Friends of Ignorance

There’s no denying many of us are all-too-often “friends of ignorance” — only announcing the relationship when necessary. Although occasionally we reside in the blissful realm unintentionally, many times ignorance is simply a scapegoat, and a lame one at that. Recently, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) pleaded ignorance when he received a sweetheart deal from Countrywide Financial’s chairman and chief executive, Angelo Mozilo, leaving one of two possibilities: Either the Finance Committee member is oblivious to finances or his ignorance is a fake.

When the North Dakota senator decided to buy his $1.2 million beach home in Delaware, a friend (who also happens to be Fannie Mae’s CEO) recommended him to Angelo. Apparently unbeknownst to Sen. Conrad, he received an exceptional loan as a part of the “Friends of Angelo” program. Still, I just can’t believe the senator was oblivious to the fiscal benefits he was receiving — I mean, he sits on the Finance Committee!

Even though the senator knew nothing of a special deal, he still felt the need to deny association with Mr. Mozilo, saying last Friday: “I never met Angelo Mozilo.” Later he had to amend his statement a bit — after all, he did give Mr. Mozilo a personal phone call about the loan. Apparently the question was confusing for him and left him perhaps thinking: “Well, I guess that depends on the meaning of the word met. Did I talk to him? Yes. Did I meet him face-to-face? No.” What a Clintonian approach to governance.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Banking Committee, was also called out — and has confessed — to having knowingly benefited from sweetheart loans along with a handful of other senators who are yet to be publicly named as “Friends of Angelo.” The bigger issue, however, is that, like most relationships, this may be a two-way arrangement as the Democrats’ solution to the mortgage crisis is regarded as a bailout for lenders … lenders like Countrywide.

Unfortunately, being a friend to ignorance rarely pays off like being a friend of Angelo. And Sen. Conrad’s decision to deny knowledge of the situation gives the public two options for judgment. The most unlikely is that Sen. Conrad really has no idea about finances and still serves on the Senate Finance Committee actively making financial policies. Or he simply lied about his ignorance because he was afraid of the consequences. Either way, he or any of the other sweetheart loan legislators did not properly do their jobs; instead, they put their interests in front of America’s.