Do we have responsibility for ourselves?

Riding the coattails of Rick Santelli, I have to ask this question. What, if any, responsibility do we have for ourselves?

Here is another violin playing boo hoo article about a guy who thought he could buy a 1.5 million dollar condo on $20,000 a year in income.

When Uzbek hot-dog vendor Danil Kasimov thought of America, he thought of the place portrayed in movies — a Land of Plenty where anyone's dreams could come true.

In 2000, he emigrated to the U.S., settled in Redmond and became a limousine driver, earning little more than minimum wage.

Two years ago, a real-estate agent suggested he consider purchasing a condominium at the luxurious Bellevue Towers. To Kasimov, it seemed his vision of America was unfolding with the ease of the touch-screen showing eventual views from his dream condo on the 32nd floor.

Delighted that he prequalified for a $1.5 million condo on his $20,000-a-year income, he put down more than $75,000 in earnest money he borrowed from a friend.

But that money — and nearly $100,000 from five other prospective condo buyers — soon evaporated. The six filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court this week against Bellevue Towers and JP Morgan Chase Bank, alleging the lender falsified documents, making it possible for them to prequalify for loans they could never actually get.

In the first place, Danil's wife is pretty hot.

Second, did the guy stop to think, hey I can barely make enough income to support my $1500 a month rent payment. How in the world to I support a $1.5 million dollar mortgage?

Third, isn't it incumbent upon each of us to do due diligence on a $100,000 investment?

Granted, if this guy got ripped off, it should be considered criminal theft on the highest order, not a civil case.

But isn't this like feeling sorry for a lifetime smoker who gets lung cancer? Or someone who's car is stolen when they leave the keys in it.

There are plenty of sympathetic figures in this mortgage meltdown; some I'm related to. But I'm not quite feeling the love for this dim wit or the idiot in my previous post.

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