"Henry Blodget is on the Record saying..."

God, grant me patience:

Even if Twitter kills the "Suggested" page, this exchange provides a hint of how powerful (and profitable) this company can eventually become. We continue to think it will eventually be worth more than $1 billion. --Henry Blodget, 03/12/09

How soon we forget:

In 2002, then New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, published Merrill Lynch e-mails in which Blodget gave assessments about stocks which conflicted with what was publicly published. In 2003, he was charged with civil securities fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He settled without admitting or denying the allegations and was subsequently barred from the securities industry for life. He paid a $2 million fine and $2 million disgorgement.

(But Spitzer patronized hookers! And Al Gore is fat! And Clinton got a blow job! But I digress...)

Blodget doesn't just write about business on his own website. He regularly shows up to yap on CNBC. He also writes for Slate and Newsweek, among other esteemed publications.

Which begs a question (albeit at the risk of asking the utterly obvious): why is anyone listening to Henry Blodget?