A new book by Lee Iacocca- Remember him?
Posted: 7/29/2008 4:14:50 PM
By: Comfortably Anonymous
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Topic: News: Miscellaneous

Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its

death throes?  He's now 82 years old and has a new book, and here are some

excerpts:


Lee  Iacocca Says:

"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 ! (Iacocca elaborates on nine Cs of leadership, crisis being the

first.)


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.  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 getting slaughtered by health care costs. 

Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy

policy.  Our schools are in trouble.  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 that were made in

the crucial hours after the storm.


Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again.

Now, 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 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?

 

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.   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?


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 Depression", "World War II ", the "Korean War", the "Kennedy

Assassination",  the "Vietnam War", the 1970's 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."

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A new book by Lee Iacocca- Remember him?
Posted: 7/29/2008 4:14:50 PM
By: Comfortably Anonymous
Times Read: 1,888
0 Dislikes: 0
Topic: News: Miscellaneous

Can't stand the bastard... but he's making sense!

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A new book by Lee Iacocca- Remember him?
Posted: 7/29/2008 4:14:50 PM
By: Comfortably Anonymous
Times Read: 1,888
0 Dislikes: 0
Topic: News: Miscellaneous

I've always thought he was pretty cool for some reason. Respected what I saw him do for Chrysler in the early 1980s. Disappointed when I saw Chrysler sold to a company in another country. Now we see Budweiser sold off too. Chrysler and Budweiser were as American as a company gets. I'd say "American as Apple Pie", but when was the last time you ate a store bought apple pie that was made in the US?

 

But back to what I meant to reply to: I think he's saying more stuff that needs to be said by more elites like him. Maybe we are seeing the beginning of a major course correction in the direction our country is headed. I think even a lot of the rich people in America are starting to worry about things lately. If someone doesn't step up to the plate quick, then we're taking a serious nosedive, and it's gonna hurt when we hit the ground. Or it will just flat-out kill us as a nation.

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