Took me awhile to get this read, this has some really good points..
Now, Who is the person who can step up to the plate and swing the
bat and get things RIGHT



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With the 2008 election coming up this needs to be read by all who vote, those that don't are lost anyway.





Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation

from it's death throes? He has a new book, and here are some excerpts.

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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!


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 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 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."


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

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