Tanks for the Memory

{link » Michigan History of Tanks}

“After witnessing the effectiveness of armor during the German blitzkrieg in WWII, the U.S. Army contracted with the Chrysler Corporation to design and manufacture tanks at the Detroit Arsenal. Today, this relationship has resulted in America’s armor forces being the fastest, best equipped and most lethal in the world.”
 M1A2 Abrams Tank

{link » Bob Hope: Thanks for the memory ...}

Thanks for the memory
Of lingerie with lace, Pilsner by the case
And how I jumped the day you trumped my one-and-only ace
How lovely it was!

 Bob Hope

So, I keep hearing how the much-discussed proposed bailout of the Big3 auto industry is a national security issue, à la "What if WW-III breaks out and we need a million tanks!? Who will bail us out then, if we don't have the Big3 around?"

Admittedly, all I know about this proposed monstrous bailout is what I hear, see, and read in the media. But on the basis of common sense, I wonder what could be wrong with the proposition that a Chapter-11-protected re-organization of the Big3 automakers, who it seems can not compete in an open car market, creates a new American manufacturing giant, "Tanks—R—US". This leaner/meaner American manufacturing giant could continue to manufacture the "Cadillac" of tanks for the United States Army, as well as a smattering of "Ford", "Chevy", and "Chrysler" tanks for the rest of the world — those countries who may want the status symbol of American supremacy in the field-of-battle for their national-holiday parades.

It's win-win.