ROBERT FARAGO: General Motors Death Watch 205: The World According to TARP. “Why in the world would General Motors want to combine with Chrysler? Given their respective balance sheets and future prospects, the analogies pretty much suggest themselves. My favorite: the Titanic rescuing the Lusitania. . . . Many of our Best and Brightest have labeled this deal ‘America Leyland,’ referring to the disaster that was the combination, nationalization and eventual extinction of Britain’s car industry. Spot on. Should this deal down, that’s EXACTLY where this is heading. But it should be remembered that Leyland took more than a decade to take a dirt nap. GM’s management, as always, is thinking about next week. This is, of course, the reason for their demise. . . . I can hardly imagine a worse scenario for American industry, the American auto industry and all the people who depend on it for their livelihoods.”