I've known Jim for more than 30 years. We've had spats two
times. He was responsible once. I, the
other. I've done business with him and made money with
him. And we started The Street.com together. He is a trusted
and loving friend.
He is now being battered in the press. Mostly by people whose
careers are built on ridiculing others. I happened to have
watched the "Mad Money" show in which he spoke about Bear
Stearns. He did not not not not say that you
needn't worry if you had stock in Bear Stearns. He said you need
not worry if you had a brokerage account with Bear Stearns. That
was true... and still is true. But we all utter silly enough words in the ordinary course of life that
we don't have to invent them, and Jim has his share of them. I do,
too.
What I think has happened between Cramer and part of the entertainment
industry--which the fact and opinion industry is fast coming to resemble--is that Jim is actually animated by a passion. It is the passion of
democratic capitalism. That concern is very different from the
concerns of the $10-20 million television comedians who ride around in
stretch limousines. Those folk are happy when the people are in
trouble. Even Jon Stewart and the makers of his "Daily Show" are
happy. Jim Fallows, an always righteous commentator (like his
ex-boss Jimmy Carter), has elevated him to Edward R. Murrow who was also
over-rated in his time.
The folk Cramer has been trying to help all these years with "Mad
Money" are basically middle class investors. They certainly
have not been helped by mutual funds which are mesmerized by
Morningstar's mad 1, 2, 3, 4, 5-star ratings.
Now, Jim was a fervent supporter of Barack Obama. Like the
president, he thinks that greed is poisoning the well. Jim gets
upset every time the people lose real money, which they have been doing
steadily for almost a year. We are still trying to save the big
guys more than the common man and woman.
Responding to my Friday Spine on tax havens, iambiguous
speculates that the Wall Street firms, CNBC and Cramer, plus K Street
and the federal government, are all in cahoots. It's not exactly
clear about what. The dumb incoherence of some of my responding
readers should upset me. But then there are others who are smart
and articulate.
By the way, Alessandra Stanley has done a smart New York Times piece, "High Noon on the Set: Cramer vs. Stewart." She
seems to believe that Jim will have the last laugh in this
contretemps. I suspect she is correct.
On the night that Cramer and Stewart confronted each other on "The Daily
Show," the television audience was the second largest of the year, right
behing the Obama inaugural special. Among the top ten in the show's
more than 12-year history. Why did such an enormous audience turn to this
program? Not to watch Stewart. They can see him every
night. The answer is obvious: to see Cramer.