A few posts ago, in “Goldman Sachs Fears The Material Adverse Affects Of Haterade,” we talked about the $GS image problem and whether or not it might ever actually cost them some business. And it looks like it might actually have:

The decision announced earlier Monday that the Treasury Department has chosen Morgan Stanley to advise it on unloading its massive stake in Citigroup — the largest stock offering in history and one of the most high-profile investment banking assignments in years — has given credence to the opinion of some senior executives inside the firm that Goldman’s image problems will impact its client related business. These executives worried that prospective investment-banking clients concerned about their association with the firm will simply hire other players rather than face the fallout of working with Goldman.

Gasparino theorizes that the bigger loss is not the fees but instead the clout that comes with helping the feds with the Largest Equity Offering In History Ever. $GS declined to comment to FOX, and we couldn’t get Lucas van Praag on the phone either, though we were seriously hoping for a quote like “I pity the fool who asks Morgan Stanley to advise on his equity offerings” with a withering look toward Capitol Hill, or at least for his secretary to tell us he was up on the roof burning a bandit mask in effigy, but we got none of that, at all.

Above, we’ve made a Kinder, Gentler Lloyd, who now seems not at all vampirish or squid-like. You’d give a deal to a guy who brought you flowers and kittens, wouldn’t you?