Gekko's echo

The fictional Gordon Gekko, portrayed by Michael Douglas in the 1987 film Wall Street, had a way of cutting through crap. His "greed" soliloquy is studied in the halls of academia and repeated in the towers of corporate finance.

Were Mr. Gekko a member of the 110th Congress, however, I suspect he’d be thumping a different drum. As I watch the House join the Senate in lifting a trillion dollars from the American taxpayer's pocket, and with apologies to the screenwriter, I can imagine Mr. Gekko making this speech from the well:

"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that fear -- for lack of a better word -- is good.

"Fear is right. Fear works.

"Fear clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

"Fear, in all of its forms -- fear for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind.

"And fear -- you mark my words -- will not only save this bailout, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."

Never mind how we got here. Forget, at least for the moment, the sheer futility of this legislative stunt.

What we've seen since Monday's unconsciously correct vote by the House is frenzied trading in the real coin of the political realm: fear. We watched 535 legislators, along with a tide of constituents, frightened from principled restraint into ill-advised action.

Last one to leave, please get the light.