Reactions to GM Firing

Various commentators are now responding to the President of the United States firing the Chairman of a major corporation. First, James Lileks from his Twitter feed:

Maybe I’m old-school, but “President fires CEO” looks as wrong as “Pope fires Missile.” Does not compute.

Mark Steyn at The Corner:

...this GM/Chrysler thing is bad. Really bad. The descent into corporatism will doom America: The government is not competent to pick winners and losers, and will mire us in long-term Continental-style economic stagnation if it persists.

Aside from anything else, it should be disturbing that GM appears to have evolved into what Canada calls a "Crown corporation" without its nominal owners having any say in the matter. (If you're thinking "Crown corporation" sounds like a contradiction in terms, you're right.) ...

The Obama economy is shaping up not just as a Carteresque decline but a global tragedy.

One comment I read (and I don't remember where) wondered if Obama would next fire the head of the United Auto Workers Union.

Not likely.

And, in a flash from the past, John McCain mentioned during the campaign that it was almost impossible to fire a federal worker, a claim that is pretty much true. Had Rick Wagoner at GM been a low-level clerk in some government alphabet bureaucracy his job would have been safe.

The final commentary is coming from Wall Street which is down big as this is written. Investors are not impressed with his decision on GM, nor are they confident in his ability to run a major corporation.