This anti-Semitic slur was paid for by you and me
By D.J. McGuire | Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 | Policy, Sports
There’s been some, um, discussion about Chrysler’s Super Bowl ad – the longest in the game’s 45-year history (Washington Examiner). Much of it centers around the fact that Chrysler blew $9 million (or thereabouts) on a Super Bowl ad while still owing the taxpayers billions of dollars.
Less well-known is what the head of Government Autos/B (not to be confused with Government Autos/A, better known as GM) said about the funding the spared his firm from bankruptcy at our expense (Detroit News):
“I am paying shyster rates,” Marchionne said, noting that Chrysler had no choice in 2009 but to pay the high interest rates the government set as part of its $15 billion Chrysler bailout. “We had no choice… I am going to pay the shyster loans.”
“Shyster”? Are you kidding me?
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Chrysler wants even more loans from the taxpayer (as noted in the Examiner piece: h/t From On High, BTW).
Marchionne has offered the usual boilerplate “regret” (Detroit Free-Press). Notice that there was no apology to anyone, let alone the followers of Judaism.
So while the Ford family puts the squeeze on – and lets the Detroit Lions atrophy in the process – to keep its car company private and profitable; Chrysler takes our money, and then its CEO turns around and hurls an anti-Semitic remark at his benefactors (i.e., us).
Sickening; just sickening.
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20 Responses to "This anti-Semitic slur was paid for by you and me"
This is unfortunate because, as I said in my post yesterday, the Chrysler ad was exactly what folks in Michigan and Detroit needed as a shot in the arm (not to mention Gov. Rick Snyder getting the rest of Lansing onboard to make Michigan a right-to-work state).
And regarding the Ford family, wise investments are turning both the car company and the football franchise around.
Atrophy? Hardly.
Shyster is anti-semitic? I did not know that.
Even Wikipedia says it isn’t – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shyster – And on Wikipedia you can make anything anti-semetic or racist.
The origin of the word shyster is commonly believed to be a corruption of the German term scheisse meister, literally “shit master” or a shitty person. It refers to someone who uses sharp or unethical business practices to cheat other people, esp. dishonest lawyers. There is no anti-Semitic connotation in shyster. Shylock, yes, but not shyster.
I never heard of the word “shyster” having an anti-Semitic connotation before.
http://www.wwe.com/superstars/wwealumni/irs/bio/
BK: Pretty sure he wasn’t Jewish either.
I hope the next time some large company messes itself up by making bad products or foolish investments we just let it go into receivership. I wouldn’t even mind the government guaranteeing an orderly disposition of assets to avoid fire sales. The temptation for lousy corporations to become well paid wards of the states or get competitive advantages a la GE should be denounced for the corruption that it is. Look at the aptly named Sec LaHood and his Toyota bashing to advance the interest of his corporate babies GM and Chrysler and of course the UAW.
Val: Right, cause the U.S. govt. should of course FAVOR the Japanese car company. To hell with Toyota.
Also, do you really think the U.S. would be better off if we’d let Chrysler and G.M. die? Really?
I think we have gotten sidetracked. Why should we care what the CEO of Chrysler said? Is it the ad that is important or the fact that the American public got dragged into what should be a private company’s business decisions?
We do have shysters in charge of the American government. Our government did bail out some people, some unions, in particular. Our leaders used taxpayer monies unscrupulously and without proper constitutional authority.
Was buying the ad a good business decision? Unless we were investors in Chrysler, we never should have had any reason to care.
SV,
We let US steel industry largely die when we were able to buy higher quality steel from Korea at lower prices and without the domestic pollution. I haven’t bought a Detroit Iron POS since I bought a 1975 Chevy Caprice that turned out to be a lemon.
I carry a German Sig Sauer semi-automatic as my concealed weapon because it is more accurate and more reliable than my Colt. US Army officers now carry an Italian 9MM for the same reason and practically every police department in the country has switched to Austrian Glocks.
On the other hand, I ride a Harley Davidson because it is hands down the best touring bike in the world, Honda included.
Starting to see a trend here? Make the best product and the world will beat a path to your showroom. Produce crap and go out of business.
It’s amazing how leftists come up with these blatantly nonsensical and self serving distortions rather than just presenting their own case such as it is. As you well know, the Admin and its media went out of their way on the basis of No factual evidence to insinuate Toyota was willfully negligent and worse. It turns out the DOT and NASA quietly admit in several reports (not trumpeted by the Admin and its media) that there is no evidence of serious design issues and no evidence that electronic systems were to blame. While this was going on, both GM and Chrysler also had major recalls. Did the Admin and its media conduct a big press campaign against them? Did Dems in Congress demand to know what GM and Chrysler had done to screw up? So it seems that the Admin is quite willing to Favor its own auto companies against competitors. All I’m asking is for a level playing field and noting that this cronyism will always occur when the government starts running private companies. Did you know that the Obama Admin hand picked head of GM Ed Whitacre had thrown big bucks to William Daley and Rahm Emanuel before being made head of GM. (Ambassador to GM would have made more sense.) Of course poor Ed was sacked when he made a little joke about Government Motors.
As for GM and Chrysler departing this earthly plane, have you ever heard of Packard, Studebaker, American, Hudson, Cord etc etc? Someone better would replace these two losers blighted by lousy management and unions. I specifically said that the government could ensure an orderly transition but that didn’t fit your template.
I been jewish for 48 years.. Calling a media swindler a shyster aint anti-semitic. I am not offended in the least but then I am a republican offended by the outrageous borrowing the auto co’s are involved in.. I digress.
HR- Since I know you are a proud veteran, it saddens me that apparently you aren’t patriotic about anything except war.
I’ve never bought anything except American cars, your characterization of them as all POS is just you buying into propaganda.
And apparently you think the death of the U.S. steel industry is a good thing. I don’t. It’s not a good thing for our economy. It’s not a good thing for our workers. It’s not a good thing for our national defense.
Val: I’m certainly a “leftist” compared to you, but I don’t think people who are actually on the left are in any hurry to claim me.
If you think that GM and Chrysler would have been replaced by new American car manufacturers had they been allowed to die you’re delusional.
SV,
Patriotism means looking forward and supporting your country in its future endeavors. Looking backwards and trying to maintain the status quo is not progress. That is why I’ve always wondered why liberals prefer the label “progressives.” With their programs of protective tariffs, anti-capitalism taxation, and government regulated wages and prices, they are hardly progressive in any manner.
America’s greatness is in the future, not the past. We are no longer the Industrial Age smoke-stack manufacturing base. We invented the Internet and ushered in the Information Age with our e-commerce innovations. Third world countries manufacture steel and computer chips. We invent the next technology to use them.
BTW, American auto quality problems are not “propaganda.” The failure rate of American autos compared with export autos is well-documented. The American auto industry only became concerned with quality assurance when it was far too late.
“Buy American” is not patriotic. It is the first step in submission to totalitarianism.
HisRoc, What you are saying is true sometimes. However, I have spent a good deal of time in the US auto manufacturing arena and can find plenty of cases where US quality improvement has closed the gap. I drive a Ford f-150, a chevy suburban 2500, a volvo xc90 and a volvo c70. Also own 2 bmw’s, 2 dodge pickups and a ford delivery van and a honda atv here on the farm.. and a john deere gator and 2 deere tractors. The US made machinery here must have japanses dna in them because they all are operating with nary an issue. The f-150 has 104,000 miles and has never failed our farm.. same story as all the others.. Wish the bmw’s were as reliable as my worst American machines..
Decade(s) ago the US made machines were crap. Ford really mean found on road dead.. this is 2011 friend and we have come a long way. I challenge you to check out any American brand, especially Ford since Mulally and his colleagues are with the only remaining company with executive talent better than what we need to turn this country around.
HR, you and I could not disagree more. Just like no one can gripe about our government if they don’t vote, no one can gripe about no jobs in America if they don’t buy American products.
Yes, there needs to be excellence in American products. I love my Buick!
The government did not bail out any unions. They bailed out some union companies whose employees were unionized and benefited, but that’s not the same thing.
My Jewish neighbors in New Jersey certainly considered “shyster” an offensive slur, but it appears we’ve moved well beyond that conversation.
Steve,
First off, the US Steel industry didn’t die; it reorganized. The US auto industry could have done the same, but never got the chance.
Also, you do realize that when the government “saved” Chrysler, they set it up so that if it recovers, it goes over to Fiat, right?
In the 60′s Ford also was given the nickname Fix Or Repair Daily. It is no longer the case. Does anyone have a F150 I can buy for my son?
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