Idiot Winds

The tale of Markopolos vs. Madoff doesn't bode well for
future regulation of financial industries, but it may yield
clues as to how to make the SEC (and others like it) more
effective. Larry Kudlow thinks this guy should head the
SEC -- and I say why not? That would be a very Lincoln-
like thing to do. Here, SEC, is your new boss, your former
biggest nightmare. He is the Eliot Ness of the New
Untouchables.

That said, the dude could become just as frustrated as the
head of such an organization because, though Madoff
should have been obvious, nobody flat cared that much.
He seemed to be making green. He was impregnable.
Still, yes, whoever appoints such people, I'd say Markopolos
is your man.

Where's the Madoff money? At present, 950 million has been
found. That should ease the gobs of investors who used
Madoff a bit. Also, the total lost may be more like 25B, not
the 50B he told his sons.

Markopolos, though, is saying there are 14 more Madoffs out
hiding in the weeds in Europe. Be careful, scammers, there
are also terrorists in them thar hills. Financial terrorists and
human bombs hiding out together -- now that's a potential
threat.

Meanwhile, we're finding out that some of our legislators
are above the law and are exempt from paying the taxes
they exact from us. Shades of Rome in decline!

Apparently, the only thing anybody can agree on in this
new stimulus is to tackle the infrastructure. Then do it!
Get it started. You don't have to start big, especially if it's
all fluff -- a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying
nothing.

Idiot Wind -- Dylan

Someones got it in for me, they're planting stories in the press

Whoever it is I wish theyd cut it out quick, but when they will I can only guess.

They say I shot a man named gray and took his wife to Italy,

She inherited a million bucks and when she died it came to me.

I cant help it if I'm lucky.

People see me all the time and they just can't remember how to act

Their minds are filled with big ideas, images and distorted facts.

Even you, yesterday you had to ask me where it was at,

I couldnt believe after all these years, you didnt know me any better than that

Sweet lady.

Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth,

Blowing down the backroads headin south.

Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth,

Youre an idiot, babe.

Its a wonder that you still know how to breathe.

I ran into the fortune-teller, who said beware of lightning

that might strike

I haven't known peace and quiet for so long

I cant remember what its like.

Theres a lone soldier on the cross,

smoke pourin out of a boxcar door,

You didnt know it, you didnt think it could be done,

in the final end he won the wars

After losin every battle.

I woke up on the roadside,

daydreaming bout the way things sometimes are

Visions of your chestnut mare shoot through my head

and are makin me see stars.

You hurt the ones that I love best

and cover up the truth with lies.

One day youll be in the ditch, flies buzzin around your eyes,

Blood on your saddle.

Idiot wind, blowing through the flowers on your tomb,

Blowing through the curtains in your room.

Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth,

You're an idiot, babe.

Its a wonder that you still know how to breathe.

It was gravity which pulled us down and destiny

which broke us apart

You tamed the lion in my cage

but it just wasnt enough to change my heart.

Now everythings a little upside down,

as a matter of fact the wheels have stopped,

Whats good is bad, whats bad is good,

you'll find out when you reach the top

Youre on the bottom.

I noticed at the ceremony, your corrupt ways

had finally made you blind

I cant remember your face anymore,

your mouth has changed,

your eyesDont look into mine.

The priest wore black on the seventh day

and sat stone-faced while the building burned.

I waited for you on the running boards,

near the cypress trees, while the springtime

Turned slowly into autumn.

Idiot wind, blowing like a circle around my skull,

From the Grand Coulee dam to the capitol.

Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth,

You're an idiot, babe.

Its a wonder that you still know how to breathe.

I cant feel you anymore,

I can't even touch the books you've read

Every time I crawl past your door,

I been wishin I was somebody else instead.

Down the highway, down the tracks,

down the road to ecstasy,

I followed you beneath the stars,

hounded by your memory

And all your raging glory.

I been double-crossed now for the very last time

and now I'm finally free,

I kissed goodbye the howling beast

on the borderline which separated you from me.

Youll never know the hurt I suffered

nor the pain I rise above,

And Ill never know the same about you,

your holiness or your kind of love,

And it makes me feel so sorry.

Idiot wind, blowing through the buttons of our coats,

Blowing through the letters that we wrote.

Idiot wind, blowing through the dust upon our shelves,

We're idiots, babe.

Its a wonder we can even feed ourselves.

BTW, the best version of this song, by far, was the live
performance by Dylan with the Rolling Thunder Review

(click on the purple)
on the album "Hard Rain".