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Hey, Americans, It’s Time to Stand Up and Shout!
Guest
Column
BY LEE IACOCCA
(Rescuer of Chrysler Corp.)
Remember
Lee Iacocca? The man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its death
throes? Here are some quoted excerpts from his new book:
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 one step further. You can’t call yourself a patriot if you’re
not outraged right now! This is a fight I’m ready and willing to have.
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 battlefield
yourself. It’s another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.
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. One 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 our manufacturing edge to Asia
while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by healthcare costs. Gas
prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our
schools are in trouble, and our borders are like sieves.
The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry
out for leadership. 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 think 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 made in those critical hours after the storm.
Everyone’s hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn’t happen
again. Well that’s just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan.
Figure out what you’re going to do the next time.
Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore
our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed there would come
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?
Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the national
debt. Or solving the energy crisis. Or managing the healthcare problem. The silence
is deafening. But these are the crises eating away at our country and milking
the middle class dry.
I have news for the gang in Congress. 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?
Have you had enough? 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
Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam,
the 1970s oil crisis and the struggles of recent years culminating with September
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.
It’s certainly 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 dirt and go to work. Let’s tell our politicians we’ve
had enough.
This page and its contents ©2008
Metropolitan News Company, Inc.
