This is a pop quiz. Who wrote the following?
1. Ed Schutz 2. A blogger on Daily Kos 3. Lee Iacocca 4. Thom Hartman
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' "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 Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!
"& someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need it). 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 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.
"I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty & I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us.
"Why are we in this mess? How did we end up with this crowd in Washington? Well, we voted for them ? or at least some of us did. But I'll tell you what we didn't do. We didn't agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn't agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that's a dictatorship, not a democracy.
"And don't tell me it's all the fault of right-wing Republicans or liberal Democrats. That's an intellectually lazy argument, and it's part of the reason we're in this stew. We're not just a nation of factions. We're a people. We share common principles and ideals. And we rise and fall together.
"There was a time in this country when the voices of great leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better. Where have all the leaders gone?
"On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. & That was George Bush's moment of truth, and he was paralyzed. And what did he do when he'd regained his composure? He led us down the road to Iraq ? a road his own father had considered disastrous when he was President. But Bush didn't listen to Daddy. He listened to a higher father. He prides himself on being faith-based, not reality based. If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, I don't know what will.
"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. '
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Juan Cole put this up, but it's from Lee Iacocca's recent book. Of course I want to know where was big Lee when the shit hit the fan in 2000?
I waa once upon a time introduced to the senior VP of production at C.R.Bard. I forgot his name. He was big, bull dog face, hands the size of hams, silver rimmed glasses, loose baggy dark suit, big feet in shiny heavy dress shoes, an old fashioned and unreconstructed capitalist straight from the corporate HQ back in New Jersey. He was visiting his far flung empire. I proudly showed him the shop I built to build, modify and repair any piece of equipment on the market. I thought he would be impressed. It was a beautiful, well stocked and manned shop. He looked me dead in the eye and said, `Looks pretty labor intensive to me.' I answered him right back, `Sure but you get your money's worth for ten bucks an hour.'
He would fire me in a heart beat, I would put a bullet in his head just as fast. But at least we understood each other. We were enemies, fair and square. I am certain he had hacked his way through hundreds of union-management meetings. He had that long dog face.
Lee Iacocca reminds me of this guy at Bard.