Belgistan August 15, 2014 JP MORGAN A letter to the editor of the Madison, Wisconsin, Cap Times (thanks, Janet) — Dear Editor: I’m a longtime admirer of Dave Zweifel, but when he says in his article “How the GOP has changed for the worse” that “Jamie Dimon is the new J.P. Morgan,” I must offer a friendly demurrer. J.P. Morgan was not one of the robber barons. He was an honest, compassionate and colorful character who happened to have a knack for making money. He gave much of it to hospitals, schools and museums. When he died, he was president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When one of his lovers, before he was married, got engaged, he gave her a generous check as a wedding gift. After the panic of 1907, he organized a syndicate of bankers to rescue the economy from collapse, using the government’s own deposits in the banks. My favorite story about him is the time a visiting clergyman didn’t have time to get to the train station. Morgan told him, “Don’t worry, the train runs right behind my estate. We’ll just go flag it down.” When the conductor learned why his train had been stopped, he informed Morgan in colorful language that that sort of thing was not done. “Who do you think you are?” the conductor asked. “Well, I’m J.P. Morgan, and I happen to own this railroad.” “Well, I don’t give damn! You may own the railroad, but you don’t know anything about trains.” J.P. replied, “You’re absolutely right, sir. I assure you it will never happen again.” signed / John Morgan, Madison, WI BELGISTAN The scariest thing to me about these 5 minutes is how very calm and “rational” the interviewee seems as he predicts the ascendance of Sharia Law in Belgium and then Europe and beyond . . . and not so long from now. Chilling . . . and challenging to know how to react. All thoughts welcome. Have a great weekend.