Not So Much Fun for Sir Allen

Jon Stewart made soon-to-be-indicted financier Allen Stanford famous for saying that he had "fun" being a billionaire.

But it's not so much fun anymore now that his main reputation is for running a multi-billion dollar ponzi scheme.

Here's Sir Allen fantasizing about throttling a New York Times reporter.

Tears welling in his eyes, Mr. Stanford came out swinging in an interview Monday in his lawyer's office. He accused the Securities and Exchange Commission of squandering the assets of his financial companies and engaging in "Gestapo tactics", [TPMmuckraker ed note: that echoes a line DeGuerin first tried out on us] asserted the court-appointed receiver was "not up to the job" and accused the media of making him into a "caricature" of a maverick, unruly Texan who threw money around the Caribbean.

"It's devastated me to the core of my soul," Mr. Stanford said, "to see over 25 years of blood, sweat and tears -- my life's work -- to be taken from me."

He said the credit cards in his wallet were worthless and he did not even have money to pay his lawyer.

"It's debilitating, devastating, horrific," he said, wearing a double-breasted blue suit and conservative tie, his legs moving constantly. "But I am going to fight for my name and I am going to win."

The anger of the man came close to boiling over when he told a photographer taking his picture that the clicks of the camera shutter made his respond like "Pavlov's dog." He added, "I start to get an itch to grab somebody by the throat." Later in the interview, he asked the photographer if he wanted to take a picture of him strangling the reporter doing the interview.

It just broke my heart to read that.