Panic In Detroit

After thirty-five years of resisting the need to make smaller, more economical cars, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler - the Only Three (since 1987 when American Motors, their last remaining domestic competition, bit the dust) - are losing cash so quickly they could all be bankrupt by next year. Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan is calling for congressional aid to save the American auto industry, noting that one in sic jobs in America depend on it.

I'm in favor of helping Detroit get back on its feet, but I'm not in favor of letting the Only Three continue business as usual. Any federal bailout should come with conditions, such as accepting higher fuel efficiency standards and retooling to build smaller cars and compete with foreign companies. Toyota and Honda are constantly making inroads into Detroit's strongholds, such as family sedans and even SUVs.

Encouragingly, GM is offering the hybrid Chevrolet Volt in a couple of years and Ford will bring back the European Fiesta in 2010, after a thirty-year hiatus - and this time it may be American-made. But two years are a long time, and Detroit doesn't have that long. Yes, give the Only Three aid, so long as my tax dollars don't go to making more Tahoes and Explorers. And don't get me started on Dodge pickups.

And while we're at it, could we please, please, please bring bullet trains to America at long last? The era of cheap oil is almost over, airlines are cutting service, and we need more intercity rail. Especially the Midwestern megalopolis, which includes . . . Detroit.

This abandoned, burned out hulk of stone is Detroit's Michigan Central Station, left to rot and serve as a giant rat's nest. Detroit is so far gone the city hasn't even bothered to renovate this building as a hotel or museum, as in other cities.

Detroit is the city that spawned the automobile age, yet the car destroyed the city in so many ways.