It’s funny that we both thought of the same analogy.

I also had a thought about how the absolute amount of money doesn’t matter so much as the relative amount for the victim. If all your money is just a few tens of thousands and you’re 7o years old and this theft leaves you destitute with only SS to fall back on, the offense may be considered to be more egregious than taking a multi-millionaire for several hundred thousand. Not that it’s OK to rip off the rich as long as you only take a small percentage of their wealth, but the ruthlessness of the former case is certainly more notable.

But then again if you think about it…The decisions of politicians representing the interest of the United States of America (whether they be named Reagan, Bush, Dodd, possibly Obama – or, their appointees Greenspan, Bernanke, Paulson, possibly Summers) have run up a pretty big tab as well…

Let me put it to you this way – if this guy took all of your mothers money, money that you know your mother worked her entire life to save, much of which you watched, with love, as her son – you would have a very different opinion on this matter. Now take the above example and multiply is by a thousand. this would probably come a little closer to the real social cost of his crimes.

Here’s my anecdote for today…

When I went into the gym tonight (Lifetime Fitness – a Minneapolis based product)…There was a written auction for signed sports memorabilia artwork…Here’s the best I can recount based on my memory…

Tiger Woods & Michael Jordan signed (bid up to $800 – in ONE DAY)
Tiger + Jack + Arnold signed (up to $650)
Almost all the rest in the $400 to $250 range including:

Larry Bird (lower end of bidding)
Old Baltimore Colts (popular here)
Ovechkin (very popular)
Crosby (PENS are “hated” & “loved” in this area)
Cal Ripken (suprisingly low)
The Godfather (movie poster signed by all the actors)
Santonio Holmes (some knucklehead bid as much as the above mentioned)
Joe Namath (no bid)…

My take is that overall the bids seem to be about 50% less than last year…Tiger always seems to fetch full price…

Let’s not wake him then, as he may awaken in some type of REM rage and kill us, although that should allow him to be back at work in a month or so.:>)

Bruce is asleep, I think, after a day at the salt mines…but I think hios position is that BM got a PARAGRAPH instead of a SENTENCE

You never offered what you believe he should have received as a sentence.