Blaming white people with blue eyes for global financial crisis

Poor Gordon Brown, he has suffered more humiliation in the international media lately than any British prime minister in recent history. 

Perhaps you’ve seen the viral video of him being dressed down by British Member of the European Parliament Daniel Hannan – who ended his tongue lashing by calling Brown “the devalued prime minister of a devalued government.”

Not to mention the political body blow he suffered over the weekend when someone leaked his draft of the final communiqué world leaders were supposed to endorse at the end of their G-20 summit on Thursday.  Especially since this prompted leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel to preemptively reject the communiqué’s key provision, which calls for a $2-trillion global stimulus package to save the global economy.

Most interesting for me, however, was the humiliation he suffered on a trip to Brazil last week to enlist support for his G-20 communiqué from that country’s irascible president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula).  Because reports are that Brown nearly lost his lunch at their joint press conference when Lula went off message as follows:

This crisis was caused by the irrational behavior of white people with blue eyes, who before the crisis appeared to know everything and now demonstrate that they know nothing… I do not know any black or indigenous bankers.

Of course, given the notorious rantings of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, this might seem like nothing more than the undiplomatic and incendiary rhetoric the world has come to expect from hot-blooded Latin leaders.  Perhaps; but what Lula said also happens to be true … at least in part.

Not surprisingly, it has provided terrific fodder for political commentators – many of whom have fatuously charged Lula of reverse racism.  In fact, I am dismayed at the number of pundits, like Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, who dismissed Lula’s assertion as sheer “lunacy” without conceding the essential truth of the matter asserted.

Meanwhile, instead of getting flustered, Brown would have saved face a little by pointing out to Lula that, in fact, he has brown eyes.

Never mind that this might have prompted Lula to refine his assertion to charge, more accurately, that this global financial crisis was caused by white American and European men, who traveled the globe dispensing advice that has now proved to be not just self-serving but the blueprint for a financial house of cards.

At any rate, I fully expect Lula to be greeted like a hero by G-20 leaders from developing countries. Because, trust me, they all admire the fact that he had the cajones to say publicly what they’ve all been muttering in private about the cause of this crisis. 

But I’m sure the irony is not lost on any of them that the most non-white member of the group just happens to be the leader from the country most responsible for this crisis, namely, President Barack Obama of the United States.