With all three Detroit-based automakers in dire straits and seeking a Washington bailout, the moment finally has arrived for a radical reinvention of America's domestically owned auto industry. Which means letting the Detroit Three reorganize under bankruptcy protection, from which several smaller, more nimble and competitive firms would emerge, no longer prisoner to Detroit's hidebound, century-old decision-making traditions.To bail out Detroit is not to rescue the U.S. auto industry, despite how the CEOs of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC continue to misrepresent the federal bailout they seek.
