"Bernie"
Is it that the nickname "Bernie" —
The pet moniker that evokes a "cuddly" feeling —
Has an inherent disingenuousness associated with it?
Take three recent examples.
Each of them seems to have a common strain,
A redolence of chutzpah infused with chicanery, deception,
Good intentions come a cropper, for a predisposition to greed,
Illustrating a voracious craving for celebrity, superiority,
An inordinate compulsion to become king of the heap.
There's Bernie Schwartz.
His name change alone says worlds about his deviousness —
That con artist of many disguises, Tony Curtis,
Who substituted his identity as an ordinary Bronx Jew
For that of a Hollywood leading man with goyish good looks
Reaping riches by selling cinematic illusions, celluloid fantasies.
Then there's WorldCom's imposing 6'4" Canadian-born CEO,
Who made dizzying, from-the-hip, free-wheeling mergers
Like shooting ducks, in a gallery, with rocket-propelled grenades,
A meteor defying gravity before burning up in Earth's atmosphere —
Former milkman and bouncer, gym teacher and motel owner —
Rags-to-riches-to-rags Bernie Ebbers.
Oh, and don't overlook $50 billion Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff,
Who, long before his illustrious career as Wall Street megainvestor,
Began as a lifeguard, in Laurelton, Queens,
And an installer of lawn sprinklers, to put himself through college —
That friend, confidante, mensch of Jewish financiers and foundations,
Until he confessed, uncontritely, his shameless embezzlement.
But then, why don't we ever question, "What's in a sobriquet?"
Would anyone care to venture a Slumdog Millionaire guess
As to Shylock's and the Great Gatsby's nickname?
03/03/09 - (1)
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