I never dreamed that some people would actually read this article and come away with anything bad to say of Mr. Iacocca. Perhaps the few who did, haven't really read the article or didn't understand the snippets that I posted. It's a shame that some people can't value another person's opinion simply because the other person may happen to be wealthy. If the article were read, it would have been obvious that Mr. Iacocca has a vastly kind and generous heart and he has dedicated the last 20 years to eradicating the worst form of diabetes... autoimmune Type 1 diabetes which took his wife's life and left him searching for a cure. It is my hope that someday, people will stop discriminating on the amount of money a person may have and instead, concentrate on the deeds and words. If that level of critique were given to Lee Iacocca, I've no doubt that you would see what I see...a rare human being. An old fashioned hero in a modern day world.
For the past year, I already knew that Lee Iacocca was exceptional because of his efforts with the grassroots JoinLeeNow.org campaign to raise funds to cure the underlying autoimmunity of Type 1 Diabetes. However, this article had me gaping in amazement as I read words that were so truthful yet, depressingly,
so rare. In the article he is speaking of the current administration and I'll quote a bit below but the entire article should be read to fully appreciate Mr. Iacocca's candid and honest character. It's a PDF file:
http://www.joinleenow.org/...
What sort of CEOs do you think George W. Bush and his administration make?
...Well, let's see how George Bush qualifies. The people that surround him are just friends,and I think most of them are just schmucks, because I know a lot of them. Who runs the country? Cheney, who is getting old and sick and had this hunting accident. And "Rummy," Rumsfeld, whom I know real well, they?ve been together forever, and they run the country. They had Condoleezza Rice for lunch. I don't know what she's got on Bush, but, boy, he believes in her. Other than those three, the mastermind of them of all, the boy genius, is Karl Rove, slime bucket that he is. You've got to know him to see how slimy he is."
here's more:
"How would you rate the priorities Bush and his friends have set?"
Forget the economy, global warming, our infrastructure of roads and bridges that are rotting away. And forget health care, which is a scandal, and is our Achilles heel. A civilization that doesn't take care of its young people and their young minds through education, and that doesn't take care of its aging parents. Do you think our priority was going to Iraq, really? They didn't have nuclear bombs that I knew of. We're in a war we should never have gotten into, and yet they haven't resolved the nuclear powers like North Korea and Iran, so the priorities are wrong. Meanwhile, it's going to be a half-trillion-dollar war in Iraq. And we brought what to them? Democracy? I think we brought them civil war. We're after oil. Hitler bombed the hell out of Romania because he wanted the oil fields. Before Pearl Harbor, we forget how we were twisting the Japanese in the wind and shutting off their oil supply. No matter what you
talk about, every real confrontation is based on fossil fuel because we're just hooked on it. Selling nukes to India? Common sense has gone out the window. You can tap my phone without a warrant? Where is the media? I would think they'd be outraged at the way they?ve been conned.
on foreign policy and diplomacy:
When I go to Europe, they love Americans but they hate Bush and think he's nuts. Through the debacle of Iraq, I would have first fired all his speechmakers. "Shock and awe,...axis of evil,...dead or alive...that's old Europe, not new
Europe". How can you write s--- like that without insulting your [European] friends? Those are fighting words. ...It's time for the press and the loyal opposition, the Democrats, to be enraged and obnoxious. I think the press should stop all this political correctness and just tell it the way it is and not worry where the chips fall.
There is so much more in the article, I'll link it again:
http://www.joinleenow.org/... It says something about today's society when an 81 year old retired executive is the best hope to fund honest diabetes research without letting politics get in the way of what has the most potential; and on top of all that, he also has the bravery to tell the truth about the current state of affairs... so there you have it. That's why Lee Iacocca is my hero! Honesty and bravery; there's no substitute for the real thing and you know it when you see it. Mr. Iacocca has both in abundance.
