Joe Willie On The Shrimpbox: "Where Have All The Leaders Gone?"

Where Have All The Leaders Gone !



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 bur ning 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 !

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 whe re 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 debt, 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 butts 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 1970's 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.'

Excerpted from 'Where Have All the Leaders Gone?'.

Copyright (c) 2007 by Lee Iacocca. All rights reserved