There's a certain irony in offering silly choices. Does anyone press the "No, I don't want a receipt" button at the gas pump, or press 9 when they want to hang up the phone?Then there's the irony of offering a choice that doesn't really exist. A proud union member is issued his obligatory bumper sticker "Union - Yes" with a picture of a check box. Of course "Yes" is the only vote there is. If you want the job, you're in the union.
This kind of irony has left Detroit in a bad way these days. The UAW, in its upward-ratcheting need for self-perpetuation, call the shots like Rod Effen Blagojevich's wife screaming vulgarities in the background of his now famous phone calls. "Labor demands" are not balanced with any "labor accountability" for performance. The CEO's are up in front of Congress, but the shrewish-wife union bosses are in the wings telling them why they can't make those concessions.
This situation is aggravated by a poor economy, but the latest reviews of the big three show a continuing lack of competitiveness. Depending on blind patriotic loyalty from your customers more than competitive excellence in a free market is rather unpatriotic.
So is pretending there's a choice where there isn't.
