Blankfein Defends Turf, Is 'Hearing Martian'

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein dueled with Sen. Carl Levin as the final witness in today's daylong grilling of company execs. The two went round and round, then round and round again, the same fundamental point without "speaking the same language," writes Frank Ahrens, who's live-blogging the proceedings at the Washington Post. "Levin was speaking a political language; Blankfein, a financial one."

Levin kept repeating the phrase "you sold an investment to someone and bet against it," and Blankfein kept trying to a give a primer on investment banking. "Eventually, the expression on Blankfein's face suggests that he's hearing Martian," writes Ahrens. "And probably Levin feels the same way. ... It's absolutely clear that Blankfein and Levin do not understand each other and never will."
(More Lloyd Blankfein stories.)