It's hard not to have mixed feelings about what's happening to GM, which seems about to go out of business. OTOH, man, they knew for 30 years that this day was coming (we all did), and instead of preparing for the obvious future they chose to fatten up on fatter cars for 15 years. It's quite clear with all with an eye to see that their misfortunes are their own damn fault, and going out of business is only the consequences of the capitalist game, or at least so we have always been taught.
On the other hand, man, it's GM. Wasn't the comparison between GM and the Yankees meant to symbolize that it was the former that was the stronger company? There can be no greater symbol of the decline of America as an industrial, manufacturing power than the decimation of the domestic auto sector. That's the main basis of what's left of the industrial union movement, for one thing. Maybe that's part of the point. Think of the jobs! All I can say is, this green manufacturing thing better turn out to be pretty good.
And, my friends (as John McCain liked to say), do we not have here the necessary and expected outcome of the trend in American business during this last period that the most important statistics in any company's economy are the stock price and the next quarter's profits?
The government should make sure that we have some kind of a domestic auto industry, but we don't need 3 companies, and no-one who got within 100 yards of the decision-making of this industry for the past 20 years should be allowed to get within 200 yards of it now.
UPDATE: I discussed this with a local businessman today, and he said the American automotive sector would be perfectly competitive if it weren't for the fixed pension and healthcare costs, particularly for retirees. America's answer to this recently has been to blow off these obligations. I hope that Obama's government can come up with a more productive and equitable option.