A word from Lee Iacocca

ND13

remember lee iacocca, the vp at ford credited with the birth of the mustang, the man who rescued chrysler corporation from its 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 co untry a nymore.

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 battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down. George bush, dick chaney and who it 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.< br>
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 go ing 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 eati ng away at our c ountry 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 thi nk&n bsp;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 depression', '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.'

amen!!!

Systems

Well I feel the same way he does but of course its taboo to talk about it..... The American people have denial down to a science.....

danger boy

Lee Iacocca knew how to get **** done.. the people running those same car companies today.. are a joke.

ND13

Lorthos wrote: »

Well I feel the same way he does but of course its taboo to talk about it..... The American people have denial down to a science.....

And political correctness:rolleyes, which is why we are where we're at today.

F1nut

Amen!!!

bikezappa

I agree with Lee's statement. Try to bring up these issues at work during lunch and they think you are talking about a conspiracy theory. Why because THE MEDIA tells us what we think and discuss 100s of times perday. I know this forum doesn't want to discuss politics and religion, so you can't really discuss Lee's issues.

It's so frustrating because by the time we really want to do something we will have no resources left to change.

shadowofnight

He hit the nail on the head....the ship is sinking fast.

We could get it back to our Independent thinking/ **** kicking /Money making American way....but with most people in that capability of creating change cowering in the corner worried that one slip of the tongue will cost them their job...it aint happening.

And a LOT of people have become sheep in the process.

dkg999

In my nasely, whiny voice ....... "but I'm entitled to be taken care of, I'm entitled to a check from the government because I don't want to work, I'm entitled to have 5 kids I can't afford to feed" ........ and on and on it goes!

We should let Lee kick some **** and take names!

AsSiMiLaTeD

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaa

ohskigod

That's right out of his book.......it was a good read.

my favorite chapter was him describing the Daimler Benz/Chrysler buyout (it was NOT a merger..lol)

fun to read because I worked for Chrysler at the time

ND13

Yeah, Daimler **** Chrysler royally. They milked the profits from Chrysler to put themselves in the black.

SolidSqual

I'd say that about covers it. Pretty fair assessment.

ohskigod

ND13 wrote: »

Yeah, Daimler **** Chrysler royally. They milked the profits from Chrysler to put themselves in the black.

they sucked the profit AND the innovative spirit out of Chrysler. some real cool cars came out before and a little after the buyout, but the designs went down hill.

they literally sucked the life out of the company like a succubus.

so many cool designs that came (or started) before the buyout.

PT Cruiser (dont laugh, those little f*ckers were selling for over 30 large with dealer markup when they first came out....thats how much people liked them) 10 or so years later, still makin em

Viper

Cab Forward design cars (Intrepid, Talon, LHS, Cirrus, Stratus..etc)............still copied to this day

Stealth

Prowler (granted, putting the 3.5l 6 in it was a little silly, but not too silly. car still got out of its own way fast enough)

it was a REAL cool time to work for that company (I worked for there Financial Corp.). Profit Sharing = good thing

ND13

ohskigod wrote: »

they sucked the profit AND the innovative spirit out of Chrysler. some real cool cars came out before and a little after the buyout, but the designs went down hill.

they literally sucked the life out of the company like a succubus.

so many cool designs that came (or started) before the buyout.

PT Cruiser (dont laugh, those little f*ckers were selling for over 30 large with dealer markup when they first came out....thats how much people liked them) 10 or so years later, still makin em

Viper

Cab Forward design cars (Intrepid, Talon, LHS, Cirrus, Stratus..etc)............still copied to this day

Stealth

Prowler (granted, putting the 3.5l 6 in it was a little silly, but not too silly. car still got out of its own way fast enough)

it was a REAL cool time to work for that company (I worked for there Financial Corp.). Profit Sharing = good thing

Yepper!!! They stole the Pacifica chassis for their E-class, too. The Pacifica may not be the best looking crossover, but it's a damn good chassis and one of the safest cars on the planet. I've seen several of them with well over 100k miles on them and they were still tight as a drum. Cerebus will downsize then sell it off....lookers at this time are Fiat and TaTa(sp?) Motors of India. Seeing that Nissan and Chrysler are about to do a joint venture(Nissan getting full-size trucks, 3/4 and 1 tons, Cummins Diesel, and Sprinter vans/Chrysler getting a Versa based car) it would be great if they were the ones to buyout or merge with them.

Of course, I'd rather see Chrysler get bought by an American.

polktiger

Ugh - Benz did mess up Chrysler. Benz lack the design inginuity Chrysler had and they took that from day 1. Benz kept promising back drive train enginnering but always said "maybe next year." They sucked Chrysler dry and the Benz shareholders in Germany actually thought Chrysler was holding Benz back! The other ripoff not mentioned above was the Crossfire - became Benz's hot selling 2 seater.

obieone

I'd LOVE to march on the Capital, but the worthless **** have given themselves a FIVE week vacation! Oh yeah, and Nancy is BLOCKING an energy bill!

fossy

They are out celebrating their big fat raises they voted for themselves !!!

Mike682

Mr. Iacocca is right on

It seems there aren't many politicians and business "leaders" in this country who possess both a backbone and integrity.

bigaudiofanatic

Honda will buy crysler

Poee7R

After reading that.... I have to buy the book.


Dave

ND13

polktiger wrote: »

Ugh - Benz did mess up Chrysler. Benz lack the design inginuity Chrysler had and they took that from day 1. Benz kept promising back drive train enginnering but always said "maybe next year." They sucked Chrysler dry and the Benz shareholders in Germany actually thought Chrysler was holding Benz back! The other ripoff not mentioned above was the Crossfire - became Benz's hot selling 2 seater.

Actually, the Crossfire is/was built on the c320 convertible's chassis. The coachwork was done by Karman(of VW Karman Ghia fame), a German coach builder. To be fair, Daimler did give Chrysler a few things....the 300C/Charger/Magnum/Challenger chassis uses about 30% of the E-class chassis(rear suspension, ESP, 5-speed tranny/and some switch gear). BUT, Daimler milked Chrysler's profits from day one. Daimler was bleeding money before the "merger". They are still near the bottom of the list for reliablilty(which is blaphemous for a Benz) and Chrysler was steadily moving up the list. I highly doubt that Honda will buyout Cerebus, but anything can happen in the wacky world of car manufacturers. I still have faith that Chrysler will survive, once again. It would be a crying shame to lose another automotive icon. Whether you like Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep or not, you have to admit that losing them would be an extremely hard blow to America, period.

bikezappa

"And the press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions."

'throw all the bums out!'

"You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged."

If we all believe what Lee is saying what do/can we do?

Oh well football will start soon.

fleafish

There was an interesting statement from "bikezappa" about not being able to discuss Politics or Religion here. I think thats most of our problem today. Everyone is more concerned about hurting feelings or being politically correct. I say the heck with correctness and get the job done and stop whining like a bunch of scared kids. If your unhappy about the way Government is run, Vote the idiots out!!!! If your not comfortable at your place of worship, get up and walk out and find another. Geeezzzz people, have we all lost our minds.....LOL. RIGHT ON, LEE!!!!!!! Just my half a pennies worth. If I have offended anyone..........SHUDDUP!!!!!!!

bikezappa

Fleafish

The Polk rules state no political or religious discussions. The Lee thread maybe political. And there have been many other such threads. I have taken hits for talking politics here so I think we should all follow the Polk rules. I have taken this bait or responded to another political thread. I did so because the thread contaned no direct mention of personalities or political parties. I felt the thread was excellent and was refering to government actions or inactions in general not politics but I could be wrong.

I would hope that there is room for philisophical discussions on the government and how it operates.

ND13

This thread is more about friggin COMMON SENSE!!!

fleafish

I'm in full agreement with the forums rules, I was just talking in general. The Polk Forum makes the rules as to what can or cannot be discussed, I don't argue that. Even in social circles it may lead to heated discussions which I think people nowadays are afraid of. It's ok to get in a heated discussion, as long as it remains a discussion.

jakelm

fleafish wrote: »

I'm in full agreement with the forums rules, I was just talking in general. The Polk Forum makes the rules as to what can or cannot be discussed, I don't argue that. Even in social circles it may lead to heated discussions which I think people nowadays are afraid of. It's ok to get in a heated discussion, as long as it remains a discussion.

Welcome to Club Polk

fleafish

Thanks, Jakelm!!

bikezappa

Welcome to the forum fleafish.

Have a blast.

Music is the best.

bikezappa

ND13 wrote: »

This thread is more about friggin COMMON SENSE!!!

And the lack of in government.