The Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver are another chapter in the unique history that Canada is writing on the world stage — sometimes in bold letters, sometimes in subtle poetic cadence.
The world’s top athletes pushed and soared, twisted and glided for 17 days and gave the world a spectacular performance. But in the end, it was Canada’s team that set the record, claiming more gold medals than in any Winter Olympic Games in history. The host country pulled in 14 first place medals, compared with 10 for Germany and 9 for the United States. To top it off, there was the Canada – U.S. final that saw two evenly matched emblematic titans of hockey go into sudden death with Canada claiming the gold there, too. Joannie Rochette, the figure skater from Quebec, won the bronze and the hearts of millions everywhere for her amazing grace in the face of such a sorrowful loss. She became the world’s adopted symbol of what the Olympic spirit means in terms of dedication and commitment. The opening and closing ceremonies showcased unsurpassed talent that revealed to the world the potential of a land blessed with natural beauty and endowed with an energetic and creative people. And they came from every part of the globe to make Canada their home.
All this was a fitting and long overdue reminder to those who may have forgotten that Canada can compete with anyone and win. Canada will never shine in the swagger competition. Its voice is sometimes understated in either of its official languages. Its institutions of democracy sometimes seem a little tepid compared with those of the U.S., and way too much power is concentrated in the hands of its prime minister. One does not get many Barack Obamas rising in Canada’s political system. Nor would a Sarah Palin ever get beyond a small town council chamber. But ask Canadians to build a railway through a mountain and span a continent with it, or charge them with taking a hill called Vimy Ridge in the battle torn fields of First World War France; tell them you want to create a health care system that is universal and serves all citizens equally, or enlist them in a war against terror in Afghanistan — and you will see an uncompromising and unparalleled spirit that gets the job done like no one else. One can never presume to know with precise certitude on what side of a struggle Providence sits. But when you have a Canadian on your side, there’s never any doubt. And success is always a lot closer because of it.
The Games got off to a shaky start, but, overall, their organization was a masterful display of management at its best. Canada’s Olympic committee never lost sight — as many organizations often do — of its central mission. In this case, that was the competition of the players and teams and the ease by which audiences could partake in the excitement. Well done.
The Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver are another chapter in the unique history that Canada is writing on the world stage — sometimes in bold letters, sometimes in subtle poetic cadence. It speaks a language of tolerance, understanding, respect for the individual and, above all, of how precious the gift of freedom is to be able to compete, excel, and, if not to prevail, at least to leave a better mark with a head held high.
That’s a gold medal performance that is Canada’s gift to the world.
The settlement was not crafted to act as a deterrent to future wrongdoing or to give the investing public confidence that the SEC is looking out for their interests in this post-Madoff era.
U.S. District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff had finally approved the settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Bank of America. Our concerns seemed at least to have made an appearance in the courtroom, though they clearly did not carry the day.
As we set out here before the judgment, our greatest misgiving in the proposed settlement was the inherent unfairness surrounding the $150 million penalty, which effectively involved the transfer, without their consent, of money from one shareholder pocket to another. The main players in the abuse, which included key officers and directors, got a pass on making any payment proportionate to their responsibility. To us, the settlement could easily have been concocted by Groucho Marx. It was not crafted to act as a deterrent to future wrongdoing or to give the investing public confidence that the SEC is actually looking out for their interests in this post-Madoff era.
Judge Rakoff correctly focused on this shortcoming in his combined opinion and order:
An even more fundamental problem, however, is that a fine assessed against the Bank, taken by itself, penalizes the shareholders for what was, in effect if not in intent, a fraud by management on the shareholders.
Unfortunately, the specter of judicial deference to tribunals like the SEC was also looking over his shoulder and he was unable to do more than register his chagrin. That does not do a lot for investors who were victimized by the shell game Bank of America engaged in, but it may serve as further evidence that the SEC needs to seriously rethink what precisely it is seeking in such settlements. Too often, they seem cleverly designed to create the illusion that justice is being served, rather than fostering policies that promote investor confidence in the capital markets and stand the test of garden-variety common sense on Main Street.
Judge Rakoff gave his verdict on that score, calling the settlement “half-baked justice, at best.” We see it more like a pie in the face of shareholders, despite the efforts of a plain-speaking judge to do his best to prevent it.
How the company planned to finally solve is massive safety problem was not made clear to Congress. The culture and mentality that drove the automaker to its current crisis was.
If you ever wanted to see the dark side of global business and the pathetic face of its leadership, you would look no further than the testimony today by James E. Lentz, President of Toyota U.S., before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He admitted the American operation is really a branch plant; all the key decisions about design and safety take place in Japan. We made an observation about shortcomings in Toyota’s corporate structure in an earlier posting.
What is most astonishing, at a time when consumer confidence is already in short supply, is that Toyota’s top man in America refused to offer any assurances that the company had gotten to the bottom of the problems involving unintended acceleration and that the right fix was being made. Toyota has had not weeks, not months, but years to solve this problem. Today was not the day to come before the American public and say the company is still searching for the answer.
Time and again, Mr. Lentz admitted that he did not know the specific answers to the questions posed by lawmakers. What is most striking about his testimony is that he could not be bothered to check out the findings of Toyota’s highest profile crashes, some of which led to multiple deaths. “I just don’t have those specifics” was how he responded in question after question. When Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) asked Mr. Lentz when Toyota “first became aware of incidents of sudden acceleration in its vehicles sold in the U.S.,” his response was a jaw-dropping “I don’t know the answer to that.” Not an impressive reply to the dean of the House of Representatives, who a competently briefed and prepared witness might have anticipated would have some hard-hitting questions, especially since he’s represented the 15th Congressional District in Michigan since 1955. It would be difficult to imagine how someone just beginning their career at Toyota U.S. could have given a less inspiring performance than its current head.
Mr. Lentz testified that he was really a marketing and sales kind of guy. That may be part of the problem. It’s a little like Don Draper of Mad Men fame going before Congress to give testimony about sexual harassment in the workplace.
If this is the best Toyota can come up with at this time of maximum peril to its brand, the future of the company and the lives of its customers are in serious jeopardy. Those of us who are long-time owners of Toyota and Lexus products might already have noticed that the company’s dealer network in North America long ago began to show signs of GM-like hubris. It relegates its customers to a call center approach in dealing with problems, which generally begins with a not-so-subtle reminder that they don’t really matter that much in the scheme of such a successful global corporation. Many Toyota customers are left to ask where exactly is the service premium you receive for paying a premium price over GM and Ford vehicles. Some of us who are Lexus customers wonder the same thing, especially when it can take three weeks for a service appointment to be scheduled. And at Lexus, you can still buy a car and never hear from the salesman again after taking delivery, which these days is a hard trick for even GM to pull off.
Mr. Lentz made an interesting comment in response to the Representative from the 9th Congressional District of Illinois, who also raised questions about Lexus acceleration problems and the treatment of those customers. He said he was very disappointed to hear about how they had been handled, “especially on the Lexus side of the business.” Toyota customers might find it a little unsettling that their lives and vehicle investments are somehow valued less than those of Lexus owners.
What the testimony today showed was that Toyota does not have an engineering issue. The real problem is not in the car. It’s in the outdated, outmoded and discredited culture and governance of a company headquartered half a world away. We will have more on that later.
Evan Bayh bemoans partisan politics in Congress. Canada’s Olympic Committee gets the gold for marketing hyperbole. Conrad Black bewails Russia as a nation of fraudsters from the confines of his prison cell.
A few things hit our desk with a hollow thud over the past week. Senator Evan Bayh’s recent discovery that politics is actually going on in Washington was one of them. He has held his senate seat from Indiana since 1998. His father held it from 1963 to 1981. Few are given such a golden opportunity to serve and to effect change. He was a favorite for re-election in the fall, unlike many of his Democrat colleagues. You might have thought he had an idea or two about what could be done to improve Washington, instead of declaring defeat and retreating to Indianapolis.
Canada’s Olympic Committee slogan at the Winter Games in Vancouver, “Own the Podium,” seems to have run into a snag in the mortgage department. Even with impressive displays by many host country athletes, Canada has fallen to fourth place in the medal count. It has been an unusual exhibition of bravura that detracts from the Olympic spirit and from the reputation of a country known for its modesty and civility. How odd that the worst display of sportsmanship and performance from the Winter Games comes from the highly paid marketing geniuses who dreamed up this twaddle.
But the ultimate chutzpah award would have to go to Conrad M. Black, who, with the help of the National Review, looked into the vanity mirror of Grimm Brothers fame and asked who was the biggest fraudster of them all. Why it’s Russia, the mirror answered back, to the man serving 78 months at Coleman Correctional Facility in Florida for his conviction on fraud charges and obstruction of justice.
Mr. Black observes, apparently with no fairy tale in mind:
Russia is a fraud. Its population is in steep decline and chronically afflicted by alcoholism. The governmental system is authoritarian and corrupt, allied with protégés who have been given monopolistic concessions and who repay their rulers with obscene kickbacks.
He makes his sweeping generalization without advancing much in the way of specifics. On the other hand, Mr. Black is a highly certified fraudster. Whether the Supreme Court upholds or overturns his conviction, at the current time, the law is required, and society is entitled, to view him as being officially guilty of the crimes for which he has been convicted. The comment about alcoholism is a recurring theme for Mr. Black. Before rendering his pronouncement about Russia in this regard, he claimed it to be a disease endemic to the profession of journalism. But Mr. Black should know as well as anyone that this is an illness that touches families around the world. Some have even lived among the mansions of Toronto. And about those monopolistic concessions: Where, exactly, would one place non-compete payments from companies in which you have an interest, Mr. Black? (See United States of America v. Conrad Black.)
Strangely, the National Review seems to buying into this baronial display of intellectual dishonesty. Its editors evidently have no problem publishing the thoughts of a convicted felon who is accusing others of the same crime for which he is presently serving time. They refuse to disclose his current confinement status, which might be of interest to readers now and in the future. In fact, they try to cover it up by describing him merely as an author. By contrast, they describe Bill Bennett, the conservative commentator, as an author whose full-time job is talk show host. Mr. Black’s full-time job is criminal serving time for fraud and obstruction of justice. To further distort the truth, NRO pictures Mr. Black in a business suit. His prison uniform has been his required attire for nearly two years.
While the contributions of the National Review are admittedly not something that prompt universal concurrence on these pages, there are aspects to conservative principles and philosophy that do resonate, especially after one has had the chance to observe the human condition for a number of decades. One tenet central to many conservatives is the idea that consequences should flow when the law is broken. It does not serve the interests of conservative institutions like the National Review or the ideas they seek to advance to hold Mr. Black to a different standard because he is one of their own.
As an aside, one has to wonder what Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) is waiting for before he calls the head of the Bureau of Prisons to ask exactly how it is that Conrad Black’s writing newspaper columns and giving lectures from prison to university students is consistent with established principles of justice and penal service. One thinks that public confidence in the latter would demand a distinction between what Mr. Black is actually doing in prison and what he might otherwise produce from his Palm Beach mansion.
With this post we begin an occasional series of the same name in which we explore the thinking, or lack thereof, behind the statements and actions of prominent people.
You would have needed an Olympic-style scorecard to keep track of all the changes made to Toyota’s current and potential recall programs. What began as an issue involving – or so Toyota said – loose floor mats in some vehicles has morphed into a public relations nightmare caused by faulty gas pedals on Camrys, Avelons and other models, brake problems on Priuses, drive shaft hazards on Tacoma trucks and steering troubles on Corollas.
The company that consistently produced the best selling and most respected brands in the world showed itself to be the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. Its Tokyo-based bosses have managed to antagonize the U.S. secretary of transportation, confuse millions of Toyota owners, force some drivers to tears on local news programs and become the predictable brunt of late night comedians. The North American operation of Toyota is clearly a branch plant of Japan, which is where key decisions are made and western style corporate governance is uncommon. The fellow the company trotted out in Japan who was wearing a surgical mask as he apologized for the mess was a fitting symbol for just how inept the company has been in handling this crisis.
It took dozens of years and millions of customer transactions to place Toyota in what has been a preeminent position in the global car industry. But it takes a special kind of genius to allow all that to unravel and have the wheels fall off customer confidence in a matter of a few weeks.
Take a bow, Mr. Toyoda, your company has let millions of loyal customers down and in so doing has become our choice for the Outrage of the Week.
