Some hope for Government Motors

I have been an unremitting meanie about the prospects for General-Obama-UAW-Chrysler-Fiat-Congressional-Motors Inc. (Look at a photograph of Barack Obama. Whether you voted for him or not, ask yourself: would I buy a new car from this man? If the company passes that test, try it with a photo of Barney Frank.)

However, today in the WSJ I read a story that cheered me up quite a bit. Here is a young man (well, he's not really that young, but his college photo is the most recent we have of him) who got his undergraduate and business degrees at a small university on the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and had a bit of success in the business world, to the extent that last August he retired to enjoy life and his family at the age of thirty-six. In other circumstances, he would be one of the exemplars of Wall Street Greed that the president likes to demonize, but not in this case: the Obama administration hired him to restructure the American automotive industry. (Perhaps it was a matter of empathy? His dad was a bartender and his mother a factory worker. I trust that they're still with us, and living in more comfortable circumstances now.)

His name is Harry Wilson. He is what the WSJ calls 'a lifelong Republican', and sure enough, he was president of the Harvard Young Republican Club, class of 1993. I wonder how many members it had? Blue skies! -- Dan Ford