Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
From Chapter 1: Had Enough? 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 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 President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks,
and watching Obama win, I feel pretty fired up!! Up until now, we have experienced exceptionally bad leadership in this country. In “Where have all the Leaders Gone?”, Lee Iacocca the business mogul who has worked in the auto industry for 45 years and the man who brought the Chrysler Corporation back from the ashes in the 1980’s, has a lot to say about the mess we are in right now as a country and what to do about it. He writes: “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?” “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 ov
VIEWPOINT Matt Prescott Consumer choice is not going to deliver the goods to combat climate change, argues Dr Matt Prescott. In this week’s Green Room, he says the world needs strong political leadership, not just market forces, because there is no sale-or-return guarantee for the planet. A whole generation survived without the luxury of choice During World War II, a large share of humanity stared into the abyss. In the unforgiving conditions, traumatised by their collective experience, almost everyone wanted to build a better, safer and fairer world. They accepted this meant sharing some of their wealth and freedoms with others for the common good. Public hospitals and schools were built, living standards were deliberately raised and ancient class divisions were broken down. Later, as the developed world came to feel more comfortable and less vulnerable, many started to begrudge the spending of their money on such intangible, long-term benefits; the post-war contract between citizens
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 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 President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies.
