It sounds near-unthinkable that analysts are downgrading the House That Jack Built, but current CEO Jeffrey Immelt’s overall efforts notwithstanding, G.E.’s shares sank to a five-year low last week. Long time G.E. bulls are taming their horns, institutional investors are getting itchy—there’s scant patience for further underperformance.

That said, Mr. Immelt has probably acquitted himself well enough to avoid the Icahn glare. Many of his chief executive peers, however, have not.

Under the masthead of his war cry from Texaco’s 1988 annual meeting (“A lot of people die fighting tyranny. The least I can do is vote against it.”), the corporate raider is now adding his ten cents worth to the blogosphere via the Carl Icahn Report.

That Mr. Icahn complains of boards “continuing to pay and pamper and even indemnify (CEOs) under almost any circumstances” is no surprise. As Ted Turner once famously jumped on his boardroom table in Confederate battle dress brandishing a sword, Mr. Icahn’s boardroom assaults are legendary.

More provocative by far is his idea, with a supporting quote from Winston Churchill, that “many American corporations are dysfunctional because corporate democracy is a myth in the United States.” Ichan wants action, not appeasement—echoing the theme of Newsweek’s June 23 examination of the current American political landscape, through the Churchill (“that beau of indomitable leadership”)-Chamberlain-Hitler prism.

“Years from now, writes Icahn, “historians will marvel why we the shareholders – the legitimate owners of companies – did not do something effective about removing terrible managements.”

Yes, but here’s the Newsweek caution: “Leaders who ignore history are doomed to repeat it—but leaders who carelessly or heedlessly use historical analogies, who twist or hype the lessons of the past, may be destined to make even bigger mistakes than their predecessors.”

Jeff Heilman

6/23/08