On Monday President Obama
proclaimed that General Motors "will be run by a private board of directors and
management team. They, and not the government, will call the shots and
make the decisions about how to turn this company around." And
yesterday, two high-ranking members of his administration, writing in
USA Today, dismissed the concerns of those persons who doubt the
President's commitment to have politics "play no role" in running this
company.
Alas, this political chicken wasted no time in coming
home to roost. Time reports today that
Motors and Chrysler face tough questions from lawmakers about sweeping
plans to close hundreds of car dealerships as the auto companies
undergo government-led bankruptcies.
The wonder is not that politicians
are meddling. The wonder is that America is populated with a
sufficient number of people so gullible as to encourage Mr. Obama to
issue his 'no politics' assurance with a straight face.
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{ 19 comments }
It's probably more than simple gullibility. I think some of it has to do with the "Barnum Effect" which states, in a nutshell, that people want to be fooled. (After all, what else could explain the continued existence of psychic hotlines?)
'Aint that the truth? Some people really believe that government can be apolitical.
It's worse that a promise that he doesn't intend to keep. It's actually a promise he can't deliver on. Congress ultimately controls the purse strings, and they can be counted on to make a gigantic public spectacle out of this whole thing under the guise of being able to yank the funding.
BoscoH-
Very true. If there is one basic lesson to be learned in the history of politics, it is this: when you give a government power, it will use it. There is a reason Lord Acton didn't say "power tends to purify."
Yes, and the government will allow banks to pay back TRAP too. Not!
Fed Said to Toughen Terms for Banks to Repay TARP
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=a1KmTwKskeBw
Mcwop, somehow I don't think your spelling was a mistake.
The U.S. seems to have more gullible people than ever. Didn't Lenin call these of folks "Useful Idiots?"
They are idiots not because they don't know they're being lied to, but because they think the lies are in their interest.
Mcwop's spelling may have been mistake, but it also could have beena delightful pun. Indeed, one could argue that TRAP would have been a much better acronym.
The U.S. seems to have more gullible people than ever…
You are way too kind. Stupid is not an elitist word if it's true.
Sumwon tolld me that wunce.
After all, what else could explain the continued existence of psychic hotlines?
That's such a good line. I hope you don't mind if I use it.
There are also the pills that make you 'large' (says the lady holding the salami). I bought some and all they did was make my penis grow. Now I look like a carnival freak.
I suck at typing, but that had to be some slip of the sub-conscious.
The federal government has regulated the opening, closing, ownership, and locations of car dealerships for at least 60 years, requiring anyone who wanted to open one to prove a "need" (obviously a sneaky way to protect existing dealers from "too much" competition).
So while these hearings are ironically (and amusingly) timed, they are not directly related either to the bankruptcies or to the bailouts, and the same thing will certainly happen to Ford even if it continues to avoid both.
>> (After all, what else could explain the continued existence of psychic hotlines?)<<
Hey, don't mess with Miss Cleo. I always get great looks into my future with her. Why just today she suggested that I buy myself a Concord watch with the Timothy Geithner TRAP [tax remittance aversion plan] money.
TRAP: Treausry-required accept-it-or-else plan.
Or maybe,
Treasury-Required Accept it or else Pain
Treasury Redacts American Profit
To Rape All People
Totalitarian Regime Almost Perfect
True Rights All Pwned