The Joys of Elderly Tourette's Syndrome: Lee Iacocca on the Bush Admin

[LetsGoMurphys]

Steve Sailer
Monday, April 17, 2006

The older you get, the harder it is to keep from blurting out exactly what you think. That's not much fun for the people around you, but it sure can be fun for readers. Here's 81-year-old former Chrysler boss Lee Iacocca in an interview (not online) in Calabasas, a glossy local lifestyle magazine that for some reason I get for free, apparently on the severely mistaken assumption that I could afford a single thing that has ever been advertised in it:


Q. "What sort of CEOs do you think George W. Bush and his administration make?"

Lee Iacocca. "I make speeches for the Washington Speakers Bureau, get $75,000 for 30 minutes, and all I ever say is, "Here's what management is about. Hire good people and set some basic priorities and objectives" Well, let's see how George Bush qualifies. The people that surround him are just friends, and I think most of them just schmucks, because I know a lot of them. Who runs the country? Cheney, is getting old and sick and had this hunting accident. And "Rummy," Rumsfeld, whom I know real well -- they've been together forever, and they run the country. They had Condoleezza Rice for lunch. I don't know what she's got on Bush, but, boy, he believes in her. Other than those three, the mastermind of them all, the boy genius, is Karl Rove -- slime bucket that he is. You've got to know him to see how slimy he is."


<http://isteve.blogspot.com/2006/04/joys-of-elderly-tourettes-syndrome-lee.html>

[Notoverit]

1. Wow! Shouldn't Lee be typical "brand W" base? Rich CEO?

If the CEOs are jumping ship. maybe there is hope.

[bpj1962]

7. Iocca

If you want some good back round on Lee Iocca read both of his autobiographies which where written in the late 1980s. He truly is a man of the people and his battles with the Reagan Administration over both the Chrysler bailout as well as his heading up the Statue of Liberty renovation will tell you a great deal about his political beliefs. He is not one of these 1990 knucklehead CEO's.

[reichstag911]

9. Welcome to DU...

...and it's Iacocca, not Iocca. :think:

[Lisa0825]

13. Oh come on... everyone makes a typo now and then.

Not nice to welcome and criticize all at once. :eyes:

[reichstag911]

16. It's neither nice nor mean,...

...it's just a correction (distinct from a criticism). I choose to prefer to make things as "right" as I can, rather than letting errors and misstatements go unremarked, and I expect the same. As to whether it was a typo, uh-uh; typos don't get repeated exactly, for the most part. Also, it's a sign of respect to a person to get their name right, even one so unusual as "Iacocca." Anything else?

[Cha]

25. FWIW..I agree.

It is a sign of respect and If I have something wrong in my words or facts I would like to be set straight, too.

I don't it's rude to enlighten.

[reichstag911]

26. If we were content with our own errors,...

...we'd be Republicans!

:toast:

[Cha]

27. OOOPS! I just reread

what I wrote and realized I left out "think" ..as in I don't think it's rude..."

I need constant watching! :P

:toast:

[reichstag911]

32. And you'll notice I didn't correct you;

I knew what you meant to write. Happens to me all the time where I neglect to type a word, or have typos, or sometimes leave things in that I'd meant to edit out. Thank God for that little "Edit" button!

[LetsGoMurphys]

10. I have "Iacocca" laying around at my house

now I will be certain to check it out.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. Lee Iacocca is an early prototype of Dick Cheney.

He wore the government feedbag but took the individual credit for his success a la rugged individualist.

One poser calling out another poser.

[bpj1962]

14. Government Feed Bag

What are you talking about. First of all the Reagan Administration did not want to lend Chrysler that money at all. Then when Chrysler attempted to repay the loan early because Iaccoca had managed to get Chrysler turned around the Feds refused to accept the early payment because they wanted to collect the full amount of interest. Lee Iaccoca is a designer by trade, he helped design the original Mustang, Cougar, and various other ford products. At Chrysler he helped to develop both the K car as well as the first production line Mini-van. What has Cheney ever created other then chaos. Halliburton is the biggest abuser of the government feed bag. Please do not compare the two men they come from completely different backgrounds and have completely different values. Maybe you should do a little research before you make your comparisons.

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. Well, since you seem to know so much, how much did the government

bail out GM? Or should I say, how much more did the government bail out GM than Chrysler? I do believe that these bail-outs occurred long before Reagan. But, since you're so up on the info, I'll let you do the research and have the credit if you're right.

[blm]

15. Iacocca did campaign ads for Bush in 2000 and TURNED on him in 2004

and endorsed Kerry. Back in 2000, the media couldn't give Iacocca enough airtime to laud Bush - when he turned against him and endorsed Kerry there was barely a news report, let alone full coverage.

[July]

18. Some rich people don't have to jump ship, because they sympathize

with those who haven't had the advantages or success that they've had. Example: Ted Kennedy.

[DELUSIONAL]

2. Respect the elders

especially the ones who are willing to speak the truth.

Many cultures hold elders in great respect -- Old Hawaii was one such culture.

Then we have Barbara Bush who makes us realize that even elders can be ass*****. But then she also speaks a truth -- revealing that she is a self centered bitch.

[jeff30997]

6. Yep! Self centered bitch she is.

Remember that?:"Why should we hear about body bags and deaths," Barbara Bush said on ABC's "Good Morning America" on March 18, 2003. "Oh, I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?"

Damn I hate that old J.Edgar Hoover in drags lookalike !

[AzDar]

3. I'm having a terrible day...that cheered me considerably. n/t

[jeff30997]

4. Wow! Right on Lee !!!

Now you shall be known as Bruce Lee Iacocca.:bounce:

[rodeodance]

5. Sadly, This is our country folks!

[jeff30997]

8. Gladly it's not mine but...

I feel the same thing as you all.That evil bunch is very dangerous for the whole world.

[justice1]

11. Love your title

The Bush administration has brought on a new form of tourette syndrome, it's spreading like a pandemic, among people who follow politics.

[Brigid]

19. Hee Hee!

I love Lee Iacocca! He sounds like my grandmother. :rofl:

Is there anybody who isn't turning on the Bush regime right now? :evilgrin:

[Booster]

20. I remember when a reporter asked Mr. Iacocca if he was going

to run for president and he said "why in the hell would I want that job? It doesn't pay very well". He reaffirmed my feeling that there is something wrong with almost anybody who wants to be president - it's the power they want, and that can be a frightening thing as we are seeing now.

[mcscajun]

21. Douglas Adams said it best...

in his uproarious and often-quoted book, "The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy":

The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.

To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.

In a footnote, he goes on about the job of President:

The President in particular is very much a figurehead—he wields no real power whatsoever. He is apparently chosen by the government, but the qualities he is required to display are not those of leadership but those of finely judged outrage....His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it.

[mcscajun]

22. Is there a rationale for using "Tourette's Syndrome" in your title?

I've never heard of a connection between Lee Iacocca and Tourette's Syndrome before. Is there one?

[LetsGoMurphys]

23. It's the title of the article, follow the link n/t

[mcscajun]

24. I'd already followed the link. I guess my question is for the author.

I didn't see a connection in the article. As you didn't throw a "(div)" in there, I'd assumed you were also the blogger who wrote the article. My error, I guess.

[noonwitch]

28. My grandpa (one-time Ford engineer) hates Iacoca

He claims Iacoca stole Ford's ideas when he left and made Chryslers with them. Whatever. Grandpa is about as knee-jerk conservative as one can get and still be an atheist. He loves Bush, hates all dems, thinks McCain will be the one to unite our country, thinks that abortion should only be legal for black people, and that people who don't want to work should be killed, ground up, and fed to cattle because at least then they will be useful (I almost freaked when I saw "The Wall" the first time).

I love my grandpa, but if he thinks someone is bad or wrong about politics, I assume that person is probably right.

[LetsGoMurphys]

29. McCain won't unite shit

we don't like him and neither do the repukes. Only blacks should have abortions? Wow I never heard that before and I've heard some crazy things.

[cpamomfromtexas]

30. The former POW's that worked at American Airlines apparently

don't like him either.

[Chomp]

31. Kick

Hilarious.

More importantly, it has a ring of truth about it. I am a great believer and student of the concept of the "ring of truth". And this is a perfect example.

[Jose Diablo]

33. I met Lee in the 70's on a fishing trip

It was on the Black river just a little ways west of Port Huron Mi.

It was during the time when Chrysler was close to tanking and he was struggling to make it all work. At that time, Chrysler had problems with their product being percieved as crummy quality, more or less big iron and ineffiecent. Now Lee had just left Ford, actually the old man showed him the door, as it was clear the family would stay in control and although Lee had bailed their narrow butts out with the Mustang, the Ford family didn't give one twit about being grateful, I don't have much use for Ford, even the so called genius founder.

Anyway, Lee came across to me as a guy dedicated to hard work and resolving the problems to turn Chrysler around. I also knew many people that worked at Chrysler, as blue collar workers. Their take was Chrysler had a bunch of idiots running the company at the top and throughout middle management. People more interested in image rather than substance. Their take on Lee was that he was like a guy that came in and opened the windows to let the stink of the lies out. He was breath of fresh air.

The rest is history, Lee did indeed turn it around. I made a pretty good chunk of change investing in some Chrysler stock back then. I believed Lee could turn it around and he did.

I cannot see anything crummy about the guy. If we both were younger, I'd be pleased to work for the guy.

Edit: Think of it as a guy that came in and changed the lies of self-delusion into the truth of reality. A guy that said, here is the real deal. Thats what our country needs right now a heavy dose of reality. Think of it as a cold shower, a reality shower.