On Chrysler Dealership Closings & Political Payback: More Smoke Than Fire

That's a relief. Jonathan Adler (via Instapundit):

I would also echo McArdle's sentiment that if there were any political funny-business in the Chrysler closings (and that's a big "if" at this point), it's far more likely that someone in the Administration intervened to protect an important Democratic contributor here or there than that the entire process was used to slam Republican dealers across-the-board. In any event, it seems to me there is far less to this story than meets the eye.

But, as Reynolds notes, "Given the bullying that went on with the secured creditors — and the way the whole Chrysler restructuring deal was set up to favor Obama constituencies — these charges were certainly plausible. But the evidence doesn’t seem to be there."