Quote of the Day

"Never."

-Martha Stewart, responding to the question, "When do you turn off your BlackBerry?"

Toyota and Obama

Remember when Toyota was the best car company on the planet? They made great cars, stylish automobiles that worked well, didn't have many problems, and got great gas mileage. It was just a better company than any American car company. When was that? Oh, yeah, a couple of months ago. How long had that idea been firmly planted in America's cultural consciousness? 25, 30 years? Something like that.

Amazing how a narrative can change overnight, isn't it? In a month or so, Toyota has gone from being a great company, one of those uniquely special companies that do almost everything right, to just another company, with its share of dysfunctionality, arrogance, and just plain stupidity.

Remember when Obama's presidency was in trouble? A Republican won a special election in Massachusetts, after a couple of Republicans won gubernatorial races in 2009, and suddenly Republicans had the momentum, and Democrats, particularly Obama, were in trouble.

I am so not worried about Obama. Really, really, really not worried about Obama. Tomorrow is the start of the health care summit. I don't know what's going to happen, but I am starting to get the sense that Obama and the Democrats are going to take advantage of the fact that, you know, they have massive majorities in Congress to pass legislation that they want. Great idea.

Obama is also taking advantage of the fact that, you know, he's president and all, and he has a lot of power to get what he wants through a Congress with both houses held by his party by those massive majorities.

But a couple of the reasons for my optimism about Obama stem from Toyota's current trials and tribulations. First, Toyota's fall from the pedestal reminds us of how fickle media/cultural narratives can be. Toyota isn't a very different company from what it was 3, 4, 5, or even 10 years ago. Most of the problems that have been cropping up have been happening for years. But something clicked, and suddenly the narrative changed. There were some stories about problems with Toyotas and sudden acceleration (the LA Times, to its great credit, was working on this story for months before it hit the rest of the national media). The suddenly there were stories about other problems with Toyotas. Then suddenly there were stories about how Toyota has serious structural problems, or how the management team has its share of incompetence and arrogance. All of those things were true for years. But something changed, and now people are willing to listen to those stories. Comedians crack jokes about Toyota, and politicians call them on the carpet. Someday the narrative will change again, and Toyota will have recovered from these episodes, and come out swinging, or they will be back on top again, or something.

The same thing has happened, and will happen, to Obama. His campaign, election, and inauguration were historical, and very hyped. The letdown was inevitable. The narrative has changed, but it will change again, just like it has for Toyota. The Democrats lost two governor's races, in Virginia and New Jersey. But neither of these were surprising, and neither really points to a national trend for or away from Dems. Virginia is a fairly conservative place, and, in New Jersey, the Democrat incumbent, Jon Corzine, was a former chairman of Goldman Sachs, rather substantial baggage right now. Scott Brown won a special election, but my impression is that Martha Coakley didn't run a great campaign, and Democrats took victory for granted.

There's also a specific reason why Toyota's stretch of bad news has implications for Obama. What's bad for Toyota is good for GM, Ford, and Chrysler. GM and Ford will pick up sales from disillusioned Toyota customers.

More importantly, but less substantive, GM, Ford, and Chrysler's reputations will start to recover. For years many people made a clear national distinction among car companies: American car companies were arrogant and incompetent; they couldn't make cars the way the Japanese companies could. There was, of course, an element of truth to that myth - the Big Three made most of their money on their big trucks, while the Japanese made solid, if not very exciting, small cars and sedans.

One detail that got lost in that mythologizing is that each of the Big Three has at least one iconic car in its stable. GM has the Corvette, Ford has the Mustang and the Lincoln Town Car, and Chrysler has Jeep. Each of those has been around for decades, and each has many, many hardcore, devoted followers.

I don't think the Japanese have some genetic predisposition for making better cars; I think the Big Three had each reached the point of being so bureaucratic that they were not very capable of being particularly innovative, while the Japanese companies were still smaller, more nimble, and more entrepreneurial.

Note my use of the word "were" referring to the Japanese. Toyota clearly has some problems with arrogance and failing to acknowledge voices of dissent.

All of this is significant for Obama, because Obama made the decision to save GM and Chrysler, and spent billions of dollars on doing so. People in Detroit had known for years about the problems afflicting GM: too many brands, too many models, too many dealerships. The problem was that no one at GM had the power to solve the problems. Even the chairmen couldn't close the brands they needed to get rid of, or close the excess dealerships. It took the power of the President of the United States to make that happen.

But Obama did it. He saved GM, and he saved - for now, at least - Chrysler. As Toyota's sales fall with its reputation, the reputation of the Big Three will start to improve. GM still has a lot of issues to deal with, and a lot of detritus to purge from its system. It will take some time for it to close down Pontiac and Saturn, and to sell Hummer and Saab. Those old dealerships will eventually be transformed into new buildings, but that will take time, as well.

Once all of those things happen, however, GM will be a leaner machine. Same with Chrysler. They will start once again making good cars that customers want to buy, and they will start making money. And many, many people will be working at them. Most of those people will be Americans.

And Barack Obama will be able to claim that he saved General Motors and Chrysler, and, with them, hundreds of thousands of American jobs. To say nothing of pride in American manufacturing.

And he will have done it with virtually no Republican help, and in the face of strong opposition from Republicans.

Really, really, really not worried about Obama.

The Hurt Locker

So I saw The Hurt Locker, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, currently frontrunner for Best Director Oscar (her chief competition being her ex-husband, James Cameron, for Avatar). It's about a bomb disposal unit in the Iraq war. That's it. There isn't much plot. These guys defuse bombs. Mostly IEDs lying on the street. They use robots when they can, but sometimes they have to walk right up to the bomb and disarm them. They have special equipment, like an armored suit, but it's still one of the most dangerous jobs in the armed forces, not to mention the world.


It takes place in 2004. That's about all you know about the world outside of this small group of guys. No mention of weapons of mass destruction, George Bush, or even Saddam Hussein. You're up close and personal with them, like they are with each other. They don't know each other before being assigned to watch each other's backs. They have different ways of seeing the world, different levels of appetite for risk. They don't always agree, which means that they occasionally have to challenge each other. They make mistakes, which, in this environment, can be deadly. For each other as well as themselves.


The movie takes no position on the war, just shows it like it is. But that becomes the best possible antiwar message, because you immediately understand how insane this reality is. This is what should be a normal country, with normal people trying to live normal lives. Even under Saddam Hussein, they managed to get on with their lives. Getting up in the morning, eating, drinking, doing their jobs, falling in love, arguing with friends and families. Playing soccer. Enjoying the sunshine. Then we started a war in the middle of it. And we're still fighting that war. They would like to be able to walk across the street, but there might be an IED there. And we're sending young men, almost none of whom speak the language, to fight this war. While these people have no choice but to try to get on with their lives.


The main character is a guy who is really, really good at defusing bombs, William James (Jeremy Renner, who deserves his Oscar nomination for Best Actor). But he's also something of a cowboy who takes some bizarre risks. Which means that he gets things done, but his risks don't always work out.

A war is a perfect frame for mixing the real and the surreal, because we, the audience, don't really know what normal is. What is over the top? I have no idea, because I don't know where the top is. A guy snipping the wires to defuse a bomb at the last second is an action movie cliche. Except that here the guy snippping the wires isn't a British spy wearing a tux, trying to save the world and the woman in a beautiful dress that he's been sleeping with. The guy snipping the wires is an American soldier in camo who is trying to save the lives of a few Iraqis and Americans. There are no beautiful women. This is not a fantasy. There is no escapism.

Bill James knows he's good at his job, but he doesn't know why he does it. He's very grounded in reality, completely aware of what he has to do. But he's also strangely detached from his own survival instincts. He's pragmatic, focused, competent, and professional.

And just a little bit insane.

My vote for Best Director goes to Kathryn Bigelow.

Rootin' for the Saints

I am going to be watching the Super Bowl with a couple of friends in a bar in Pasadena. I've watched the Super Bowl with these friends for the last few years. They're pretty clueless about football, but they like watching the Super Bowl. It's a little odd being the sports expert in the crowd, but it's a good feeling.

I am, along with probably 90% of America, rooting for the Saints. Partially because of Reggie Bush, who is a famous USC grad. But also, of course, for the underdog factor. Bill Plaschke of the LA Times explained this country's desperate need for a Cinderella story:

As our country lurches and heaves through the ankle-deep sand of its economic recovery, it has not helped the national psyche that every time we turn to our national pastimes for assurances that the little guy can still survive, we run smack into Goliath.

The New York Yankees won the World Series. Gee, that was fun. The Lakers won the NBA championship. Loved here, hated everywhere else.

North Carolina won the Final Four. Bear Bryant's old team won the Bowl Championship Series. Jimmie Johnson won his fourth consecutive NASCAR championship. The Connecticut women's basketball team has won 61 consecutive games.

And now Peyton Manning is getting ready to win another Super Bowl?

No thanks. Not now. Please. America needs to believe in the impossible again. America needs another dose of revival.

As a Yankees and Lakers fan, I was thrilled with both of those victories, although my otherwise great sports year was tempered by the dismal failure of USC's football team this year (they went 9-4, which was very sad). But I understand his point.

Of course, the greatest Cinderella story in America right now is playing out in the White House, but I suppose as soon he was inaugurated, Obama stopped being the underdog. Of course, the whole point of the Cinderella story is that she is the one who marries the handsome prince.