Chrysler Files for Bankruptcy Protection

In this time of financial calamity and collapse, it's very difficult to follow along with the simultaneously optimistic and fearful rhetoric that comes out of Washington. D.C.

"No one should be confused about what a bankruptcy process means," President Barack Obama said in a midday announcement. "This is not a sign of weakness but rather one more step on a clearly chartered path to Chrysler's revival."

Funny, I always assumed that bankruptcy was the definition of "a sign of weakness" in the world of business. Actually, I guess bankruptcy would be the "result" of years of ignoring numerous "signs of weakness" in the Chrysler business model. Obviously, the same is true of General Motors and its own pending collapse.

But, somehow the government has managed to get Fiat, the United Auto Workers Union and a few other investors to take hold of Chrysler, with the hope that Fiat can re-charge the brand with its low-emissions and better-fuel-economy technology. Unfortunately, they're going to try to market their technology under the Chrysler brand. That doesn't seem to make much sense to me.

If you have brands that have so publicly and horrifically failed to the tune of hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars, why not scrap those brands and build anew? Bring about real change by changing the direction and the brand of what would be the "former" GM and Chrysler. Let the names die with the companies whose shoddy management helped to bury them in the first place.