Actual Musk X-Tweet from Today

[Joe Guy]

I hate Musk.

[BoSoxGal]

Here is an apparent text quote from the son of the latest would be assassin of Trump:

'I hate this game every four years, and think that we all do, and if my father wants to be a martyr to how broken and disassociated the process has become from the real problems and practical solutions, then that's his choice.

'I'm not saying that's what he's done or what he's about, that's just my own rant being fed up with it all for my entire adult life,' he wrote.

'South Park said it best, every 4 years we're forced to choose between a turd sandwich and a giant douche, and it all stays f****d in the same ways by different degrees, and we're exhausted and embarrassed by it all.'

Well, he's not entirely wrong. I think there is a much larger than usual difference between the candidates this year as in 2020 and 2016, but overall our politics are very disheartening for the average Joe and Jody and certainly for the type of folks who were once idealists. Apparently this guy went to Ukraine in 2022 but they wouldn't let him volunteer because he was almost 60 and had no prior military experience. He stayed for a while and worked on aid projects and recruiting other volunteers. He supported Trump in 2016 and was supporting Haley in 2024 so clearly looking for change.

I am gearing up post-election for a lifestyle change that will involve chucking my old broken TV (the colors are all weird and unfixable) and working through my reading list with a cold turkey approach to news consumption online. I'm sick of current events and would rather read all the great literature that proves it's all the same BS over and over again with slight tweaks to keep us interested.

[Big RR]

Joe, it's things like that which have made me anti-Tesla. I would not even want to put a nickel in Musk's pocket(FWIW, I've never stayed in a Trump hotel or went into a casino he had an interest in (or watched his TV shows) for essentially the same reason). The engineering is good and the cars get good reviews for electric cars, but I'd buy a Ford or GM first. The man is a complete ass and giving him money gives him the means to spout off like this. He can say whatever he wants, but I won't help fund it.

[Crackpot]

Tesla has terrible build quality.

[Sue U]

Joe, it's things like that which have made me anti-Tesla. I would not even want to put a nickel in Musk's pocket(FWIW, I've never stayed in a Trump hotel or went into a casino he had an interest in (or watched his TV shows) for essentially the same reason). The engineering is good and the cars get good reviews for electric cars, but I'd buy a Ford or GM first. The man is a complete ass and giving him money gives him the means to spout off like this. He can say whatever he wants, but I won't help fund it.

Same here.

Tesla has terrible build quality.

I am trying to avoid ever buying another car again, but if push comes to shove, what do you recommend in an EV?

[Crackpot]

I would probably recommend just about any standard established brand. There are others but they tend to be both on the more expensive side and have enough cash flow problems that make me worry if they are going to be around for the expected lifetime of the vehicle.

Personally my next car will probably be a hybrid as charge time, range, and temperature issues are still not up to my liking.

[BoSoxGal]

Seems like you can't go wrong with a Toyota hybrid.

[Big RR]

Thanks CP, I really haven't followed Tesla so I had no idea of the problems.

[Sue U]

I'm currently driving a Lincoln hybrid, which I have no complaints about (approx. 36 mpg), and which I was really hoping would be my last car ever. But it's almost 9 years old and it's going to be a few more years before I can (mostly) retire and move into the city. The range/recharge issue really has been the basis of my reluctance to go EV, but I'm thinking at this point it's probably not worth it.

[Burning Petard]

I have been reading about problems with Tesla auto pilot for it seems as long as they have been selling it. I know of no other brand car that has hit a fire engine or oil tanker broadside, with the driver sitting sober, but inattentive, behind the wheel. Just recently I read of a driver who unplugged her tesla from a charging station and the doors locked as she unplugged it and a bystander had to break a window to get a kid out of the hot, closed car.

As a means of regulating a dangerous manufacturing site, in our early history, the owners of such places had to live on the premises. That particularly applied to the DuPont family in Delaware. One of the early chemical wizards in that family was killed by a gunpowder factory explosion. Elon Musk ought to be required to always travel in one of his cars, purchased anonymously out of a showroom.

snailgate.

[Joe Guy]

Elon Musk ought to be required to always travel in one of his cars, purchased anonymously out of a showroom.

...in auto pilot mode.

[Crackpot]

There isn’t so much wrong with auto pilot as much as Musk has a habit of over promising its capabilities. There is nothing on the market today that qualifies as fully autonomous but Musk can’t keep his mouth shut and sells it like it is.