It’s ok to let businesses fail.

How can we be so sure that the demise of the much-lamented Big Three won’t spell an end to modern transportation; that, in fact, just as many Americans will buy just as many other cars (or more) with novel new names attached to the grill?

Well, here’s a hint: from 1929 until the late 1950s, the DeSoto was one of America’s best-selling automobiles. Who could forget the Firedome, Firesweep, Fireflite, and chrome-covered Adventurer?

But, by 1960, “The Most Exciting Car in the World Today” had, for some reason fallen from the public’s favor. Sales had dropped by nearly 60%. And on November 30, 1961 – a day which shall live in automotive infamy – Chrysler announced the DeSoto’s demise.

Now, here’s what’s really fascinating about that factoid of history: In 1961, when the DeSoto went the way of the Hollier, Maxwell, and Packard DeLuxe, there were 76,000,000 vehicles on the road. Then DeSoto went belly up, and—lo and behold—in 1962, there were 79,000,000 cars on the road. By 1968, the number had risen to 101,000,000. And today, there are more than 230,000,000 cars on the road. Very few of which, we hasten to add, are DeSotos.

Are you starting to get the picture, Mr. Lurky and Madame Little?

I don’t think they are, because let’s remember that for the Democrats this isn’t really about rescuing the auto industry.  It’s about shoring up one of the last bastions of organized labor in this country so that Democrats’ union masters don’t take a hit in their membership rolls.