Lee Iacocca is outraged!! We should be too!
 

This was sent to me by a friend in LA:

It's a bit long but boy what a statement.
God bless Lee Iacocca for his statements.


Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its
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 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 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.

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 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."

Make your own contribution by sending this to everyone you know and
care about.

Its our country folks, and its our future. Our future is at stake!"


:thumbsup Lee's statement is a bit long; but, I think his comments deserve serious consideration and comment. :thumbsup

Gee just another voice shouting to the sheep who read the sports page and stick their heads into the sand.

As long as they have enough money to afford their internet connection to watch TMZ, can still buy stuff at Wal Mart and McDonalds, 90% of the population will not be outraged. Sorry but I see the majority as fat, lazy, self absorbed, half wits :2 cents:

+1 and it's sad!

Sadly I agree also

To bad he is not a pres candidate.

Someone said to me not so long ago, that the reason why more Americans aren't outraged is because they are employed. It sounded silly, but basically the theory - and American leaders will attest to this - is that if you keep unemployment low enough, the people will generally be happy ... and thus, complain less.

So ******* you are pretty much correct, but it's not because they have a McDs on every corner, but because most citizens are too wrapped up in their own lives to care. Right now, who is going to raise hell when you've got bigger personal issues like your mortgage, gas prices, health care premiums, saving for the kid's college, etc.

Now if the unemployment rate starts to rise dramatically, then maybe things will get interesting...

I once read the difference between us and europe. In europe the government is afraid of the people and here we are afraid of the government.

Old Roman theory called Bread and Circuses. Make sure people have a roof, a meal and some entertainment and they will follow the leader.

Nice read...

those are some great words

undereducated, and complacent as well.

yeah it will on deaf ears mostly

but happy to see someone saying something..who cant be marginalized as a conspiracy theorist or whatnot

Lee Iacocca is the man.

this guys about 10 years out of the public eye, the majority will not realize how great of a man this is simply because they are uneducated.

If he was a presidential candidate he would be called down from all corners of the press for every possible reason and the sheep would follow by copying and pasting stuff they drag off fox news and similar sites, and posting cute little gif files and acting smart like they made them themselves.

Nah man, Americans are brainwashed into choosing the same kind of president time after time. Change is feared, my guess is because it's thought it's possible it could be worse than what is, and what is right now isn't good, really isn't good.

I would take him at age 82 without a second thought over the choices that we currently have.

It still amazes me that we as a country and a government can not figure out a way to get the most intelligent people in office and to treat our country as one big business that must be run both efficiently and profitably in order to grow and maintain it's position as a world leader in all aspects of life.

My dream ticket would be Warren Buffett/Bill Gates or Larry Page/Sergy Brin :)
_

Sounds like a smart guy

intelligent individual

"Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its
death throes?"

Lee Iacocca had the US government to bail out Chrysler. I don't know why he's seen as some kind of business genius.