I just came across this on Fox News and had to laugh.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/10/20/john-tantillo-bono-rebrand-america/

Bono, the lead singer of popular-in-the-80's-and-sucking-ever-since rock band U2 says that America must be "rebranded" and that Obama is the right man for the job.

Ridiculous! 

America being a free market capitalist country has not only made America great, it has advanced the rest of the world at a much faster rate than would have been possible without us. 

I agree with John Tantillo's editorial almost 100%. 

My only difference is that Bono might as well be considered an American.  In addition to having made most of his fortune on album sales in these United States, he meets all the qualifications to be a Liberal baby boomer in this country:

He's ignorant and self-righteous.  He hates America. And he's tone deaf.


Just my .02.

In case you missed Bo Snerdley's epic "Broadcast to the Hood" regarding the NFL and Rush Limbaugh last Friday, here it is, with video from Rush's "Ditto Cam" so you can see his reaction!

For years three or four makes and models of mid-sized sedan have dominated the market, the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, and to a lesser degree the Ford Taurus before it was replaced by the underachieving Five Hundred in 2005.  The rest of the segment entries, ranging from the competent Mazda 6 and Hyundai Sonata to the lackluster Pontiac G6 and Dodge Stratus (now Avenger) were left to fight over the small fraction of the market not owned by the Japanese "Big Three".  This meant the American sedans and the Sonata often found their way into rental fleets, and in the early 2000's more Dodge Stratus' and Chrysler Sebrings were sold to fleets annually than to actual consumers.  This remains the case today for the G6 and the larger Chevy Impala sedan.

As 2010 nears, however, the mainstream sedan market seems to be shifting and while the Camry still owns the largest share of the segment, other models are becoming a greater threat to Toyota's dominance.  The Chevy Malibu and 2010 Ford Taurus are both formidable threats, on the smaller and larger end of the segment, respectively.  As such Toyota has seen Camry sales decline and is propping them up, with -- you guessed it -- sales to rental fleets.

It's October 2009, and many dealers still have new 2009 models on their lot as "year end clearance" sale ads dominate the airwaves.  Still, you don't have to look very hard to find a used 2010 Camry for sale in the Houston area.  Many dealers already have more than one in stock right now, most of them SE packages with under 15000 miles.  Where did they come from?  Mostly from Enterprise and other rental agencies.  The staggering number of former rental Toyotas in the pre-owned market brings to mind the days when one could buy a Dodge Stratus with 15,000 miles for half the original MSRP.  While the Toyota sedans are holding their value, inexplicably, for now, I believe a time is approaching when the stigma of the "rental queen" will begin to further drag down Camry sales to actual consumers.  Why buy a new Camry when you can find so many almost-new ones for sale at a lower price?  If Toyota is the new GM, the Camry is the new Dodge Stratus, or the new Pontiac G6. 

It took Detroit decades to learn that depending on fleet sales to keep the factories running was harming its business in the long run.  How long before Toyota comes to the same conclusion?  The next few years will be interesting to observe.

Recently Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called FIAT and Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne the "next generation of Lee Iacocca" in a bold statement probably intended more to boost confidence in government-bailed out Chrysler than as a statement of fact.  But does Chrysler really want, or need, another Lee Iacocca? 

Following is a post made by Curtis Redgap on the Allpar.com forum earlier this week:

http://www.allpar.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=118847&view=findpost&p=1093144

Of course, upon his arrival, he was surely within his element, cutting people, streamlining operations, making nearly unlimited power decisions, needling congress for a bailout, and smoosing the administration to help him get the bailout money. He often complained about having to fire 24 different Vice Presidents of Chrysler within the first 23 months of his appointment. Yet, in some views it was more to protect himself from rivals than actual lack of cooperation or effective applications of effort. Personally, Iaccoca was vain, very opinionated, [in the extreme] jealous, profane [to the point of embarrassment by some of his staff with his 4 letter strings of invectives in public no less] and loved to play his subordinates off against each other, even initiating internal warfare to keep them against each other rather than seeing him as the real issue. He loved to smoke cigars, and often bragged about his ability to obtain Cuban ones, even in view of his extreme hostility against the Japanese. Often, he lighted up when in places where no smoking was allowed, caring not a wit who he disturbed. In the aftermath, he sat on his collective ample butt, and his lack of direction in product development nearly bankrupted Chrysler AGAIN near 1985!

His views on Fleet sales were non existent, and as a result the taxi and police car market, that Chrysler had lead for years, began to dry up, going down to the Plymouth Gran Fury and Dodge Diplomat that had some real flaws. It damaged Chrysler's reputation even further. That is NO hero.

Credited with the K-Car, it is far from the truth. The Reliant/Aries twins were already set in steel when he arrived, lead by Harold Spirlich, who had been fired before Henry Ford II sent Iaccoca packing. Spirlich was a genius in product development and production planning. He also fought against Iaccoca adding so much content to the newly introduced Ks so that the bottom line was escalated. I know, I had ordered a Reliant Wagon, and got one that had over $1,800 in options I did NOT want OR need. Iaccoca saw that the sales were not taking off, so he acted, and relented on content which helped push sales, but not nearly as optimistic as he had crowed to congress. Spirlich finally left Chrysler in disgust after having been battered by Iaccoca game playing. A LOAD of genius went with him.

Next came Thomas Stalkamp, also fired by Ford. He was a production genius, but he left Ford with a secret. In 1982 he presented his secret from Ford, "mini-van" to Chrysler. Iaccoca is said to have gone purple, BUT, the board of directors were so gushing about it, Iaccoca dared not to oppose it too much. Of course, he is given credit for it, but it was truly Stalkamp that lead the charge, and set up production. He rose to become Iaccoca's Vice Chairman, and rightfully should have been Iaccoca's replacement. Yet, in 1986, Iaccoca leap frogged him, and hired Robert Lutz as Stalkamp's boss, as Executive Vice President, in the sky box along side Lee.

People make the mistake of seeing Iaccoca as a "car guy." He was not. Lutz is the car guy. Iaccoca was a "sales" guy. And that is what he made his fortunes at Ford. His big achievement of course, was the Mustang. Yet, all that car was is a Ford Falcon underneath, with different sheet metal. Iaccoca canceled a car [to get the Mustang past the corporate bean counters] that he would later push, and was a lemon, the Pinto. Speculation is that Iaccoca, with his sales ear to the ground heard that Chrysler was fast upon a car in a new segment, and in fact, beat Ford to the market by two weeks with the Barracuda. He also knew that Chevrolet was planning a new hotter, redesigned Corvair aimed at the same market.

AN OBITUARY PRINTED IN THE LONDON TIMES
Interesting and sadly true.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, ' Common Sense ' , who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
why the early bird gets the worm;
life isn't always fair;
and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouth wash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement ....

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust; His wife, Discretion; His daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights; I Want It Now; Someone Else Is To Blame; I ' m A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.