History repeats, but skips to the stage after farce:
WASHINGTON - It is not every 31-year-old who, in a first government job, finds himself dismantling General Motors and rewriting the rules of American capitalism.
But that, in short, is the job description for Brian Deese, a not-quite graduate of Yale Law School who had never set foot in an automotive assembly plant until he took on his nearly unseen role in remaking the American automotive industry.
Nor, for that matter, had he given much thought to what ailed an industry that had been in decline ever since he was born. A bit laconic and looking every bit the just-out-of-graduate-school student adjusting to life in the West Wing - "he's got this beard that appears and disappears," says Steven Rattner, one of the leaders of President Obama's automotive task force - Mr. Deese was thrown into the auto industry's maelstrom as soon the election-night parties ended.
He's got no business experience. He hasn't even finished his graduate degree, and his only work experience is in politics. For some reason, this scenario reminds me of something that happened not that long ago. I think it was a disaster or something, and it had something to do with a major federal agency that was run by someone who was put there without the slightest bit of real world experience running that sort of organization. My hopes would be dashed if that weren't changed.
I wish him all the best if he ever has to actually set foot in a UAW-run factory and deal with the workers there. All of the ivory tower education in the world won't do him a lot of good once he has to factor in the UAW.
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