Twilight of the Gods

Kronos, the Titan, begat Zeus in Greek mythology. The Roman version had Saturnus fathering Jupiter. The titan father, the head of the gods, the son.
So GM begat Saturn to change the way it did business. Gone were the crippling, profit-sucking union contracts. A whole new philosophy of management was the key to the future---GM would show it could compete with those upstart Japanese: Toyota, Nissan (nee Datsun), and Honda. The future would be operations like Saturn.
Fast forward to 2009---Saturn regurgitates recycled Opal products. GM succumbed to the high profit low future gas guzzling GMC Sierras, Hummers, Escalades. GM needs to re-organize and present a viable business plan to the US government before the end of February to keep its loan package and attempt to qualify for future taxpayer largess.
Let it GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The plan as announced this week jettisons its once shining star, Saturn. It also includes the sale of Saab, once a company noted for its technological innovation. It will make Pontiac--maker of some of the greatest cars GM ever produced (Grand Prix, G T O, Firebird Trans-Am)-- a sub-brand of one of the remaining marques---Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC. At least those inefficient beasts with a moniker that reminds one of a slang term for fellatio (Hummer) is consigned to the garbage heap. That's only one right out of eight. Given that track record, what are this corporation's chances of survival? Slim and none is overly optimistic. Let GM go bankrupt. A little more short term pain will benefit us in the long run if the management sees this type of reorganization as saving this company and making it a viable concern for the 21st century.
It was once said that what was good for GM is good for the US. No longer. As Captain Kirk said in the Star Trek episode "Who mourns for Adonais", humans have outgrown the need for gods. Or corporations that believe they are gods.
So mourn for Saturnus and the company named for that Titan which might once have been the competitive rebirth of the American auto industry. And feel sorry for all those workers who need to be retrained. Hopefully the government will do what's right--allow a poorly run corporation without the management vision to right itself fail as the market dictates and then use the government's fiscal clout to absorb the losses and redirect the efforts of these workers into productive and sustainable occupations.