“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain…..”

The above quote is from the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz”. It is the climatic scene when Dorothy and her friends (Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion) come face to face with reality. When the curtain is pulled back, the “GREAT AND POWEREFUL OZ” is exposed as a former carnival barker.  The first words out of his mouth are, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”.

This was the Trump headline the other day:

Trump blasts Ford over plans for new Mexican plant

Brent Snavely, Detroit Free Press 5:36 p.m. EDT April 5, 2016

Ford will be building a new plant in Mexico which will create about 8,000 Mexican jobs by 2020. Currently Ford has about 85,000 US manufacturing jobs.

Following the announcement, Trump labeled the move “an absolute disgrace.”

“These ridiculous, job crushing transactions will not happen when I am president,”

As the Cowardly Lion (actor Bert Lahr) would say with his wonderful NY accent: “the noive (nerve)”. Imagine, Ford Motor Company, competing in a world economy, building cars in a foreign country.

Let’s take Trump’s complaint and indignation and apply it to ALL automobile manufacturers worldwide. Keep American jobs in America; keep Japanese jobs in Japan; keep German jobs in Germany; keep Korean jobs in Korea…..

Highest-volume U.S. carmakers

Ranking of automakers by the number of passenger vehicles assembled in U.S. factories in 2014. Numbers include vehicles exported for sale outside the U.S.

Automaker	Vehicles built in U.S. (2014)
Ford	2,178,120
General Motors	1,926,007
Fiat Chrysler	1,733,002
Toyota	1,334,691
Honda	1,268,904
Nissan	931,974
Hyundai/Kia	768,230
BMW	349,949
Mercedes-Benz	220,181
Subaru	193,022
Volkswagen	123,415
Mitsubishi	69,178
Tesla	36,036
Total	11,132,709

Seems to me that almost half of the automobiles manufactured in the USA are from foreign manufacturers. How many USA manufacturing jobs does that represent?

I am sure the hard working men and women in Lincoln, Alabama who Acura (Honda Corp) employed to built my 2015 Acura MDX are glad that Acura built a manufacturing plant in their town.

The “man behind the curtain” puts up a HUGE front. In the movie the special effects are dazzling as a disembodied head floats amongst shooting flames with a deep resounding scary voice.

In reality, “the man behind the curtain”, was dumber than the Scarecrow, more heartless than the Tin Man and more cowardly than the Lion as Dorothy found out once he was exposed.

Hmmmmmm…..perhaps it time TO pay attention to the latest “man behind the curtain”.

To a Trump supporter, the bellowing disembodied head of the Wizard is all he sees and believes. “FORD MOTOR COMPANY IS A DISGRACE (flames shooting up and up)….THESE JOBS BELONG TO AMERICANS….”. Trump at his best.

Never mind facts, logic and reason when it comes to automobile manufacturing or anything else. The spin of the Wizard is all that matters and the “man behind the curtain” is in control.

Wonder what the “GREAT AND POWERFUL OZ ” has to say about the  Donald J. Trump – Signature Collection and where the clothes are made.