The smug face of everything that's wrong with Wall Street:

[brentspeak]

The pompous individual pictured above is George H. Walker, George W. Bush's 2nd cousin. Walker was quoted by Henry Waxman in this afternoon's congressional hearing as ridiculing Lehman Bros' lower-echelon employees' pleas that the firm forego executive bonuses (the employees believed that foregoing the executive payouts might help to restore investor confidence and help secure Lehman's in-house finances). As summarized by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jay Bookman:

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/bookman/entries/2008/10/06/wall_street_excess_symptom_or.html

The AP writes:

“That suggestion came from Lehman’s money management subsidiary, Neuberger Berman. (House Committee Chair Henry) Waxman quoted George H. Walker, President Bush’s cousin and a Lehman executive who oversaw some Neuberger Berman employees, as responding with a dismissive tone to the idea of going without bonuses.

‘Sorry team,” he wrote to the executive committee, according to Waxman. ‘I’m not sure what’s in the water at 605 Third Avenue today…. I’m embarrassed and I apologize.’”

You read that right: The idea of foregoing bonuses when the company was in bit of trouble was so clearly foolish and outlandish that it drove an embarrassed Walker to the point of having to apologize.

And you thought they had no shame.

This guy, Walker, was embarrassed at the employees' naivete: he couldn't believe they didn't understand that Lehman's upper management didn't give a rat's behind about anything other than their own personal billions.

It gets worse. Much worse: Walker, the head of Neuberger Investment Management, will now be in charge of handling the pensions of former Lehman pension clients such as the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund and the Chicago Municipal Employees’ Annuity & Benefit Fund -- plus who knows what other ordinary peoples' pension funds. (read: http://www.pionline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081002/REG/810029986/1008).

[BrklynLiberal]

1. He looks like a KKKarl Rove cousin...

[KoKo]

4. He looks like the Bushies...even though he's a Walker. They come from the same tree.

Looks like a younger Chimp with a little of Jeb's plumpness and some of the better looks of Neil...or is it Marvin...the other Bush brothers that most Americans aren't aware exist.

[IDemo]

2. Are all the fucking dogs and aquarium fish in that family named "George", too?

[PDJane]

3. He's worthy of the family name.

Perhaps it's time that this crew paid for generations of trangressions against the public good.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. There is someone who very richly deserves to be publicly humiliated.

The fate of the Duke brothers in "Trading Places" comes to mind.