Edited SNL subprime video also happens to excise Barney Frank's involvement

Not every comedy sketch on "Saturday Night Live" has to do with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

It just seems that way recently, as The Ticket has reported here and here and here.

But there's an unusual twist this week over another SNL skit. This one concerns a long, satirical bit about the Washington financial bailout bill including a "President Bush," a House Speaker "Nancy Pelosi" and a Rep. "Barney Frank."

Pelosi introduces a series of alleged "victims" of the Wall Street mess, who include two men clearly unqualified to have any kind of mortgage, a well-to-do couple who speculated in condos and lost all but 10% of their profits and an older couple, Herb and Marion Sandler.

As our blogging colleagues Peter Viles at L.A. Land and Matea Gold Show Tracker have thoroughly documented, the Sandlers actually exist and are prominent supporters of liberal and Democratic causes. They assembled a vast array of subprime loan packages in their Golden West Financial and sold it to Wachovia Bank for $24 billion before the financial bottom fell out.

In the skit, a parody of a C-SPAN news conference replay, the Sandlers express puzzlement over why Pelosi invited them as victims because they're really delighted with their fortune and laughingly see Wachovia Bank as the victim. A graphic beneath the Sandlers says, "People who should be shot."

Monday NBC mysteriously yanked the skit's video from the network's website, fueling online rumors the show was caving to pressures from well-connected Democrats.

The video was later reposted and a spokesman explained "upon review we caught certain elements in the sketch that didn't meet our standards. We took it down and made some minor changes."

In an interview with Gold, the show's executive producer, Lorne Michaels, said the Sandlers were distraught but had not demanded the changes. He noted the "People who should be shot" line was deleted as was a reference to their "corrupt activities."

But a comparison of the two versions shows that actually a little more than that was cut. What also was excised was any mention of the involvement of Massachusetts' Rep. Frank in the Sandler subprime mess.

Frank is the influential chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and an ardent political protector of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which participated in the subprime problem.

In the original skit Sandler addresses Frank, saying, "And thank you, Congressman Frank, as well as many Republicans for helping block Congressional oversight of our corrupt activities."

To which Frank replies enthusiastically, "Not at all!"

All that's gone in the new version, which Show Tracker has posted here.

That's too bad for Frank's Republican opponent in the House election next month for the Bay State's Fourth District, which includes Brookline and Newton. Frank's opponent is little-known Republican Earl Henry Sholley, who could use any embarrassing ammunition like the SNL sketch.

Never mind any grand policy proposals. Sholley's still trying to get Frank to agree to simple public debates. Frank dismisses his GOP challenger, saying he simply can't make the dates Sholley has suggested. And that's that.

To see the original full sketch before the editing, click on the Read more line below.

-- Andrew Malcolm 

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Comments

[joInAmerica]

For the best in political theater google:

Frank O'Reilly video

(if and only if you are up to a slugfest between two titans of egomania on a bright Wednesday morning.)

I watched the venerable Barney just roll over Anderson Cooper about Frank's obvious hands all over the subprime crisis, but it was no dice with Bill O'Reilly. I thought the two of them were going to kill each other. Great stuff.

[Darleen]

So, mocking Frank's documented efforts to block regulation of Fannie/Freddie is too edgy for SNL but making incest jokes about the Palins is a-ok.

SNL, Not Ready For Courage.

[smc]

It is amazing how many people didn't know of these economic terrorists the Sanders and George Soros. It shows that theyse crafty social-engineers have been quite affective in controlling the media -- one of the major things they spend their money on, along with controlling economies and whole societies. Imagine such a passion (it's like out of a superhero flick). Most philanthropists support musesums and projects like bringing clean water to third world countries. But these people -- it's all about taking over the world. Do your homework people.

[deek]

What's so mysterious about it.

Soviet style actions from the progeny of the Soviets.

[uh_clem]

" ...Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which participated in the subprime problem."

Um...Mr Malcolm... exactly how many sub-prime loans did Fannie and Freddie back?

ANSWER: none. By definition "subprime" means that it doesn't qualify for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to purchase it on the secondary market.

So how, exactly, did they "participate" in the subprime problem?

It's no wonder we're in the mess we're in when the "journalists" who are supposed to explain it to the rest of us have no idea what they're talking about.

[Kim]

I would say SOMEONE got to SNL

[Show Record]

The UNEDITED VIDEO can be found at www.showrecord.com

[JEM]

Pretty grotesque on SNL's part, when you consider that Barney Frank is probably the single most culpable individual in the whole mortgage-meltdown situation.

[disgusted]

The Youtube link is gone now. SNL, you ignorant slut.

[Brad Johnson]

Hello? "Subprime" by definition means a mortgage that doesn't qualify for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae standards.

Saying the GSEs "participated in the subprime problem" is grossly misleading.

The GSEs were, of course, deeply involved in the housing market, but the SNL sketch was a rabid fever dream of a right wing blog.

Of course, Frank wasn't in charge of anything until 2007, well after the mortgage bubble had been created. He's no model of perfection, but the idea that he "blocked Congressional oversight" is beyond stupid.

Right wing "humor" often involves brutality and physical threats, in a disturbingly hate-filled parody of the rules of parody and slapstick.

This was no exception.

[bc]

Can we put the "People who should be shot" line under Barney Frank?

[KieranMullen]

Please have enough sense not to post videos on YouTube as it is no longer there. You have the resources to host the videos on your own server, so do it.

KieranMullen
http://360oregon.com

[plutosdad]

This is just like CBS news caving in to big tobacco. I thought it was the JOB of comedians to piss off the elite and the "leaders"? So much for the edgy comedy of years past, just when you thought SNL was finally back in the game of mocking our betters, they take a dive.

[malclave]

The new version also seems to remove identification of the two characters as the Sandlers.

[Happy4LA]

This is really disturbing. People whine about a liberal media bias so much that people seem to think it's cliché, but I really believe there would be more outrage had this been a Republican congressman so closely tied to this financial mess. Maybe the "should be shot" is a bit overboard, but Barney Frank is free game. As much scorn as people should have about these greedy, corrupt, incompetent, and unethical CEOs and execs, they should also have the same amount of scorn for people like Barney Frank. Without Frank's influence and congressional pull, many of these problems would not have occurred. There needs to be bi-partisan outrage here, and yet it appears people are covering for Barney Frank. Why? And why don’t reporters have the same zeal for exposing corrupt Democratic congressman as they do Republican? Is that a fair assessment? Barney Frank has already blamed his accusers of being racists, what other dirty tactics will he pull to save his behind? And tell me, is Lorne Michaels a Democrat or Republican?

[IntelligentByDesign]

To those who continue to try and tie Fannie and Freddy to the predatory lending and subprime mess, read the comments above. They are correct. Fannie and Freddy were not allowed to purchase subprime loans, and were not lenders. Then, check out this NY times article about Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd. It does a great job of showing how Mudd was forced to take more and more risks by a lot of parties. There's far too much blame here to lay it on one party or person.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/business/05fannie.html

[pjc]

To the last guy about Mudd.

Barney is sitll the most to blame even so, as he specifically blocked efforts that would have kept subprime issues from happening.

[Paul]

The last guy about the Ceo Mudd...is partially right.

Hower, Franks still deserves lions share from a politician side of iit.... and a whole lot more than Bush who deserves zero blame as relates to fannny/freddy.