Shkreli blows off congressional committee

[Note to readers:   The political scene is just too hot right now to take time out;  so I'm going to compromise.   For the next few days, I will post two articles each day, one political and one not.   So if you want to skip one or the other, just scroll down to the other.  Today, following this, there is a new article about the awful Ted Cruz and his dirty tricks:  "The Price of Assholery"] 

A smirking, eye-rolling Martin Shkreli took the 5th amendment at his subpoenaed appearance before a congressional committee hearing yesterday on pharmaceutical price gouging.   He spoke no words except to assert his right against self-incrimination, but he spoke plenty with his facial expressions, reacting with disdain and utter disrespect for committee members as they spoke throughout the hearing.
Photos by Getty Images  

Shkreli is the former pharmaceutical CEO who bought a company that manufactured a life-saving antiparasitic drug needed by AIDS patients and others -- then he hiked the price per dose from $13.50 to $700.00, which is over 5000%.  Of course, that is not illegal, but Shkreli showed the same reaction to criticism for that unconscionable decision as he showed here in the hearing.

He was arrested -- and is out on $5 million bail -- on unrelated charges of securities fraud for running what amounted to a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors in his other failing businesses. 

Shkreli's facial disdain for the proceedings got so extreme at one point that his lawyer tried to intervene, only to be shut down by the committee chair.    As if that weren't enough, Shkreli later tweeted:  "Hard to accept that these imbeciles represent the people in our government."

Well, sometimes I feel the same way about Republican investigative committees, but I wouldn't want to find myself associated with this young man, who seems so intent on making himself the most hated man in America.

Ralph