Author Topic: Lee Iacocca On Saving America  (Read 923 times)

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Offline americankahanist

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Lee Iacocca On Saving America
« on: September 22, 2008, 08:06:15 PM »
Remember Lee Iacocca...

...The man who  rescued Chrysler Corporation from it's 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 crooks 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 the 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 that 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  the airports and throw away our bottles of 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 someone be accountable  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' deferred 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. And yet=2 0these are  the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class  dry.
 
I've 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?
 
I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom. I'm  trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope and 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 and 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 th e crap and go to work.  Let's tell them all we've had 'enough.'

Make your own  contribution by sending this to everyone you know and care about. It's our  country, and it's our future.... "Our future is at stake!"