MF cops a plea, and get 2-5 yrs. Ruth can't be forced to testify against her spouse and walks off whistling,"Hava Nagila" or "Let us Rejoice",she then moves to the Caymans and awaits a rehabilitated Bernie who has a sore butt and the rest of the money,

I sssssssoooooooo terribly weary of listening to people's hard luck stories regarding the loss of funds to bernie. Have you no sense to do "due diligence" and presume that outlandish claims on returns are false..

This kind of rant is beneath the Daily Beast. Just because someone fully deserves to be and feel enraged by this scandal doesn't mean that such intemperate, poorly constructed writing is worthy of being published, and in installments, no less. Enough already.

Oh, no. PLEASE leave us alone. No more. Please. You're going to get Exploora all riled up again. I haven't even read this yet. But, God help me, here goes...

Ms Penney, I feel for you. I feel for all of those people that got ripped off. I also feel for those people who got hit by predatory loan brokers and those who workers whos jobs evaporated as economic markets collapsed. In the end many of them suffer at least as bad as you and none of them have book deals or stories about perfect white shirts to share with the world. I would encourage you to turn your keen eye to the larger world and share the stories of others who have been wronged as well. It will make your own story more interesting by putting it alongside those from different walks of life with other points of view.

AP,

Still intent on doubling down on the Bag Lady moniker, eh?

Okay. Will let the Blue Tarp Bag Ladies Collective know you continue to suffer delusions. They can relate. The last time I spoke with them, they said they really want to meet you -- being that you're sisters in the struggle an' all.

Btw - Your writing is terrible this time out, but at least you sound more real in this blog than you did in the others. Small mercies, I guess.

Unfortunately, I don't think you're going to realize your fantasy of MF suffering much in the way of consequences.My hunch is the MF will plead out to avoid a trial, and then, in due course, expire, a la Ken Lay.

His sons will cop pleas, and then it's anyone's guess.Ruthie will be given a pass and live out her days sipping pina coladas in the Cayman Islands.

You, I imagine, will sit in your cold kitchen and continue to rant and rave until the cows come home. Or the lights go out, or the nice men come to take you away.

Don't worry. You can always come to the Frozen North and live with the bag ladies of the Blue Tarp Collective. You are growing on them. They admire your pluck and stubborn insistence that you are one of them. Go figure.

Alexandra is just jealous of Ruth because she can't afford another lift now. She's also probably facing the hard fact that she doesn't have another book in her. Writing not going well, Alex? Maybe all that ugly rage inside of you is getting in the way. If I had a choice of spending an evening with the Madoffs or you, I'd gladly choose the Madoffs, kosher or unkosher.

Alexandra,
You so bad!!! Love ya.

ms. Bag Lady,
This is my first read of your column but I have wanted to ask any one of Madoff's vicitims why you invested with him in the first place? I've heard many pundits say the returns he promised his investors were too good to be true. When did you realize the money you were making with his group was too good to be true? Or did you?

"My God, the outrage is beyond the beyond."

Your cat wrote this, right?

Y'all gotta let up on AP. Don't you get it? She lost all her money to a crook! She can rant all she wants if you ask me. Don't like it... dont' read it. Sure there are plenty of other people worse off than Alexandra, but damn. She lost everything! She's scramblin' to make some money writing a transparent blog and maybe a book. I hope she sells 10 million copies.

This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.

I agree with CountRaoul. Why are you hating AP? Kicking a person when they're down. I don't understand how making her a target of your anger is in anyway justified. And it doesn't help the even more unfortunate one iota.

pricklypear,

AP is not a target of anger, she's a target of derision. And justly so given her bizarre insistence on calling herself a Bag Lady.

Time to get real.

Well, the world isn't fair, and sometimes you have to forgive or the anger can possess you.

Unless you can find a way to get even of course.

Sadly, I suspect many of the elderly clients could die before this is all straightened out.

So, we need more books with multi climaxes, comic release, and a happy ending. So let the book flow, it will. It did before. It is always there, just forgive those idiots, to a point, never forget, but free your mind so your book can flow, maybe the anger would be good for the book, of course you have to control it though, it can't control you.

This crime is not just about the money, it is about the violation, the breach of trust and duty, and all that stuff. And the huge shock.

The huge shock I would suspect would haunt you sort of like post traumatic stress disorder.

And Perkins shame on you for being so rude to Ms. Penney.

PS. I am certain if you are patient, you will see some heads rolling over this.

oh oh ....

I can find better quality writing on MySpace.

Most justified piece I've read in years. There's one bottom line here, beyond all the droll in comments above about understanding and the wider world: The assets of anyone who benefitted from the Madoff scam, including those who withdrew phony profits, can and should be divided equally among all those who invested there-in, and that includes the Penthouse, the bonds, and the chalet in France.

Amazing, though, Alexandra, how the types above, all with lives unimpacted, are able to get over it so easily and pontificate about the emotions of one one who entrusted the fruits of her labor to the alleged manipulations of this nightmare man.

I look forward to your life story and all your talented achievements whom few of the above will ever approach. Will be very worthwhile, and a poignant reminder that Wall Street should never be the same.

Ms. Penney, I am one of the poor fat asses out here in America, and neither the recession nor the MF himself have taken anything from me, because I didn't have much to begin with. But I am following your Bag Lady Tales with much interest and compassion. I am so sorry that you've lost the nest egg you worked so hard to build, and I cannot begin to imagine how terrifying that must be. May I recommend a good read as diversion? This one: Bitter Is The New Black by Jen Lancaster. She was a smug super-shopper who lost her finance job after 9/11, and the book chronicles her adventures as her money, privileges, and luck all disappear. It's funny as hell, a good book to read on the subway. :o) Again, thanks for your candor and wit, and never mind the naysayers and the schadenfreude.

I would think if Picard is getting 2% (or whatever it is) of money he is able to recover, this 69 million will not go unnoticed,

At least he has an incentive to do his job.

I think the hardest part in this case will be being patient. The book deal is going to be very exciting I would think.

The Madoff's aren't going to recover from this, their life as they know it, will never be the same.

They will be living in fear for the rest of their lives I would think, and then God will probably not be amused either by their alleged antics on Earth.

I would think anyone with Madoff for a last name, may want to change it as soon as possible. Such a name would stick out of a phone book like a sore thumb.

The other problem is, this case is still in the courts right, so they can only say so much. Even if he does plea, on his knees even, there may be other people they are investigating, and if they say too much, the case could be ruined. I would think people who are afraid that their own head might start rolling, will have an incentive to start digging now, rather than later, but better late than never. I would also think they are going to have to have a rescue plan for the investors, to build investor confidence back up.

I have to work on my derivative paper and study for exam. Good luck AP.

AP,

How's New York these days? How's your orchid plant doing? What happened to all the ambient minutia you used to spice up your blogs with? I miss them. Who cares about these a*holes? They're trying to do everything they can to survive, like all good animals do. We're all similarly outraged every time we hear another Madoff wrinkle. His lawyer has received death threats -- you forgot to put that in the blog. Does that make you feel better? It should.

Anyway, stay classy.

You too, perkins.

I am furious at the Madoffs, and lost only a small amount (via a bank), so Penney's rage at these criminals is completely understandable. In fact, I'm surprised they haven't been attacked on the streets. My hope is that they lose every penny and both serve hard time. But somehow I feel that won't happen--such types always seem to slither out of things.