Say Anything Blog

In Lee Iacocca’s new book, “Where Have All the Leaders Gone”, he 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!” 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.

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.

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. 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?

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 debit, 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 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.”

If the wealthy pay their way, there is no issue.

"If the wealthy pay their way there is no issue”

Spoken like a true liberal.

Gone will be any incentive for working people to save for retirement.  Instead we’ll all be like the losers who wake up at age 65 and realize they haven’t saved a penny and need to live off the government teet.  But boy I sure had fun with my money while I was young.  Nice cars, Dinner out, Big Screen TV.  Why wait till retirement to buy these things if the will only penalize me for saving. 

I have absolutely NO money saved for my kids college.  That is I do not save money in a college fund or in an investment account for their college.  Why?  Because come time to apply for financial aid the school is going to want to know how much money I have and expect me to contribute 12% of my assets.  Fortunately for me, my house, my car, my 401K, and my life insurance policy do not qualify as assets.  So that is where my money goes.  I am going to appear “dirt poor” on a financial aid form.  Of course I will borrow against those assets to make up any shortfall.

See how “rich people” will work this system.  It’s not because we are evil. It’s because we work too hard to have lazy people take what we earn from us.  Why should I send your kid to college, because you don’t want to be a productive member of society or forgo the purchase of luxury items?

Why shouldn’t the people who contribuuted to SS all their lives get their money back?  There is already an earnings limit $33,000.

Take that class warfare rhetoric somewhere else please.

Take that class warfare rhetoric somewhere else please.

But, that’s all they have DS, their whole schtick is gone if you take that away.

Ews,
You had me at “where have all the leaders gone.” Potential Congressional leaders become Washington cultists drunk on the Potomac Kool-Aid, and the ones closer to home bow to consensus many times instead of standing up and taking a stance. Creating programs and growing the government is how the current crop handles any real or potential problems: it’s the antithesis of leadership.

Hopefully Boomsday will soon come.

""That’s the problem with you lefties, you’re not willing to get your hands dirty. I’d suggest you roll up your sleeves.”

-Jack Bauer

Damn those greedy geezers and blue hairs!

Damn those botoxed brats and dyed-haired boomers living Dennis Hopper’s entitlement dream of being forever like a teenager ohming diviness.