Don't believe everything you read. I learned this important lesson anew just moments ago when I opened up today's Wall Street Journal and saw their version of this letter I sent them a week ago: "Jaqueline Siegel and her husband David, whose shameless and self-indulgent lifestyle was profiled in your paper ("The Wild Ride of the 1%" Review, Oct. 22-23), represent the very worst of the human condition. They and their kind are the problem, not the banks or the politicians or Congress. Reading about their decision to build a 90,000 square-foot, single-family home at a cost of $50 million because, as Mr. Siegel said, "I couldn't spend all the money I was making," sent shivers down my spine. The fact that they they are passing on their greed to their eight children is an even more horrifying thought. One wonders what would happen if the Siegels were magically transported to the heart of the Occupy Wall Street protest and left there to explain themselves--now that's a reality TV show I would happily watch!"
Harsh words indeed, and I meant every one of them! But here is what appeared in the paper today:
David and Jaqueline Siegel, whose shameless and self-indulgent lifestyle was profiled in "The Wild Ride of the 1% " (Review, Oct. 22), are the problem, not the banks or the politicians or Congress. Reading about their decision to build a 90,000-square-foot, single-family home at a cost of $50 million because, as Mr. Siegel says, "I couldn't spend all the money I was making," sent shivers down my spine.
Gone are their eight children who surely will inherit their greed and spread it, procreating with the offspring of other greedy folks. Gone is the statement that they represent the very worst of the human condition, a fact that should never be forgotten by anyone who envies their lot. Worst of all, gone is one great idea for a reality show pitting the Siegels against the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters. I'd watch that--wouldn't you?
