The ongoing legal passion play regarding housing confusion on the part of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has me thinking about the word cook and variations thereof.
When one fudges a company’s accounting numbers, the act is said to be cooking the books. Lisa Cook is being accused of cooking her personal books, allegedly claiming as many as three primary residences, supposedly in the effort to secure lower mortgage interest rates.
Her defenders range from denying anything nefarious took place, to saying it happened before she was a DEI pick to be a Fed governor and so does not matter (I was tempted be punny and say count instead of matter), to saying it was just a bit of confusion since she was buying so many houses at the time
I read that 593 left-wing economists have signed a public letter defending Cook. And I am reminded of the 51 intelligence types who swore publicly that Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation. They were very, very wrong.
To borrow the tagline from wrestler-turned-movie-star Dwayne Johnson, I think I can smell what The Rock is cooking.
As Cook’s supporters throw stuff against the wall to see what sticks, they have tossed in the race card. Can’t pass on that since Cook is black. Can misogyny be far behind? She is a woman, too, or at least presents as one.
I’m not sure what Cook’s preferred pronouns are.
The race baiters neatly ignore three names – Robert Kaplan, Eric Rosengren and Richard Clarida – white men all who in recent years resigned under fire from positions with the Federal Reserve over questions of financial impropriety.
They were not convicted of any misdeeds, but stepped away for the good of the institution.
Cook is not similarly inclined.
We are left to speculate if too many Cook(e)s spoil the broth.
Recall if you will, Janet Cooke, the former Washington Post reporterette.
If you think journalistic malpractice is a new phenomenon, understand that way back in 1980, Janet Cooke became the poster girl for not letting the facts get in the way of promoting an agenda.
Cooke, the product of a civil rights activist father and school teacher mother, rose quickly in the ranks, partly on talent and partly on being a black woman.
In 1980, she wrote a story for the Washington Post “Jimmy’s World” about a black 8-year-old heroin addict, the sweet spot of her twin focuses of race and poverty
It was compelling, heart-wrenching stuff and earned a Cooke a Pulitzer prize.
Alas, Cooke just made it up and, after some people started poking around, she admitted as much. Goodbye Pulitzer. Hello unemployment. But there are reports that Cooke eventually landed on her feet – wait for it – by teaching journalism at the university level.
That explains a lot about what passes for journalism these days.
Had Cooke simply waited until 2025, she could have kept the Pulitzer. That’s what the Washington Post and New York Times have done regarding the Pulitzers they won for journalistic malpractice in covering the supposed Russian collusion with Donald Trump’s 2016 election.
Their narrative has been debunked. Yet the Pullitzers remain in their hands.
Perhaps these two usual suspects of left-wing media bias can grab another Pulitzer by writing prolifically to help Lisa Cook clear up her apparent confusion over where she lives.
Sam Ross Jr's site 