Henry Payne on Michigan on National Review Online

re: "...First the good news. Michigan’s crashing of early party primaries has likely fundamentally changed the face of presidential campaigns for years to come. For ill, Michigan’s auto industry is at the epicenter once again of an assault on consumer freedoms not experienced since another activist Congress, 30 years ago amid another oil crisis, empowered a spasm of big-government regulation... [snip]... Once a celebration of American individuality, the Detroit auto show floor this week was a bow to politically correct conformity. General Motors spoke of its “responsibility to society.” Ford changed its famous blue oval to green. Chrysler bragged of its “many exciting shades of green.” Mazda spoke of “sustainable zoom zoom.” There was no joy in Motorville.... [snip... In 2008, oil worries — once again provoked by Middle East crisis - have inspired a new Congress to enact “centralized command and control laws,” to quote one GM executive. After a 20-year-ceasefire brought on by the “74 rules” unintended consequences, a new, more powerful generation of greens have automakers in the cross-hairs. This big-government redux is the product “of ignorance institutionalized by our public education system,” says veteran economist David Littman of Michigan’s Mackinac Center. “It’s ignorance accepting of government as the dictator of all good things.”..."...