Bailout Watch 508: Let's Blame the Bankers (Jews?) Pt. II

As the Motown meltdown rushes towards its not-so-final denouement, a clear meme is emerging: blame the bankers. Last week, Detroit News columnist Daniel Howes suggested that Americans will finger Wall Street suits for Chrysler’s collapse. It was an odd not-to-say-jarring proposition—given that Chrysler’s management has done just about everything it could do destroy the automaker’s rep save impregnating car seats with swine flu. Ditto GM. And there’s a darker side to this idea, which I’ve previously resisted mentioning. I believe this line of thinking raises the specter of ye olde “international Jewish banking conspiracy.” I know, I know. Call me a paranoid fantasist (I’ve been called worse). But try reading this Automotive News “analysis” from an anti-Semite’s perspective: “The debate over the U.S. government’s bid to reshape the American auto industry through bankruptcy comes down to this: the spreadsheets of a handful of former investment bankers pitted against the street sense of thousands of U.S. auto dealers fighting to survive.”

Here’s something from this article I find a little disquieting:

The autos task force led by former investment bankers Steve Rattner and Ron Bloom has driven GM and Chrysler to slash costs and cut debt—through bankruptcy if needed.

As you may or may not know, Rattner and Bloom are Jewish. Well, if you didn’t know it, or care one way or another, some people do. Here’s a comment posted on the neo-Nazi stormfront.org re: Rick Wagoner’s forced resignation: “Rat-faced Jew Steven Rattner is Obama’s ‘chief auto industry adviser’, so yes, he probably did make the call for Wagoner to resign.”

I’m not accusing Automotive News of anti-Semitism. But scribe David Bailey should have realized there ARE anti-Semites out there, and that his article could serve as ammunition for these people. Not so very long ago, “blame the bankers” was a pass-code for anti-semitic vitriol.

And since Chrysler’s dissolution and GM’s implosion aren’t the bankers fault, and as the two gentlemen named seem to be bending over backwards to bailout the unbailoutable, why go there?

Anyway, Bailey’s main point: bankruptcy, whether impending or actual, hurts GM sales. For this I paid a subscription?

[NOTE: I’m turning off TTAC’s anti-flaming policy—towards the site–for this blog post. If you’d like to comment about my editorial choices in running this piece, please feel free.]