GM and the Senators that, well, .....

Have you seen the latest GM commercial? I feel sorry for the guv'munt hired CEO, Jim Whitacre. He seems like a nice guy and a very smart professional. I actually have a weak spot for him - I like his accent.

Thing is - he shouldn't do his own commercials ... or should have less PR Yes Men around him. I think he could have done better. That is why I am worried for GM as it moves forward.

The historical institutional habits of GM are well known, and make the Navy Pentagon culture look like a hippie commune by comparison ... that is one reason GM got in the trouble they are in. A self-appointed aristocracy defined by an isolated leadership, fed happy talk, and surrounded by sycophants is not a formula for success. It never has.

In a classic case of hope winning over experience - I would hope that GM would somehow come out the other end a changes corporation, but .... this add gives me indications and warnings that it may not have.

He needed more takes and some time with a speech coach. No excuse to let your senior executive walk around with no clothes on.

The next step for the CEO of GM is to fire his personal staff and PR head. They failed him miserably in this case - he can do better. If he dismissed good advice, well, then, there is the problem.

Speaking of epic fails:

While I was walking back from a pint at Kelly's Irish Times the day before Salamandapalooza-DC, I walked by the Senate Office Building ... right past where the Senators park.

You would think that after deciding to borrow billions of dollars from my children, that they would show a little love for GM and Chrylser? Well, in their parking spots I saw one: a Lincoln limo - with a driver in it and the car running.

As I walked past the parking lot, what other US vehicle did I see? Why the one with the "1" and "US Senate" license plate from Vermont (Sen. Leahy? ). A Ford Explorer. A little irony there. Yes, a USA car - but not one sent my children's yet-unearned money to. And it is a SUV.

Yes, I do love DC. Seriously, I do - any fan of the human condition must.

Until I got to the Vermont EarthCriminal, I saw: Lexus, Nissan, Toyota, Volvo, Mercedes, Volvo, Lexus, Honda. Just a thought. Even if those were staffers...... that there is funny.