Are We Winning Yet?
Recently, the Ford Motor Company announced another round of layoffs and plant closures due in part to declining consumer demand for SUVs. The incredible part of their action was the statement that “nobody saw this coming.” Translation: “We didn’t want to see this coming. We wanted the gas guzzling party to last a lot longer.”
I wonder what these executives have been thinking during the last sixteen months when gas prices have been spinning wildly out of sight. I can only imagine that their MBA degrees blinded them to the reality of the oil market. The rest of us have relied on our common sense. The consumer could see that the market for large vehicles was shrinking. Why couldn’t they see the connection?
Henry Ford must be spinning in his grave. Would he have seen a trend toward smaller automobiles while gas prices rose? Quite possibly yes! Would he have re-tooled his assembly line to meet this demand for smaller vehicles? Again, quite possibly yes! And if all that failed, and he got pulled over by the police while driving under the influence, would he have gone off on a rant blaming the Jews for all his troubles? Absolutely yes! (Boys and girls, there’s a lot you don’t know about Henry Ford.)
While we’re on the subject of public stupidity, members of the Bush administration are crowing about Ned Lamont’s victory over Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic primary. Bush operatives Cheney and Rove have been reported using the victory as an example of the leftward direction the Democratic Party is taking. They hope to scare their conservative base to action. They are also painting the Democrats as soft on terrorists, who will “cut and run” as opposed to the GOP mantra “adapt and win.”
Okay, let’s review this last phrase. “Adapt” to me means that you have a goal, you determine a course of action to reach that goal, and when a complication arises which compels you to rethink your action, you try another approach to achieve the goal. Recent history has shown that this administration refuses to believe that they have done anything wrong in Iraq. If you can’t or don’t want to see your mistakes, then how can you “adapt” your actions to the changing situation?
This brings us to “win”. I would define this as to defeat, overcome, overpower, conquer the obstacles that keep you from achieving your goal. Okay, when does the winning start? I’m not seeing any of these things happening yet.
The charge that Democrats are soft on defense is ridiculous! Who got us into Vietnam? A Democrat! Who led us into World War II? A Democrat! After all, why should Republicans have all the fun?
I wonder what these executives have been thinking during the last sixteen months when gas prices have been spinning wildly out of sight. I can only imagine that their MBA degrees blinded them to the reality of the oil market. The rest of us have relied on our common sense. The consumer could see that the market for large vehicles was shrinking. Why couldn’t they see the connection?
Henry Ford must be spinning in his grave. Would he have seen a trend toward smaller automobiles while gas prices rose? Quite possibly yes! Would he have re-tooled his assembly line to meet this demand for smaller vehicles? Again, quite possibly yes! And if all that failed, and he got pulled over by the police while driving under the influence, would he have gone off on a rant blaming the Jews for all his troubles? Absolutely yes! (Boys and girls, there’s a lot you don’t know about Henry Ford.)
While we’re on the subject of public stupidity, members of the Bush administration are crowing about Ned Lamont’s victory over Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic primary. Bush operatives Cheney and Rove have been reported using the victory as an example of the leftward direction the Democratic Party is taking. They hope to scare their conservative base to action. They are also painting the Democrats as soft on terrorists, who will “cut and run” as opposed to the GOP mantra “adapt and win.”
Okay, let’s review this last phrase. “Adapt” to me means that you have a goal, you determine a course of action to reach that goal, and when a complication arises which compels you to rethink your action, you try another approach to achieve the goal. Recent history has shown that this administration refuses to believe that they have done anything wrong in Iraq. If you can’t or don’t want to see your mistakes, then how can you “adapt” your actions to the changing situation?
This brings us to “win”. I would define this as to defeat, overcome, overpower, conquer the obstacles that keep you from achieving your goal. Okay, when does the winning start? I’m not seeing any of these things happening yet.
The charge that Democrats are soft on defense is ridiculous! Who got us into Vietnam? A Democrat! Who led us into World War II? A Democrat! After all, why should Republicans have all the fun?
posted by todd gunther | 6:35 AM
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