Liberty: Herman - Alec Baldwin

Dear Mr. Baldwin,
This note is in response to your May 17, 2009 blog comments in the Huffington Post proclaiming "Pull the plug on the Big 3." As a Chrysler employee, I was saddened by your news that we're "dead". You would never guess that to be the case in my office. Each day, my coworkers remind me of the resilience of our forefathers. I've never been more proud of a group of people than those of us (suppliers included) who have pulled together, and are fighting to restore Chrysler. But I suppose the view is different in the land of 8 figure incomes, personal trainers, and private jets.
"Look--the man from Along Came Polly who didn't wash his hands in the restroom says the Big Three sucks! Let's price out Hondas instead." For whatever reason, an actor's comments carry a great deal of influence in the minds of some. "Did you hear what the guy who played the pedophile scout leader in the SNL sketch said about the Big 3? Think I'll look at the new Toyota Tundra." What spews from your big pie hole affects the livelihood of my family, friends, coworkers, surrounding neighborhoods, local and nationwide economy. With no Big 3, and no manufacturing infrastructure, we more or less lose our middle class. Be careful--these are the people whose hard-earned dollars fill the box office tills for your films, and purchase the products from the sponsors of your little half hour fun time. Shut your big, overpaid yapper.
First, you present yourself as some sort of industry expert because you were once a GM spokesperson in some silly Tahoe commercials back in the early 1990's. At the same time, you make it clear that Big 3 products are inferior, and have been for 30 years. You took a big paycheck to tell people to buy a product that you evidently, did not truly believe in. THAT, plus a few acting lessons, makes you some sort of automotive expert--someone whose opinions regarding products, and industries, and environment, carry a lot of weight. Do you have opinions about diet and exercise? Maybe you have a killer maple bourbon tilapia recipe that you'd like to share? What other products have you blindly endorsed (Hulu?), and who's more credible--Mr. Baldwin or a tabloid article about Mr. Baldwin? Shut your big, overpaid yapper.
Next, you state that you feel bad for the men and women of Detroit. Then you state that it would be best to let the Big 3 run into the ground, based on the management decisions of the past 30 years--the same Big 3 who stepped up during wartime to protect our freedom. The same Big 3 who wrote you a big Tahoe endorsement check to help resuscitate your career after The Marrying Man.. On behalf of everyone here at Chrysler and its suppliers, carrying three and four jobs, trying to make it through the economic downturn, because the average guy can’t get a loan to buy a Chrysler (by the way, we’re not dead--we're still fighting), thanks for the dagger. Thanks for kicking us while we're down. Any other nuggets of wisdom from the opinionated puppet? Shut your big, overpaid yapper.
Sadly, what you say influences the buying decisions of some people. While I appreciate your deep-seated concern, you’re not really helping the situation. Not everybody wants, or can afford a car that needs a new $3000 battery every few years--one whose battery production melts a decent-sized hole in the o-zone, and requires mining of lithium from rainforests. But your carbon footprint looks nice as you drive your little hybrid to your private jet hanger, so you can fly to and from New York to tape your little laugh-tracky sitcom. Shut your big, overpaid yapper.
Mr. Baldwin, Alec, with all due respect, shut the hell up. You get paid to put on makeup and read other peoples’ words into a camera for our amusement. You are nothing more than a modern day court jester--a marionette, if you will. I used to think you were funny. Now I look at the TV and all I see is an opinionated sellout whose characters are all starting to look the same. Should we pull the plug on Alec Baldwin? I don't really think so--Great Balls of Fire was a bit questionable, but overall, you've done some solid work. Shut your big, overpaid yapper.
Oh and one more thing--"Ford has cancer"? Here's a little tip for you--people fighting cancer, cancer survivors, and families and friends affected by cancer really don't care for insensitive cancer metaphors. Stick to the script--don't veer away from whatever the writers give you. If we want any more automotive advice, we’ll ask you. Or Paris Hilton. Or the fellow who played Screech on Saved By the Bell. In the meantime, shut your big, overpaid yapper.
Sincerely,
Jerry Herman

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THIS WAS IN RESPONSE TO:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Rise and Fall of the Big 3
Alec Baldwin May 17, 2009
When I was growing up, some kids dreamed of owning cars like a Trans Am, Camaro, Firebird, Corvette, Chevelle or GTO. Stock or tricked out, owning one of the fastest street cars that American automakers turned out was a dream come true. Mustangs were for the West Coast. Chevy ruled the road on Long Island in the1960's and 70's.
Back then, in the middle class neighborhood where I grew up, foreign cars were for foreigners. As fuel economy began to become an issue, NOBODY in my neighborhood gave a thought to buying a Japanese car. Nobody. OPEC appeared and gas shortages came and went. You went Ford, Chevy, Chrysler. That was it. I have a feeling that it was like that in most American middle class neighborhoods back then.
The fact that we have arrived where were are now is painful. Americans, who are being asked to invest billions upon billions of dollars in US automakers and their employees' futures, have already been investing in those companies, against their better interests, for decades. Now Chrysler is dead, GM is on critical life support and Ford has cancer but may beat it.
What do you care?
The heads of these corporations did not spend the last thirty years lying in bed each night, sleepless. They did not turn their spouses in the wee hours and say, "How do I serve the automotive needs of the American public and better protect their health and safety AND help them conserve energy?" They never said that.
Instead, they spent billions of dollars attempting to bribe the Congress to avoid putting in seat belts and air bags, installing catalytic converters and reaching more ambitious fuel efficiency standards. For the most part, they succeeded. Congress approached those issues with the same combination of sentiment, fealty and fear that Detroit's customers accepted. It was said to be "bad for Detroit." Little did we know that falling for that bull for so long was what was bad for Detroit. Now, the American automotive industry, once the industrial pride of this country and a source of so many great paying jobs that changed the economic fortunes of millions of Americans in assembly, parts, dealerships and service, is about to go away.
What do you care?
I feel horribly for every single man and woman who will suffer as the result of this heartbreaking turn of events. I was the voice of Chevy Tahoe TV spots for five years in the early 90's. I drove a Tahoe then and loved it. Now, I drive a Prius.
I've owned Mercs, Chevys, Fords and Jeeps. I'm in the market for a new car now. I'll probably get a hybrid from a Japanese company, manufactured at a transplant factory in the American South. (Read the excellent recent article in the New Yorker by Peter Boyer about the path the Big Three and the UAW took to get here.) I'd like to buy an American car, but I'd feel like a fool doing that now. The leadership of the biggest automakers made sure of that.
There can be only one legitimate response to this crisis. Let energy conservation and fuel efficiency rule the day. Let the carmakers go under. In the same way we have subsidized Big Oil by destabilizing the governments of petroleum rich countries, or outright invading them, we have subsidized Detroit long enough. Just as every barrel of oil is undervalued because we do not factor in that portion of the defense budget that helped bring that oil to market, so we have undervalued our government's, and therefore our, complicity in producing cars that not only were inferior, but drove Detroit itself right off a cliff.
From the ashes of such great innovation, hard work, beautiful design and extraordinary branding-as-myth-making, let's have better cars.
From the ashes of arrogance, greed and corporate cowardice, let's have better cars.
Until then, pull the plug.