Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Lee Iacocca Comments On The State Of The Nation

I receieved the following in an email from my mother the other day.

In a way it is hopeful that Mr. Iacocca is so incensed because it shows that even some traditional leaders of the establishment are opening their eyes. He does not take the next logical step to realize that the entire system has been corrupted, but his rant may indicate that perhaps libertarians are not alone. Maybe there still are other Americans that have not been brain-washed. Maybe some intelligent, independent thinkers like Mr. Iaccoca are also watching the self-destruction of our once noble country, amazed that no-one has noticed that we have separated ourselves from reality.


Remember Lee Iacocca, the VP at Ford credited with the birth of the Mustang, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from their death throes, and the owner of the famous quote 'Lead, follow, or get out of the way'? Well, he's back! He has a new book, and here are some excerpts.

Lee Iacocca writes:

'Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Stay the course'

Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned 'Titanic' I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the bums out!'

You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.

The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of the ' America ' my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?

I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.

The Biggest 'C' is Crisis !

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battle field yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down. George Bush, Dick Cheney and who is this Bozo coming up next? One of the most Liberal Idiots in the U. S. Senate and he is talking about disarming America . I can't believe the American people are seeing what he is about to do to this country. May God have mercy on us all.

On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A Hell of a Mess. So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great Companies are all moving offshore. We're getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are the worst in the world. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership and we are getting ready to put the most Liberal Senator in the U. S. Senate in as our next President because we want to be fair and elect someone just because of his race. We don't have time to be fair, we need a strong leader.

But when you look around, you've got to ask: 'Where have all the leaders gone?' Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I hope you get the point.

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Well guess what people? We are having more floods right now. What are we doing to help these people out. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan Figure out what you're going to do the next time. Why are we allowing people to build in flood plains anyway? If you build in a flood area, expect to be flooded and deal with it. Don't expect the Government to bail you out.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. All they seem to be thinking now-days is getting themselves bigger salaries and bonuses. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three' referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it? likely nothing!

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress and the Senate. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break Why don't you guys show some spine for a change? I honestly don't think any of you have one!

Had Enough?

Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope; I believe in America .... In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America's greatest moments I've also experienced some of our worst crises: the 'Great D epression', 'World War II', the 'Korean War', the 'Kennedy Assassination', the 'Vietnam War', the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this:

'You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to 'Action' for people who, like me, believe in America . It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the crap and go to work . Let's tell 'em all we've had 'enough.'






So I'm delighted that Mr. Iacocca is pissed off, but dissapointed that he doesn't see that this transformation has happened because of the marriage of Washington, large corporations and modern technology. With 55,000 registered lobbyists in Washington, with political campaigns that spend a billion dollars, with the concentration of popular media in only six companies who all have vested interests in the War State, with billions spent on spying on Americans we must come to the realization thattweaking the system or hoping for Iacocca's "strong leader" isn't going to make any difference.

In order to stop out careen towards totalitarianism there will have to be terrible pain. The sheep are not going to wake up otherwise and the ubiquitous power of the Corproate State will continue to grow until the only means of change will be violent and deadly revolution.

cf

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are leaders out there. They are screaming in ciber-space and the directions are fragmented. Shall we try to invergate the populace to renew the principles of liberty, tell everyone to stock-up on food, the monetary system, join a political party, write our congressman, march, protest the war, protest the bail-outs, tax protests, organize citizen homeland security groups, grow a garden, work to create our own radio network, a television sation, make use of CCTV (local community cable access), rally for the ranchers against the RFID livestock tags, against the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, Barack Obama's proof of citizenship, Jury Nullification, neighborhood emergency plans and network with local organizations. There seem to be quite a bit anyone of us self-made leaders can do!

Just don't wait to see a Great American Leader appearing before us on 6:00PM nightly news, no voice on a national radio program and nothing splashed across the front page of the paper.

The only leaders we can hope for are the ones who put their own plans into action. 'Cause Lee Iacocca has done all that he is going to do.

GITA LLOYD said...

What in the world is this? Why get mad now? Where was Lee Iaccoca 8 years ago? I just got back from New Orleans and they are proud of the work they are doing, grass roots and government. We have great leaders right now. This letter from Lee Iaccoca seems to be another manipulative ploy by greedy individuals looking for any way they can to distract us all again. Here come the straw dogs, asking us all to write our congressmen and women. I guess the fire is getting too hot so they pull out these tired old hostile ways of thinking and that is what I'm sick of. Can we let the experts in sciences, education, health care, social sciences and economics gather information and then do their work? Will we listen to them and then make up our minds? I am ready for smart people to run the country and, I'm sorry Lee Iaccoca, we have them at hand.

Great work has already been started by our leaders, especially in the regaining of America's reputation in the world as a land of fairness, justice and law. I don't want borders made up of miles of barbed wire fences.

I disagree with Lee Iaccoca. I see that there have been solutions offered for the problems in the middle east and homeland security. And, I am so relieved that America will not torture. That was an especially dark shadow that covered us all. I worried that our people would be tortured in return and that this would become a terrible and shameful floodgate that would have horrible repercussions. It did shame us across the world and it probably helped to recruit more terrorists and frankly I think only a weak people would resort to torturing. The strong hold to their convictions of rightness in troubled times.

And, I'm sorry but the American car companies were in cahoots for years with the "evil" government refusing to make their cars more efficient. They made plenty of profit for themselves ignoring the predictions by the experts back then that someday our fuel would run out. Which of you doesn't remember that? I clearly remember the 1970's and the refusal of those same car companies to build better smaller cars. They cried out saying, "oh, we can't possible make our cars get better mileage in 20 years." Is this that difficult to remember? Really, the car companies have got to be kidding, if they had worked to make better cars when this discussion first came up 40 years ago, we might not have a gas crisis now.

Friends, please do not be manipulated by these upcoming attacks. Don't be lead down such a negative path. Stop letting the greedy or the corporations or the news manipulate us. I seriously doubt that Lee Iaccoca has been middle class in a while so when he says "The middle class is being squeezed every which way." I think he is using us.

I would prefer that we all lay aside our prejudices, get ready for some serious thinking so we can come to treat each other kindly and respectfully. That is what we should be doing; finding our common ground and making agreements to fix our problems together. Lets agree to ask ourselves and each other if we can create a positive society to live in. I think we are a great, strong, caring people. I am willing to trust and believe in the goodwill of these new leaders who are inquiring and logical. Can we all at least be glad that these changes could be here? And considering what I've just read below, our new leaders are scaring the pants off the people in power who obviously prefer to remain in power. Don't listen to them.

I suggest we don't let ourselves be manipulated.

gita lloyd

GITA LLOYD said...

What in the world is this? Why get mad now? Where was Lee Iaccoca 8 years ago? I just got back from New Orleans and they are proud of the work they are doing, grass roots and government. We have great leaders right now. This letter from Lee Iaccoca seems to be another manipulative ploy by greedy individuals looking for any way they can to distract us all again. Here come the straw dogs, asking us all to write our congressmen and women. I guess the fire is getting too hot so they pull out these tired old hostile ways of thinking and that is what I'm sick of. Can we let the experts in sciences, education, health care, social sciences and economics gather information and then do their work? Will we listen to them and then make up our minds? I am ready for smart people to run the country and, I'm sorry Lee Iaccoca, we have them at hand.

Great work has already been started by our leaders, especially in the regaining of America's reputation in the world as a land of fairness, justice and law. I don't want borders made up of miles of barbed wire fences.

I disagree with Lee Iaccoca. I see that there have been solutions offered for the problems in the middle east and homeland security. And, I am so relieved that America will not torture. That was an especially dark shadow that covered us all. I worried that our people would be tortured in return and that this would become a terrible and shameful floodgate that would have horrible repercussions. It did shame us across the world and it probably helped to recruit more terrorists and frankly I think only a weak people would resort to torturing. The strong hold to their convictions of rightness in troubled times.

And, I'm sorry but the American car companies were in cahoots for years with the "evil" government refusing to make their cars more efficient. They made plenty of profit for themselves ignoring the predictions by the experts back then that someday our fuel would run out. Which of you doesn't remember that? I clearly remember the 1970's and the refusal of those same car companies to build better smaller cars. They cried out saying, "oh, we can't possible make our cars get better mileage in 20 years." Is this that difficult to remember? Really, the car companies have got to be kidding, if they had worked to make better cars when this discussion first came up 40 years ago, we might not have a gas crisis now.

Friends, please do not be manipulated by these upcoming attacks. Don't be lead down such a negative path. Stop letting the greedy or the corporations or the news manipulate us. I seriously doubt that Lee Iaccoca has been middle class in a while so when he says "The middle class is being squeezed every which way." I think he is using us.

I would prefer that we all lay aside our prejudices, get ready for some serious thinking so we can come to treat each other kindly and respectfully. That is what we should be doing; finding our common ground and making agreements to fix our problems together. Lets agree to ask ourselves and each other if we can create a positive society to live in. I think we are a great, strong, caring people. I am willing to trust and believe in the goodwill of these new leaders who are inquiring and logical. Can we all at least be glad that these changes could be here? And considering what I've just read below, our new leaders are scaring the pants off the people in power who obviously prefer to remain in power. Don't listen to them.

I suggest we don't let ourselves be manipulated.

gita lloyd