Where pegs grow legs: hanging ideas on words

I finally found the first real article today on Opel, GM’s large European division that was recently sold to Magna International, the Canadian cars parts manufacturer, as a part of the GM bankruptcy plight. When I first heard about GM killing off Saturn (a line of cars that are essentially Opel designed and built, with the Saturn mark), I was surprised that no one was talking about how ridiculous a decision that will be for the future of GM. From a political and American jobs perspective, the sale entirely makes sense: it will save American jobs that would have been had in Germany, while at the same time helping the effort to consolidate the insane numbers of brands GM upholds.

Yet when I was searching for a new car last year, the Saturn Astra was the only American car that became a final contender for my money. Of the 10 or so cars I looked at and test drove, 3 were American, 1 was German, and the rest were Japanese. When I narrowed it down to the top three, they were the Saturn Astra, the Subaru Outback Sport, and the Mazda 3. At the end of the day, I bought the Mazda 3. Saturn was the Hail Mary: it barely made the top 10 cut (I almost didn’t hear about it), then rocketed itself out of the blue to come in a close second. Of all the cars I test drove, I was most pleasantly surprised about the Saturn (er Opel) brand – finally I felt, GM was doing something right. They really are starting to listen to what Americans want to drive.

So when I heard GM was going to nix Saturn and sell off most of Opel, I was very surprised that no one was talking about it. Until today, anyways. Read this article when you get the chance, it provides a good critique of the GM merger, and why even though the recent decisions will help GM short term, they are exactly the wrong decisions for GM long term. As an American taxpayer, be in for a long and frustrating narrative that ends with a more-than-necessary wasted public money theme.

Those who know me know I love to read the Outlook section of the Sunday paper of the Washington Post. Today I read an interesting article written by the former executive editor of the Post about the culture of Washington as a living, breathing being. As a government contractor well domesticated in the ways of Washington (however not nearly as domesticated as the author), I can’t agree more fully. There are many talents stored within the walls of The Machine, much of the time spent silently and laboriously releasing their electric charges of energy that we never hear about.

My own shorter time with The Machine has been built on a love-hate relationship: I see the potential, but many times am frustrated by the outcome (really lack thereof). For those on the outside of the walls, unfortunately the frustrated and disappointing outcomes are what make the headlines, many times further paralysing progress through our human inability to turn at the edges and recognize unhealthy pessimistic as well as optimistic over-momentum. But as I was telling a colleague of mine when I was in Cambridge, MA last week, when the planets do align, great things happen.