Road To Ruin

Once upon a time, American automobiles were the envy of the world. Power steering, V-8 engines, fuel injection, cruise control, upholstered seats, automatic transmission . . . everything you could ever want.

That is, except for fuel efficiency(or the lack of one), tanks resembling cars, the sameness of models, a product that requires numerous trips to the repair shop, and, well, need I go on? Which is why Japanese-based cars such as Toyota and Honda are now considered the envy of the world.

Now it appears the American auto industry is about to go broke for failing to meet the needs of its customers. Rising gas prices meant people couldn't get rid of their SUVs fast enough. Production of hybrid vehicles have yet to take off. Some auto dealers have been shut down nationwide. Any kind of bankruptcy among the auto companies would force massive layoffs not just in Detroit, but also at the companies that handle their supplies. People who still have jobs aren't in the mood to buy cars, or much of anything else, right now.

So here come the Big Three automakers--General Motors, Ford and Chrysler--knocking on the door of Congress, asking for a $25 billion bailout to keep their companies afloat. They are told to go back to Detroit on the corporate jets they came to Washington with, and come up with some kind of business plan before asking for money again. Meanwhile, the government has other priorities, such as propping up Citibank for more billions.

What to do? If the automakers went away tomorrow, most people would be saying good riddance, they don't deserve to be saved. Well, they're cutting back on discretionary spending like the rest of us. GM, for one, won't be advertising on this year's Super Bowl and Academy Awards telecasts. And they have just ended their endorsement contract with golfer Tiger Woods--not that he'll be hurting for money any time soon.

Ford, GM and Chrysler will eventually get their money whether we like it or not. Before they do, though, they must agree to the following provisions:

• They must make major investments in green technologies, public transportation, and construction of new or existing infrastructure.
• Build cars that get at least 50 mpg, and don't fall apart once it leaves the dealership.
• Buick and Mercury, just to name a couple of underperforming brands, needs to join Oldsmobile, Plymouth and DeSoto on the scrap heap.

Only if Detroit gets a grip on reality can it once again be on the road to success.

Gopher Football Mediocrity: The Tradition Continues

Previously, we talked about the Bowl Championship Series, how we would attempt to fix it, and why it may never change.

Here in Minnesota, the BCS is not that big a deal. Not since the 1962 Rose Bowl has the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers been within sniffing range of a BCS bowl. Or any other bowl that people care about.

The Gophers ended the 2008 regular season with a 7-5 record, which is pretty good until you realize that their only significant victory was over Illinois. They dropped their last four Big Ten games, including a 55-0 blowout at the hands of Iowa that cleaned out the Metrodome by halftime, except for diehards and Hawkeye fans.

In Tim Brewster's second season as coach, 7-5 represents a marked improvement over 1-11 the previous year. He's trying to get the football program back to the heights enjoyed by Bernie Bierman and Murray Warmath, but so have other Gopher coaches who have come and gone over the past 40 years.

The reasons for this tradition of mediocrity vary: Some say it's the quality of players the program has been able to recruit in the face of football factories such as Ohio State and Southern California.

Others think it's the Metrodome, which the Gophers are leaving after 27 seasons for an on-campus outdoor stadium. But the slide began when they were still playing at Memorial Stadium, so that doesn't wash.

Still others believe it's the lack of commitment by university administrators past and present. No. The university's commitment is to provide a quality education for those who choose to enroll there, whether they are athletes or not.

It makes you wonder if the Gophers deserve to go to a bowl game at all after the season they've had. Their best shot appears to be the Motor City Bowl in Detroit, another third-rate bowl the team has been invited to over the years to go along with the Sun, Independence, Music City and Insight bowls. It's gotten to the point where, if the Gophers are invited to a bowl game, you'd know there are too many of them.

So what makes you think moving to an outdoor stadium will change things? Unless the University of Minnesota is serious about reviving its football program, the echoes of Bierman, Warmath, Bronko Nagurski, Bruce Smith (who won the 1941 Heisman Trophy) and Paul Giel will seem fainter than ever.

Change? What Change?

During the campaign, we were told that if Senator Hillary Clinton were elected president, we would be getting nothing more than a third term of the Clinton White House. If Senator John McCain were elected, we'd have another four years of the policies of President George W. Bush. But if we elected Senator Barack Obama, we'd have a fresh start. Hallelujah! Change has come to Washington!

So how come President-elect Obama is stocking most of his Cabinet positions with people who either used to work for, or are related to, former President Bill Clinton?

Some of the people Obama has appointed all have ties to the Clinton administration in one way or another: Rahm Emanuel as White House Chief of Staff, Gregory Craig as legal counsel (he defended Clinton in his impeachment trial), John Podesta as head of the transition team, and Eric Holder as Attorney General.

But the biggest name who has yet to be appointed is Hillary Clinton, rumored to be trading in her Senate seat to become Secetary of State. Remember all the buzz when she was in line to take Obama's vice-presidential slot that went to Joe Biden? Same here. Just as before, the major stumbling block is her husband, with several conflict-of-interest issues that could scuttle her nomination.

Granted, Obama has reportedly appointed some non-Clintonites to Cabinet positions. Former South Dakota senator Tom Daschle was named secretary of Health and Human Services, though his ties to a Washington law firm that happens to be lobbyists on health care issues might pose a problem. And Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano was chosen to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

It's not a bad thing for Obama, getting experienced Democratic hands (and maybe one or two Republicans) to run his administration, because it's something he's said he would do as President. But it does sound like the first of many campaign promises Obama's going to break. We're getting a defacto third term of Bill Clinton.

Florida North 2008 Update

After two days of a recount to determine who Minnesota's next U.S. Senator is going to be, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman leads his Democratic challenger Al Franken by 136 votes, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Obviously, there will be more to come.

College Football Playoffs Benefit Everyone--Except Athletes

When it comes to a playoff for college football, it sounds a lot like the weather: Everyone complains about it, but no one does anything.

The Bowl Championship Series was created a decade ago to determine who really was the champion of college football without having to rely on two or three different polls, resulting in two or three different teams declaring themselves the winner.

Instead, the BCS (which includes the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta bowls held around the New Year's holiday) made things worse by having a one-game playoff between the top two teams as determined by computer (this week it's Alabama and Texas Tech, in that order), while keeping the rest of the bowl games intact. With few exceptions, no school outside the major conferences need apply.

Nobody, it seems, wants to see the system changed. The colleges don't want it because there are already 12 regular season games, and adding more would cut down on class time for those poor 'student-athletes' (which doesn't hold water when applied to other sports, basketball in particular). The major New Year's bowls, most of which have been around since the Great Depression, don't want to be relegated to just another playoff game, not when they've got lucrative conference tie-ins.

Now President-elect Barack Obama is getting in on the debate. On CBS' 60 Minutes Sunday night, the future occupant of the White House advocated a three-round, eight-team playoff with a cutback in regular season games. That would still leave some deserving teams out of the mix, but it's a start.

Our suggestion? A points system. Add four for every victory, three for wins against a nationally-ranked opponent (no more creampuffs), two if you win your conference's championship, and one for each senior on track to graduate. Four points are deducted for every loss, three for losing to a nationally-ranked opponent, two for every player academically ineligible or has discipline problems. Eight teams with the most points gets into the playoffs.

However it's set up, the BCS will make it difficult for folks without cable or satellite to watch its games starting in 2011. That's when its new TV contract with ESPN begins, covering all five bowls. Cable has now gotten to a point where it can outbid the broadcast networks for major sporting events. It helps if one of those cable networks got rid of its competitors the way ESPN got rid of ABC Sports, by becoming corporate siblings (they're both owned by Disney).

And there you have it. Everybody makes money off of the 'student-athletes' who are supposed to decide football championships on the field--the networks, the colleges, and the corporate sponsors who splash their name on every two-bit bowl game. Everybody, that is, except the 'student-athletes' themselves.

A New Voice at CBS Radio

There's a reason why we haven't said much about the local media here in the Twin Cities. Things change at a glacial pace, so there isn't that much to report. Until now.

Mick Anselmo, a radio executive whose high-profile firing at the local branch of Clear Channel made headlines, has turned up at the local branch of CBS Radio.

Anselmo's greatest claims to fame while at Clear Channel was to build K102 (102.1 FM) into a country music powerhouse, winning several national awards. He was also credited with starting KFAN (1130 AM), a sports talker that isn't always 'jock around the clock', and KTLK (100.3 FM), which has evolved into just another conservative talker, albeit with bigger names (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Jason Lewis) than the other guys.

Between radio gigs, Anselmo's been working for one of local auto king Denny Hecker's companies. Now we learn that Hecker, one of the most ubiquitous advertisers in town (he sometimes literally phones in his ads), is about to put some of his companies in bankruptcy, reportedly caused by a legal dispute with Chrysler over financing. Well, we knew Detroit's problems would hit home eventually.

In Anselmo's new job at CBS, speculation is rampant that he'll want to make changes at the three stations he'll oversee:

• WCCO (now called News Radio 830, but it's still more of a talk station than, say, WBBM in Chicago) seems ripe for some changes. But can they do it without alienating their core nursing home demographic?
• WLTE (102.9 FM) is your go-to channel for light rock. Where else are you gonna go for your Barry Manilow fix? Keep this one.
• KZJK (104.1 FM) plays the kind of classic rock that can be found on other stations. If Anselmo wants to challenge K102, here's where he should do it. Say goodbye to Jack FM.

If there are any changes made, it probably won't be until after the holidays. Or shortly after WLTE finishes its annual holiday music marathon.

Moving Right Along . . .

It's been a week since the most historic presidential election of our lifetime (they say that every four years, but in this case it really was true), and the transition of power has already begun. The George W. Bushes and the Barack Obamas got together at the White House Monday for a tour of the place, and to have a nice chat without the cameras present. When the current and future First Couples posed for pictures, it all seemed so . . . unremarkable.

History has turned a page (uh huh), as Sonny and Cher used to say. As evidenced by the publication of Newsweek's post-election special issue, all the cast of characters have become trivia answers. Remember Rudy "a noun, a verb and 9/11" Giuliani? The inevitability of Hillary Clinton's nomination? Reverend Jeremiah Wright? Joe the Plumber (hope that country music career works out)? John Edwards getting caught with his pants down? Sarah Palin? Tina Fey as Sarah Palin? John McCain's town hall meetings? The Bradley effect? CNN's holograms? Good times.

But now the economy is dominating the news. Unemployment is up, and so have foreclosures. The auto industry is in big trouble, looking for the same bailout the government just gave to companies like AIG--which promptly used it to party hearty. Circuit City has filed for bankruptcy and closed some of its stores. Does anyone really care what Bill O'Reilly, Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddow have to say about it?

Oh sure, here in Minnesota we have the disputed U.S. Senate contest between GOP incumbent Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken. Coleman claims victory even though he only leads by 206 votes (the latest figure), and the lead keeps shrinking all the time. That's just before the official recount, folks.

Are you really missing those thrilling days of yesteryear, when there used to be a debate every week, attack ads on every channel, and conflicting poll numbers in every media outlet? Frankly, we don't. Politics may be fun for some people and an obsession to others, and it provides an endless source of material for blogs like this one. It's just nice to have it in the rear view mirror--at least until 2010.

Coleman vs. Franken: Still Going

The U.S. Senate race in Minnesota between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken has gone into overtime. A state-mandated recount was triggered when the original vote count showed that Coleman was leading by less than one percent. As of this posting, the lead is down to 236.

We're hearing plenty of theories as to why we're in this situation. One is that neither candidate was fully embraced by the voters, given all the negative advertising we've been subjected to. Another is that an Independence Party candidate (Dean Barkley this time) has once again played spoiler to both candidates in a statewide election. Maybe one of these days, someone other than Jesse Ventura can actually win one of them.

Barack Obama may have kept Minnesota's streak of voting for the Democratic presidential candidates alive. But he couldn't alter the status quo. All the incumbents--Tim Walz, Michelle Bachmann, John Kline, Keith Ellison, James Oberstar--retained their seats in Congress. Erik Paulsen kept the Third District seat in GOP hands with his win over Democrat Ashwin Madia, following in the footsteps of Bill Frenzel and Jim Ramstad.

Senator Coleman had the gall to declare victory and for Franken to concede. But now they and the rest of us must wait to see which one of them joins the club in Washington. It can't come soon enough.

After The Cheering Stops

As the world celebrates the election of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States--no small achievement in itself--and explores the significance of it, we wonder what's going to happen once the cheering dies down come January 21, 2009.

No new president ever has it easy, inheriting the messes created by the outgoing Commander-in-Chief. Obama could very well spend the next four years (and maybe four more if he's so inclined?) undoing the damage to American prestige at home and abroad caused by President George W. Bush, leaving precious little time for the president-elect to pursue his own agenda.

Bush' s legacy--two wars, obsessive secrecy, general incompetence, and the nice parting gift of a recession, among other things--have been well documented. Obama has challenges of his own--a new energy policy, climate change initiative and a health care plan--in an age of the trillion-dollar deficit. A Democratic-controlled Congress, which Obama was part of until recently, won't always accede to his wishes. Ask Bill Clinton.

The people Obama chooses to carry out his agenda in the next few weeks will make all the difference between success and failure. The first to heed the call is Illinois congressman Rahm Emanuel, chosen as the President-elect's Chief of Staff.

Looking back at the campaign for a moment, John McCain goes back to his day job as Arizona's U.S. Senator wondering what the heck happened. He is a good man who would have been elected if it weren't for:

• conservative Republicans hijacking his campaign.
• funding, or the lack of it. McCain's war chest was nowhere near Obama's, pointing out the limits of public financing.
• racist yahoos, which he neither encouraged or discouraged.
• the Great Wall Street Meltdown, making him look like a modern-day Herbert Hoover.
• President Bush as a millstone around his neck.

Then there's the selection of Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate. How the Alaska governor went from an overnight phenomenon to a punchline in a few short weeks is simply breathtaking. Whether you love her or dislike her, Palin won't be going away. We could be seeing her again in 2012.

History was made Tuesday with the first African-American elected president (biracial for you nitpickers), decades removed from the time when blacks were discouraged from voting through intimidation, Jim Crow laws and outright violence. People of all races have reason to celebrate this development. The next four years will tell us if President Barack Obama will become more than just a footnote.

If You Believe . . .

We're not in the endorsement business, nor are we going to predict a winner, because we don't want to tell you who to vote for. Instead, we'll just say that you have a decision to make on Tuesday. You can vote for the candidate of your choice, or you can sit home and watch others on TV decide for you.

If you do vote, make sure it's for the right reasons. We've listed some of those for the presidential race between Senators Barack Obama and John McCain, along with the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota between Senator Norm Coleman and Al Franken. It goes like this . . .

Vote for Barack Obama if you believe . . .

• eight years of President George W. Bush is enough.
• the war in Iraq needs to end.
• McCain is too old to be president, and Governor Sarah Palin is too inexperienced to step in should the worst happen.
• the middle class won't be soaked in taxes.
• American prestige at home and abroad needs to be improved.
• his life story confirms that in America, anyone can run for President. Anyone.

Vote for John McCain if you believe . . .

• the policies of Bush should continue in some form.
• the war in Iraq needs to end--in victory.
• Obama is too inexperienced to be President.
• the middle class will be soaked in taxes.
• it's a dangerous world out there, and you need an experienced hand at the wheel.
• Palin would make a great vice-president. You betcha.
• his life story confirms that it's never too late to be President.

Vote for Bob Barr or Ralph Nader if you believe . . .

• neither Obama or McCain has the chops to run the country.

In the U.S. Senate race, vote for Norm Coleman if you believe . . .

• he will be a different senator once President Bush is out of office, reaching across the aisle to get things done.
• Al Franken is a raving lunatic who writes porn and makes offensive jokes.
• that Franken is behind a lawsuit days before the election, alleging that a top Coleman donor used a Texas company to pay $75,000 to a Minneapolis insurance firm employing Coleman's wife.

Vote for Al Franken if you believe . . .

• six years of Coleman is enough.
• he had nothing to do with the lawsuit allegedly slandering Coleman's wife.
• someone with no previous political experience deserves the job over someone who does.
• Coleman's too much in lockstep with the Bush administration.
• bailing out Wall Street was a bad idea.
• the Democrats need a veto-proof majority in Congress.
  

Vote for Dean Barkley if you believe . . .

• this campaign between two guys from New York City has been the worst in recorded history.

May the best person win. Or is that too much to ask?