Not A Conspiracy Theory

Indeed, I don't plan in this post to offer a "theory" of any sort, not even the most tentative of hypotheses.

What I will do, though, is confess that a certain fact pattern creeps me out. And that if I weren't the level-headed fellow that I am, I would probably spin a conspiracy theory around it. It would be something of a novelty too, because this particular pattern has so far escaped the net of most such theorists.

Which brings us at last to the point: Cerberus is everywhere. I don't mean the multi-headed hellhound. http://www.steliart.com/hercules_capture_of_cerberus.htm

I mean the global-investment company associated with former vice president Dan Quayle. Could it be that Quayle wasn't as dumb as we thought in the days when he couldn't moderate a spelling bee properly?

Cerberus is everywhere, just behind the headlines. Refco, once a very prominent commodities futures trading concern, melted down in 2005. The bankruptcy court auctioned off its assets, and Cerberus was in the thick of that.

http://users2.wsj.com/lmda/do/checkLogin?mg=evo-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB113176036686295540.html%3Fmod%3Drss_whats_news_us_business

The Austrian bank, Bawag -- that country's fourth largest -- runs into trouble (due to its own entanglement with Refco), and Cerberus steps in to pick up the pieces.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1475757320061214

The logging and paper industries are going through a period of consolidation. Cerberus is in the thick of that.

Finally, only because accumulating more examples would be too easy: Daimler is looking to unload its American operation, Chrysler. It looks for buyers and guess who surfaces? Yes, the hell hound.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-14981488.htm

So Cerberus is a large successful company, and Quayle has found himself a job. What is there especially that bothers me? Well ... chiefly that Cerberus seems to be always just behind the headlines, and also that it seems to be always just behind the headlines. It has managed to intrude itself into innumerable high-profile goings on, while staying remarkably low profile itself.

That just makes me go hmmmm.