First, to the interview. You can, and should, listen to it here.
The url is:
http://www.ultimateuploads.com/audio/view.php?play=10aa902b7bb9763edd29058fb220e350
Byrne was interviewed by NPR a day or two ago, and got 10 minutes to discuss the issues that are most pressing to him - naked short selling, his relationship with his Dad, his company.
Juxtapose that with the latest op ed piece from NY, specifically from Thestreet.com, which frames Patrick's latest press release as bizarre and incoherent.
Specifically:
"The language that followed the headline was, in a word, weird. And overly boastful and needlessly pugnacious. And plain peculiar. Ask me more and I'll tell you what I really think.
None other than Overstock.com Chairman and CEO Patrick Byrne is quoted in alarming detail in the second paragraph. Excerpting even a portion of what he says would raise it toward the level of reasonable discourse. So let me just summarize quickly: Byrne talks about "whispering" and "hokum" and about how the system of corporate voting and governance is a "hoax." He speaks about "miscreants" who file delaying motions, so-called journalists who get marching orders from hedge funds. Then he wraps it all up by applauding the fact that the SEC wants to haul away a bunch of information."
Uh, Mark, sweetie, you are either the most uninformed human working a typewriter in NY (possible) or you are deliberately misleading your readers (also possible, and not mutually exclusive).
First we can take the easy ones. Did you miss the 6 page article in Bloomberg (you might have heard of them) on how the system of corporate voting is a sham? How about the two recent pieces in the Financial Times? I can see how a busy guy might miss those, so let's toss you a softball. Did you miss the article in Thestreet.com by Arne Alsin discussing that issue? You know, the same online periodical you are writing this for?
Yes? No?
On to the language. Patrick regularly refers to those he is alleging are involved in efforts to manipulate his company's stock as miscreants. He has been doing so for well over a year. That is the term he uses, and it is a good one. It is also English, and has a well understood meaning.
Did you also miss the subpoenas issued to Thestreet.com, and Herb Greenberg, and Jim Cramer? You know, those subpoenas that are investigating precisely the link between hedge funds and journalists?
By this point, I suppose the reader has to ask, what do you know about that is relevant to the release?
Anyway, the NY spin machine continues to grind away, with faux ignorance the order of the day, and the old adage "repeat a lie often enough and it will become the truth" being worked for all it is worth.
I wonder who is actually fooled by this?
Go listen to the radio interview, and again, then ask yourself if any part of it sounds crazy or incoherent, or whether Patrick sounds loony or bizarre.