Curses! Foiled Again!

Bank Lawyer's Blog initiates it's first annual "Cover Story Kiss of Death" award and gives it to Diana Taylor. While this blog's author was buried in meetings and conference calls today, alert reader Peter Freeman was keeping his eye on the news and alerted me to today's article in the American Banker (paid subscription required) that quotes "unnamed sources" (I hate those guys) to the effect that "Diana L. Taylor, the White House's initial pick to head the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., is no longer expected to be nominated for the post."

Ms. Taylor, the superintendent of the New York State Banking Department since 2003, was in the final stages of the vetting process, and the White House was poised to announce the nomination soon.

Whether she withdrew or the White House pulled the nomination was unclear Friday. Ms. Taylor and White House officials would not discuss the matter.

No sooner do I rant about the delay in the announcement of her appointment than it's yanked, either by her or by the White House. Nobody's talking at this point, at least not to the press. Certainly not to me, other than those nasty cease and desist letters I received from Ms. Taylor's attorneys, demanding that I stop stalking her.

I guess this means Ms. Taylor gets to spend more time with Mike (Bloomberg, Mayor of New York, and her current boyfriend, unless my mention of that fact has already caused them to split). Albany is a lot closer to New York City than Washington, D.C., so this might work out for all concerned.

OK, who's next? The American Banker speculates on the possibility of Jo Ann Barefoot, well known banking consultant from Ohio, and currently the principal of Jo Ann Barefoot and Company. So as not to put a curse on Jo Ann similar to the one I inflicted on Ms. Taylor, and to lessen any potential civil and criminal liability on my part, I'll refrain from pushing for her nomination or mentioning any connection between her and a killer black dress.

Would it be politically incorrect to mention that she has a great head of hair? If so, forget I said anything about it.

In order to avoid any further controversy on the issue, I'm personally recommending another Jo Ann, actress and native Texan Jo Ann Pflug. Inasmuch as (to my knowledge) she knows absolutely nothing about banks, the curse of Bank Lawyer's Blog adversely affecting her chances for a White House appointment to head the FDIC should cause no pain to her or anyone else.

Although how cool would it be to have as the head of a government agency a woman who once played a character named Lieutenant Maria "Dish" Schneider?