Bailout Watch 305: I Give Up On Detroit

Well, at least their hometown media. Our hypermiling pal Sam “Is there a draft out here?” Abuelsamid at Autoblog linked me to the straw that broke this camel’s back: a Christmas Eve column by The Detroit News’ John McCormick. “ Maybe it’s time to turn the tables on the South” the title proclaims, proving that prevarication is the first refuge of a journalistic scoundrel. “The unnecessarily long and painful path toward the approval of government bridging loans for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC has exposed a new threat to Detroit. It’s one that Michigan consumers may want to keep in mind as they consider their expenditures, vacation options and even retirement plans.” Breathe Farago. Gentlemen, you won. You got your money. I’m sorry if you found the $66.2b raid on the public purse was a bit… tedious. And embarrassing. But you want to start a boycott? You do realize you’re going back to Uncle Sugar in March, right? Southerners buy a lot of your trucks, yes? Maybe it would be best to just shut the Hell up and be glad that President Bush felt free to ride roughshod over the United States Congress (not to mention the U.S. Constitution). But no. Insult added to injury after the jump.

McCormick’s rant continues with the unconscionably flaming statement “The problem here centers on certain southern states — Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and, in particular, Alabama — where certain bone-headed senators seem to have forgotten that the Civil War ended, with the appropriate outcome, almost 150 years ago.”

Despite that obvious middle finger salute to the South, McCormick hides behind the idea that a southern boycott is a suggestion from unnamed readers, not, of course, himself.

“Apparently Alabama is quite a tourist destination for Michigan residents, so perhaps they will want to find other places to spend their hard-earned dollars. The southern state is also heavily favored by retirees from Michigan, but maybe that could change, too.

“One other thought raised by readers concerns disasters; not the financial kind we are all experiencing, but the natural variety — droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods — the sort of calamities that afflict southern states on a regular basis.

“As you point out, federal taxpayer money flows freely in these circumstances, and so does free assistance from northern states, including Michigan. Detroit automakers, for example, gladly helped with vehicles and personnel when Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast.

“Is it time the South is reminded that a mean-spirited attitude is not a smart play when the whole country is on the ropes?”

Did I just read that? Is McCormick– sorry, his anonymous emailer– seriously suggesting that his constituents withhold federal support for the South during natural disasters? Does Fortress Detroit have no shame?

[If you wish to email McCormick a copy of your response here on TTAC, please do so at john.mccormick@detnews.com.]