There are – finally – mass demonstrations planned across the U.S. for this Saturday, April 5. One has to wonder why right-thinking (if not leaning) Americans have not been marching in the streets en masse on a daily basis since Donald Trump’s inauguration.
What is happening in the U.S. is unprecedented: anti-democratic policies, people being rounded up for deportation, idiot politicians posing for vanity photos in front of poor locked-up souls, cuts being made to government agencies funding crucial work including international aid and environmental protections, tariffs being imposed willy-nilly. Scientific research is being trashed, private data compromised. A crackpot anti-vaxxer is in charge of health. Americans are going to be sicker, poorer, less safe – and there is reason to be scared. That ‘we’re-going-to-launch-some-rockets’ group-chat debacle is just one window into the dangerous ineptitude of this bunch. Not to mention the gleeful dismissal of facts, decency, civility. The cruelty. The chaos.
People should be in the streets about this. This moment calls for righteous anger.
But car-keying?
Because of Elon Musk’s involvement in this as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and as Mr. Trump’s right-hand man, his Tesla brand has become a target for many Americans. Their anger is justified. Some of the actions, not so much.
This past weekend, protesters calling out Mr. Musk converged on Tesla showrooms across the U.S., Canada and around the world. Right on. This man has inserted himself in this administration in all sorts of nefarious ways, such as a pay-for-votes debacle in Wisconsin, and basked in the orange glow of Mr. Trump’s support, including at a bizarre White House event where the President – who is definitely not supposed to use his office for commercial gain – said he was going to buy a Tesla and that Mr. Musk should be celebrated.
Perhaps aiming to make Tesla great again, Mr. Trump has said the targeting of the brand by protesters is a form of domestic terrorism.
It’s all been very hard on Mr. Musk (not to mention his share prices) who, during a Fox News interview, called Minnesota Governor Tim Walz a creep and a jerk for celebrating the tanking of Tesla’s stock. “What an evil thing to do. … Who derives joy from that?” said Mr. Musk, who had previously gleefully wielded a chainsaw onstage, a metaphor for his plans to target the U.S. government’s work force.
If Mr. Musk is going to drag his business into the American political spotlight – perhaps to benefit from personal presidential support, his business is fair game.
But consider for a moment the average Tesla driver.
You have to feel for them: they bought these cars in good faith – wanting to do something for the environment (in style). Now they find themselves getting from A to B in a dirty-looks magnet – or worse. Teslas have been targeted – keyed, tires punctured; some charging stations have faced arson, too.
Some Tesla owners are trying to shield themselves from public condemnation with those “I bought this before we knew Elon was crazy” bumper stickers.
It’s much worse for drivers of Tesla Cybertrucks – the eco-friendly Hummer-esque tank which gives off definite vibes about what kind of person you are to have purchased this thing. (When the world already knew about Mr. Musk.) Teslas blend in with other vehicular traffic. The Cybertruck announces itself.
A writer for The Atlantic rented one of these beasts as a journalistic experiment and drove it around Washington, D.C., for a day. Saahil Desai found himself the recipient of comments we can’t print here, many middle fingers and finger-wagging too. “You drive a Nazi truck,” one woman yelled from her front porch.
He called the vehicle a nearly-7,000-pound Rorschach test.
Indeed. I saw one of these monsters parked at a local supermarket the other day, in very left-leaning East Vancouver. A few of us gathered ‘round the thing and began to commiserate about the horrible state of affairs in the U.S.
People are angry – Canadians too, as we should be. And we feel powerless. Peaceful protest – not violence, not even petty vandalism – is the answer to that.
In an amazing display of force this past weekend in Serbia, thousands protested to call attention to government corruption and the country’s increasingly authoritarian President. In Gaza, thousands of courageous Palestinians risked their safety to protest against Hamas. Thousands of Hungarians have risen up to protest the presidency of Viktor Orban, including a new law that effectively bans gay Pride events.
People who care about what’s going on in the U.S. should do the same this Saturday. Rise up! But leave the car owners alone.