From 'Cash McCall' to Gordon Gekko

Acouple of years ago I decided to get out of the business end of partisan politics, of managing and advising campaigns and candidates and officeholders. And although my bank account has suffered a bit, on the whole I’d have to say I’m thrilled with the results of my decision.

Going from political insider to onlooker is kind of like getting a divorce. You discover in no time who your real friends are and who has just been blowing smoke up your ballot. And that’s always a good thing to know.
There is clarity in distance, as well. Just as any divorced person can, after a time, look back on a failed marriage and objectively assign responsibility, separation from the partisan wars eventually offers a similar lucidity, most especially for me in observing the Washington blame game over our lingering recession, caused in large measure by the subprime mortgage fiasco.

There is clarity in distance, as well. Just as any divorced person can, after a time, look back on a failed marriage and objectively assign responsibility, separation from the partisan wars eventually offers a similar lucidity, most especially for me in observing the Washington blame game over our lingering recession, caused in large measure by the subprime mortgage fiasco.
Democrats blame Wall Street as the originator of the financial failure; Republicans blame Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The fact that neither could have pulled off this devastating scam without the other seems to occur to no one. And it matters little that both entities pile cash upon both parties. Instead, Republicans and Democrats demand that we choose sides and assign unilateral blame. Makes for a better sound bite.

While Republicans continue to uncover Fannie/Freddie chicanery, despite scant attention paid by the media, Wall Street has become firmly entrenched as the Democrats’ number 1 whipping boy. Not that the Street has not earned the attention, most especially the gangsters over at the independent nation of Goldman Sachs, suppliers of recent government gurus Robert Rubin, Henry Paulsen, Jon Corzine and little Timmy Geithner. They are Democrats all, by the way, but no matter.

Wall Street has emerged as Public Enemy No. 1, with virtually all media attention lavished upon the seamier side of the Street. Hollywood continues to weigh in with resounding thuds to the left, as has long been its habit. Contemporary films favor riches-to-rags stories when it comes to the portrayal of the honchos of American enterprise. But the new nastiness keeps them from portraying the perpetrators as in any way redeemable.

The fictional Gordon Gekko became synonymous with Wall Street greed, following the 1987 release of the film, “Wall Street”, and the masterful portrayal by Michael Douglas, including his signature line, “Greed is good.” But “Wall Street” the movie was nothing more than a thinly veiled remake of the 1960 hit, “Cash McCall”, starring the irascible James Garner in the Gekko role of cruel corporate raider.

The themes of the two films are mirror images: cold-hearted moneybags guy forces his way into ownership of troubled companies, strips them clean of salvageable assets, destroying jobs in the process, and slithers on toward his next victim, precisely the image Newt Gingrich, Barack Obama, and scores of others want you to have of current Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney.

But there is one major difference between “Wall Street” and “Cash McCall” that crystallizes the difference between the fashionable propaganda of then and now. Gordon Gekko remains unrepentant, and is dragged kicking and screaming to conviction for his crimes. He goes off to jail, there to sit awaiting the 2010 release of the sequel, in which he will again be defined by greed. Translation: there is no redemption for the greedy.

“Cash McCall”, on the other hand, concludes with the transformation of the cold-hearted James Garner character from steely-eyed corporate raider into compassionate company builder, making money while preserving jobs. Its conclusion is one of inspirational optimism, a rare business image commodity today.

For the next 11 months, Democrats will try to convince us that Mitt Romney is Gordon Gekko, while the Republicans will portray him as Cash McCall. That will contrast with dueling partisan images of Barack Obama as either Gandhi or Karl Marx, reincarnate.

We the people will be driven further apart in the process. But we’ll make the choice, as always, and then live with it. I suspect little will change, regardless.