Lee Iacocca on the State of our Nation

Lee Iacocca has a new book out called, "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?" Here's a small excerpt:

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.

All I can add is, "Amen, Brother Iacocca. Preach on!"

I hope someone is listening. Perhaps the voting public, for example.

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