Obama doesn’t need to hype GM

Mickey Kaus Columnist
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Bailout Oversell: I don’t quite understand why President Obama has to claim that General Motors is a great success story (“back on top … [b]ecause America always wins when the playing field is level …” etc.). Why couldn’t he say: “We gave GM and its employees another chance, at a time when our economy was fragile and couldn’t absorb a massive shutdown. Now it’s up to them. They have the tools they need. They may make it–I hope they do. They may not. We aren’t going to bail them out again.” That would be a welcome breath of realism and toughlove, no? It would be a signal that Obama really doesn’t want the government permanently enmeshed in individual businesses and industries.  Plus it would provide some insurance against bad news–especially now that it’s becoming clearer and clearer, even to the MSM, that GM isn’t close to being “back on top.”

This isn’t the Olympics. Do voters really want a fake, cloying 5 minute NBC “victory” story? …

Mickey Kaus