'Remember Lee  Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler  Corporation from its death throes?  He's now 82 years old and has a  new book, 'Where Have All The Leaders Gone?'.
Lee Iacocca Says:
Am I the only  guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell  is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder! We've got a gang  of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've  got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up  after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car.
But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around  and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Stay the  course.'

Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is  America, not the damned 'Titanic'.

I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the bums  out!'

You might think I'm getting senile,  that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak  up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.

The most  famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in  handcuffs.

While we're  fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to  know what to do. And the press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking  hard questions. That's not the promise of the 'America' my parents and  yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about  you?

I'll go a step further. You can't call  yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and  willing to have. The Biggest 'C' is Crisis!

(Iacocca elaborates on nine C's of leadership, with  crisis being the first.)

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership  is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up  on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when  you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead  when your world comes tumbling down.

On September  11, 2001, we needed a  strong leader more than any other time in  our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A  hell of a mess, so here's where we stand.

We're immersed  in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for  leaving.

We're running the biggest deficit in  the history of the country..

We're losing  the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are  getting slaughtered by health care costs.

Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent  energy policy.

Our schools  are in trouble.

Our borders are like  sieves.

The middle class is being squeezed  every which way.

These are times that cry out for  leadership.

But when you look around, you've got  to ask: 'Where have all the leaders gone?' Where are the curious,  creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage,  conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for  alliteration, but I think you get the point.

Name me a  leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take  off our shoes in airports and throwing away our shampoo?

We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy,  and all we know how to do is react to things that have already  happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from  the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day  evaluating the response to the hurricane or demanding accountability for  the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the  storm.

Everyone's hunkering down, fingers  crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms  happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do  the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is  thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in  manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time  when 'The Big Three' referred to Japanese car companies? How did this  happen, and more important, what are we going to do about  it?

Name me a government leader who can articulate a  plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing  the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the  crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class  dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress.  We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain  silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being  replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of?  - that  some bonehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why  don't you guys show some spine for a change?

Had Enough?  Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here.  I'm  trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope - I believe  in America. In my lifetime, I've had the privilege of living through  some of  America's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of  our worst crises: The 'Great Depression,' 'World Wars I and II,' the  'Korean War,' the 'Kennedy Assassination,'the 'Vietnam War,' the 1970's  oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with  9/11.

If I've learned one thing, it's this: 'You don't  get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to  take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better  future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the  challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a "Call to Action" for people  who, like me, believe in America'. It's not too late, but it's getting  pretty close. So let's shake off the crap and go to work. Let's tell 'em  all we've had 'enough.'
Make your own  contribution by sending this to everyone you know and care about. It's  our country, folks, and it's our future. Our future is at  stake!!