Leave Michael Douglas ALOOOOOOONE!

I was thinking yesterday about suspending my blogging to deal with the mortgage meltdown, but instead I’ll just continue making snarky observations about pop culture while the very soul of capitalism spontaneously combusts or whatever. Like this: I’ve been wondering for a couple weeks now how all the insanity on Wall Street will affect Money Never Sleeps, that misbegotten Wall Street sequel that was supposedly in the works last year. And guess what? Some actual “journalists” have gone ahead and given us all a sneak peak of how Money might play, by cornering Michael Douglas and requesting some sort of in-character comment as Gordon Gekko about the financial crisis. Yes, not one but several professional reporters seem to have followed Douglas to a U.N. event where he was speaking about nuclear test bans, all so they could ask him insightful questions like: “Are you saying, Gordon, that greed is not good?” Hoo boy. Who cares about limiting nukes when that kind of Pulitzer-worthy scoop is within reach?

Douglas, to his credit, refused to take that reporter’s bait, adding, “My name is not Gordon. He’s a character I played 20 years ago.” You can watch the whole sorry spectacle below. And I’m heartened to hear Douglas’ reply. Does this mean maybe he’s no longer on board to play Gekko in that sequel, as was reported last year? More importantly, now that the clever little Woodwards at that press conference have gotten this out of the way, can we please agree as a nation to stop trying to get Michael Douglas to say sentences that include the words “greed” and “good” from now on? This meme must die! Or, hey, maybe Douglas should give up and agree to take John McCain’s place at the debate tonight. What do you say?