The Toyota Recall and the Nixon Cover-up...by Jamil Shawwa

We in the US are all over the place regarding Toyota's recall of over 8 millions of its cars due to faulty sticking accelerating pedals that could cause cars to accelerate uncontrollably. The problem here is not in the recall itself, it happened before not only with cars but also with almost everything that consumers use or drive from food, medicine, toys, and cars. Almost all cars manufacturers have recalled their cars for some defects at some point. The magnitude of Toyota’s recall stems from various factors, first and most important, it is Camry, is the best selling family car in America, so you can imagine the pressure the Obama administration felt and the Senate to [accelerate] an investigation to relax and ease the concerns and the fears of the American consumer. The other factor though no one wants to say it is that it is a foreign car; it is Japanese which have been the best selling cars in America since 1980s. The main published factor though was the alleged cover-up from Toyota. Reports showed that it knew the faulty pedals but did not take it seriously or at least acknowledge it sooner rather than later. Toyota reminded me of our 37th president, Richard M. Nixon or as his close associates used to call him Dick Nixon, Richard's nickname in the US is Dick, like our former vice president, Richard Cheney, we all know him as Dick Cheney. Mr. Nixon back in the early 70s of the last century ordered a group of second rate operatives to break into the Watergate Building over the looking the Potomac river in our capital Washington DC to steel documents from the Democratic party offices. The reason for that to put it mildly is that Nixon was paranoid, he thought that the Democrats- his party is the Republican- are out there to get him, and that they are conspiring to undermine his administration. Nixon ordered members of his reelection committee- he was elected for a second term on 11/1972- to do the break in as the investigation showed later and ultimately caused the president to resign office on 1974 and hand the power to his vice president Gerald Ford. The similarities between the two stories are that both Nixon and Toyota did not come clean from the first moment that these incidents took place and immediately assumed responsibility. Nixon as history has shown and according to the journalists that broke the Watergate Story, Bernstein and Woodward, has lied to the American people and has covered the operation and this snowballed to the point that could have undermined the institution of the presidency in the United States. Toyota did the same thing; maybe Toyota should make a car and call it Dick Nixon.