Vrrrrrrrroooooooooooooooom

I’m quite taken with this photo-montage illustrating Matt Bai’s NYT Mag piece about the Detroit situation.

Bai’s suggests that, since America is romantically and and almost genetically connected to the auto industry, probably the most contemporary and American thing that could happen at this point is to admit failure (as distinct from defeat) and “reboot” (just like Al Gore did).

Really, I’m not sure what to make of this visual. Is Detroit cruising for a spectacular fall after years of artificial levitation? Does the hyper-elevated crisis translate as the ultimate chase scene? Does the image mock long-standing American denial that we could ever come down from our real-estate/credit card/borrow-to-the-hilt high?

(photo illustration: Matthew Porter)