barbara Walters on Good Morning America this morning with GMA host Robin Roberts. Sure seems like Ms. Walters has jumped her own shark, feeling compelled to make a beeline to Prisoner #61727-054 at the Federal Correctional Institutional in Butner, North Carolina to talk about lord knows what. Robin Roberts has interviewed Madoff victims before. She knows the true victims of his crimes are real people. She knows an overwhelming majority are the 99%.  But Barbara Walters acts as if she’s received a hearing with the Pope himself. Does she really not know that there is one surefire way to know that Bernie Madoff is lying? His lips move.

Most egregiously, Barbara Walters, for whom I had great respect until today, treated Bernie’s statement that victims would all be receiving their principle back and in many cases 60 cents on the dollar, as fact! Shame on you Barbara Walters. Shame on you for not doing your homework. Shame on you for not doing your own research. And shame on you for treating a conman, criminal, and proven sociopath as if he were someone special, and contributing to opening old wounds for the thousands of victims who don’t have Ruthie’s $2 million, and don’t have Bernie’s “peace of mind.” Shame on all of the media for not telling the real story.

I’ve tweeted Robin Roberts. I reminded her of our interview two and a half years ago. I reminded her that she promised to follow up. And I reminded her that Ms. Walters continued to present Madoff’s lies as facts. Let’s see how she responds.

Tags: 60 Minutes, barbara walters, GMA, madoff, robin roberts, ruth madoff, Stephanie Madoff