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Cheers to Christina[4]...a conman weaves
the greed of his victims into a web of
promise and deceit.
I've no interest, either financial or emotional
in the extent of Mr. Madoff's punishment,
nor the satisfaction squeezed by his
wounded clients from a rather dry melodrama.

Rough analogy: the historically unprecedented
sentence placed upon Mr. Madoff is like the
attack on Irag following the 9/11 terror.

Unable to develop an immediate and effective
emotional response to al-queda, the admiinstration picked an amorphously evil target to focus the wrath of terror vicitims
from 1993, Kenya and Tanzania and of course 9/11.

Madoff has become the metonymy of the entire
malfeasance in the financial dealings.
Derivatives. dredit default swaps,deelply
predatory lending schemes,,, etc are
financial schemes covered with only the thinnest veils
of ethical legitamacy, but the protagonists
of which seem beyond the reach of the angry mobs.
That Mr. Madoff will absorb the sentences of
theifs not yet caught, and do penance as well for the
sins of (some of his) greedy vitims that allowed him to
thrive.

Finally, and simply. Without comment I
make observation of child molestors, murders of
different sorts, walking the streets of this
City.

The emotional meter of punishment rarely seems
to serve us well.

looking forward to the gourmet coffe story.

Great comments here. I came in to say something along the lines of what "Theresa from Brooklyn" stated, how it seems insane that a person who takes another life can receive less of a sentence than a conspiratorial crook who ultimately stole money; interesting societal values.

Bernie should not be put in a Federal jail. It's too good for him. He'll never have to worry about where he sleeps or where his next meal comes from. It's all planned out for the next 150 years - unlike his victims who have nowhere to turn to, who have no Federal help for their finances. Instead, he should be put on a TV reality show, "Where' Bernie Now?". The show would follow Bernie's day-to-day survival techniques. This would draw huge audience viewership and in turn significant advertising dollars that could be used to help with victim restitution. I would certainly tune in religiously to see how long he lasts.

Enough with the Bernie Madoff obsession Brian. He was a classic con artist who was allowed to ply his trade because of gullible victims who rather than doing due diligence took the word of people they trusted. Where is all the outrage and garment rending for the people who have lost their life savings and fortunes to LEGAL financial institutions who not only ruined individuals but the entire economy. We're not punishing them, we're giving them more of our money!!!

The right wing part of my brain says that he should put in stocks and all his victims given rotten fruit to throw at him for at least 2-3 hours a day until the victims decide it's time for Bernie to go do community service. If he's such a financial wizard, that expertise should be put to the public good in some arena of education, many better qualified than I to decide where the greatest need is. Perhaps he could work with those who've had their homes foreclosed, I don't know.

I hear all these creative medieval tortures proposed for Madoff. I know what he did was terribly destructive, but we don't even do those things to murderers and rapists. Are people saying that our penal system simply does not have a suitable punishment for Madoff?

Madoff should be sentenced to be a New York State Senator.