The long overdue downfall of Gordon Gekko: Romney is "paradigmatic exemplar" of the Reagan-era mogul

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Monday, Jan 9, 2012 12:30 PM Pacific Standard Time
The long overdue downfall of Gordon Gekko
Gingrich's scorched earth attack on Romney leaves no doubt: Reagan-era capitalism is finally on its deathbed

By Andrew Leonard



It is no surprise to see Mitt Romney attacked as a caricature of Gordon Gekko, the corporate raider immortalized in Oliver Stone’s 1987 film “Wall Street.” As far back as 1994, when Romney ran for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy successfully defeated him by utilizing that exact attack strategy. And it is in no way fundamentally wrong.

Like Gekko, Romney made his fortune buying and selling companies; and like Gekko, he believes that his “greed is good” version of rough-and-tumble creative destruction is a positive force for America, weeding out the bad performers and nurturing lean-and-mean profit engines. If you are looking for the paradigmatic exemplar of the new style of capitalism mogul launched by the Reagan revolution, Romney is your man. Michael Douglas’ Gordon Gekko is merely ersatz.

The shock is to see Newt Gingrich and his financial backers channeling the Oliver Stone critique so passionately and wholeheartedly. If you have not seen the three-minute advertisement “When Romney Came to Town,” the soon-to-be debuted documentary lambasting Romney as the enemy of the American worker, prepare to be flabbergasted.

And so on. Michael Moore doesn’t sting this hard, and MoveOn isn’t this angry. If Romney, as expected, ends up winning the Republican nomination, Obama’s campaign team can relax. Their work has already been done.

http://www.salon.com/2012/01/09/the_long_overdue_downfall_of_gordon_gekko/singleton/

[Old and In the Way]

1. Just saw a brilliant comment on Romney.

Mitt is - the jobs cremator.

[klook]

5. Ha, good one

I'll use that. Thanks.

[RoccoR5955]

7. I hope that "The jobs cremator" goes viral

I've been using it since I saw it a few days ago.

[madrchsod]

2. newt would have or will do the same thing.

anyone who thinks that newt will save the public unions pension funds is delusional.

newt is just pissed because mittens did this first

[Douglas Carpenter]

3. that is the theme that can defeat Mitt Romney - perhaps even by a landlide

[SemperEadem]

4. ok, so how does this wipe clean the filth that lays in Gringich's wake?

I mean, it's alright, but unless they climb in with specifics and not base the whole thing on sad old ladies, it's just a "waaa-a-a-a-a-a-a-ah!" piece. We've seen this stuff already.

Gingrich is no better than romney. I think it's hilarious that he's doing the dems' work for them.

[waddirum]

6. I couldn't believe how good that video is

Hard to believe that such a poignant portrayal came from a Republican "swiftboat" shop. I can't wait to see the full production (this video clip is just a preview).

We are witnessing a full-blown Repub civil war. I remember being worried about Democratic "party unity" during the primaries in 2008. But this is a whole 'nother level.

[Uncle Joe]

9. This type of ad by the Republicans taking direct aim at Wall Street is more evidence

of the political impact the Occupy Movement is having on the national consciousness.

[dgordy]

12. waddirum

The Yankee (Union) reference was never meant to offend Southern sensibilities towards those still-buzzwords! The past is past. Let's remember to keep the main thing, the main thing.

[dgordy]

11. waddirum

Your Repub civil war analogy hopefully will mirror the results of the actual event - Yankees (Union) win! Civility, Freedom, Equality, Justice, Opportunity, Realism, Compassion, and "all for one, and one for all". Kudos to you waddirum.

[Moonwalk]

8. This is from Newt? It almost feels like his attitude toward Mitt is like that of the Repukes...

...toward Obama. He'll do anything to make sure Mitt is defeated even if he cuts his own legs off in the process

What can we expect next? How far will he go in doing our job for us? Will he Occupy Wall Street to defeat Mittens?

(Granted, what he's hoping to do is Occupy the White House)

[Erda]

10. At 56 seconds into the video. . .

as the arrow ascends it looks like the tail of the devil. I wonder if this is intentional. It makes Romney in that instant resemble Satan. I've been wondering if his opposition will subliminally use religious beliefs to turn him into the anti-Christ.

[DonCoquixote]

13. oh please

If anything, when Mitt wins, the powers that be will say "see, this proves wall street IZ GOOOOD", and if he wins in 2012, the meme will be "see, ain't america great with rich white men in charge!"