Tesla stock sinks another 11% as Elon hypes Russian Prime Minister tweet "predicting" U.S. civil war

[MikeR]

@Kilkrazy

Sadly, when every car is electric we will still have to pay for roads and car parks, so the withdrawal of the special privileges is inevitable.

Agree. Road pricing is the way forward. If you use it, you pay towards its upkeep.

[gatto]

@Brainspore

And as a California voter I have roughly one-sixty-seventh as much representation and influence in the Senate as a voter in Wyoming does

and i imagine that’s even before taking the filibuster into account

[gatto]

@Mindysan33

Not everyone was fooled, of course, but enough were to make the base of the GOP white men in the middle class and petite bourgeoisie who believe that they are going to get a bigger slice of the pie if they keep punching down.

and if that was (is) the carrot than policing is the stick.

the carceral system - most especially shipping black prisoners to majority white districts, upping the representation those whites get in congress plus the direct payments to local government ( and jobs ) - is a constant reminder by the state of how much better it is to be poor and white than it is to be poor and black in america

( a reminder supported by continual racist depictions of crime on tv and in movies. )

[ edit to slightly fix my terrible grammar ]

[Jesse13927]

@vonbobo

I believe the disenfranchised

I think that you mean the “discontented.”

@vonbobo

need to be listened to

Who got time for that?

@vonbobo

and respected

Respect is earned and has to go both ways to be meaningful.

[anon52120741]

@vonbobo

their religious beliefs are bigoted, and their casual racism and sexism is no longer tolerated.

Gee it’s almost as if the world is changing and they aren’t keeping up! I think I’m going to put that on them not everyone else who calls it out!

[docosc]

@DukeTrout

The ultra-wealthy and rural whites form a malignant synergy

“Malignant synergy.” Stealing that!

[DukeTrout]

If there was an example of mutual parasitism, I would have gone with that but I’m too much of a biology nerd to misuse it.

[chenille]

There is a type of parasitic wasp that lays its eggs inside ladybugs. It also carries a symbiotic virus that influences the ladybug’s behavior – so when the wasp larva emerges and forms a cocoon, the host ladybug actually stays with it, defending it from any predators. Sometimes it then recovers, more often it dies.

Maybe disenfranchised was the wrong word to use, but rural white Americans wouldn’t be wrong to think things are going against them. The crumbling infrastructure, lack of education and health care and fair wages, the fact that the entire economy is being sucked up by the 1% do hurt them too. It’s just that the ones we’re talking about have completely misidentified the culprit, and like the brainwashed ladybug are working hard to defend it – except with the worse sin of also attacking everyone more victimized. That’s all I meant.

[Melizmatic]

@vonbobo

I believe the disenfranchised malcontents need to be listened to and respected, if they have a seat at the table they will be less likely to jump the shark and go all in conspiracy.

And anyone who enables such fasscholes.

[RndmZim]

Queens has as much population as 4 states… almost 5… No senate votes.

[RndmZim]

Yknow, as someone who lived in rural NY for 15 years - less than 180 miles from Manhattan, but on top of a mountain and a goddamn world away - a lot of those flags are being flown by my former neighbors who are people whose ancestors fought against the confederacy… their “heritage” with that stars and bars battle flag is just a simple badge of racist identification. They were never from the south. They’ve never been to the south. Feels like it would be more honest if they flew a swastika, and the last thing we need is more apologists explaining how they two are different.

[Akimbo_NOT]

I see swastikas when I see stars and bars.

Same thing in my book. With less teeth.