February 15, 2023

"I’ll buy from his business opponents. He has in the last year exposed himself as a right wing clown with too much money and certainly too much power. A very dangerous man."

Says the highest-rated comment at "Elon Musk agrees to open parts of Tesla’s charging network to everyone/The best charging network in the country will no longer be totally under lock and key" (WaPo).

56 comments:

Original Mike said...

"I’ll buy from his business opponents. He has in the last year exposed himself as a right wing clown with too much money and certainly too much power. A very dangerous man."

Nose. Face.

RideSpaceMountain said...

Remember folks, it's about the environment. It's not political. It's certainly not a cult. Any 'shunning' observed is about carbon footprints only.

Not. A. Cult.

Old and slow said...

He's no more "right-wing" than he ever was, which is, of course, not at all. But just like Greenwald, Taibbi and Weiss he has become untouchable because he deviated from what is a really authoritarian script. I run businesses in the tourism industry related to lodging, and based on what I have seen with sudden unexplained and never resolved loss of access to services, I am terrified to draw attention to myself in any way. And I have pretty innocuous political views! Though is there really such a thing these days? The things that might mark you out as a political deviant to be shunned changes so quickly no one could ever reliably predict what to look out for.

Leland said...

Time to sell that TSLA stock. Not because the commenter is right, but because the commenter is exactly backwards on what this move does to Tesla owners. To date, Tesla owners could bypass the long line of slow charging EV vehicles unsigned an inferior product, because they purchased a Tesla. Now, those same long lines will be at Tesla locations with EV’s that are incompatible with fast charging filling up the lines. The incompatibility isn’t just a energy draw and receptacle connector issue (although that is part of it), but primarily the car batteries ability to take a quick charge without igniting on fire.

Enigma said...

Free speech and transparent rules are now owned by the right wing. Good to know.

Someone ought to tell the actual censorship-prone right wing about this.
Someone ought to tell this commenter that they don't know what right wing means.

Living in a bubble gets you to this place.

John henry said...

Where does the electricity come from to charge these cars?

John Henry

320Busdriver said...

Wait.

This guy?

https://twitter.com/JonathanTurley/status/1625828019297259521?s=20

R C Belaire said...

So, left-wing clowns with too much money (and that's a long list!) and certainly too much power are not dangerous? BS.

n.n said...

Libertarian, leftist/anarchist, decepti-con?

n.n said...

Where does the electricity come from to charge these cars?

A Green blight upon the land and sea, powered by hydrocarbon fuels, nuclear reactors, and kinetic fluidity in niche environments.

rehajm said...

Where does the electricity come from to charge these cars?

John Henry


…from the same place electricity for every thing else comes from…

gilbar said...

Where does the electricity come from to charge these cars?

DUH! it comes out of the outlet on the wall! Where the Hell do you Think electricity comes from?

rrsafety said...

“business opponents”? Is that a new phrase?

William said...

"Right wing clown." This is an example of the kind of impassioned rhetoric that brings out the worst in people. I fear for Elon Musk's safety after being exposed to this stochastic terrorism. Some effort should be made to identify the writer of this hate filled diatribe and restrict his access to the internet. I'm not proposing prison but perhaps a stay at some kind of rehab center where this person can instructed in the error of his ways is indicated.

rehajm said...

In business there are competitors. Politics has opponents…

rehajm said...

I find the whole thing glorious…a step in the right direction

Big Mike said...

Unforced error by Musk.

Curious George said...

'Leland said...
Time to sell that TSLA stock. Not because the commenter is right, but because the commenter is exactly backwards on what this move does to Tesla owners. To date, Tesla owners could bypass the long line of slow charging EV vehicles unsigned an inferior product, because they purchased a Tesla. Now, those same long lines will be at Tesla locations with EV’s that are incompatible with fast charging filling up the lines. The incompatibility isn’t just a energy draw and receptacle connector issue (although that is part of it), but primarily the car batteries ability to take a quick charge without igniting on fire."

This is so wrong. Sure, Tesla owners didn't have to compete with other EV owners at Tesla charging stations, now they do. But the rest is BS.

Gahrie said...

"I’ll buy from his business opponents.

Great! Musk can't meet the demand for his products yet, even though he does zero advertising. Buy the lesser product and leave more of the good stuff for the rest of us.

He has in the last year exposed himself as a right wing clown

In 2022 Musak was man of the year and saving the planet. In 2023 he bought Twitter and took it from the control of Leftwing activists and suddenly became Dr. Evil.

with too much money

He's barely started. He's going to become much richer.

and certainly too much power.

Now do Bezos and Gates.

A very dangerous man."

Only to those who wish to subjugate their fellow man.

Achilles said...

William said...
"Right wing clown." This is an example of the kind of impassioned rhetoric that brings out the worst in people. I fear for Elon Musk's safety after being exposed to this stochastic terrorism. Some effort should be made to identify the writer of this hate filled diatribe and restrict his access to the internet. I'm not proposing prison but perhaps a stay at some kind of rehab center where this person can instructed in the error of his ways is indicated.

The issue here is that this person is emblematic of the supporters of the Regime. The people that think like this are just following innate biological tendencies. These tendencies are reinforced by the people who understand tribalism and use it to keep the little people divided.

They are not rational. They are lashing out at people over issues they don't understand in ways that are completely antithetical to a free society.

This kind of thought process has to be suppressed to have a free society.

The person that made this comment needs to be shipped to China or Russia so they can see how the end result of their mindset plays out.

The problem in our country and across the world are the stupid people that read the wapo, listen to NPR, and cannot look in a mirror and honestly describe what they see.

They need to go to China and learn what they have become.

Drago said...

William: ""Right wing clown." This is an example of the kind of impassioned rhetoric that brings out the worst in people. I fear for Elon Musk's safety after being exposed to this stochastic terrorism."

True. We have some of that at right here at Althouse blog.

You should have seen our voice-actuated democratical NPC LLR Chuck attack Musk just the other day. He called Musk a "clown" and a "bozo".

Yep, Elon Musk.

And then, not only that, LLR Chuck went after the brilliant and accomplished Thomas Massie.

It's all very similar to LLR Chuck's vicious racist attacks over the years against Clarence Thomas, Ben Carson, John James, etc. (see if you can detect a common denominator in those attacks by LLR Chuck).

All could be easily considered stochastic terrorism.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Shorter Left-wing clowns: 'How dare anyone break open and exposed leftist collusion and corruption, leftist democrat lying and censorship -- carefully crafted by the corrupt lying left-wing machine.'

Ficta said...

Except as a commuter car, non-Tesla EVs are currently useless because fast charging stations, even where they are available, can't be relied on. State governments offer businesses cash to install fast chargers. The business takes the money and installs the charger. And never thinks about it again. You pull in to a Royal Farms in semi-rural Delaware with maybe 20 miles range left and roll the dice that the fast charger actually works. Good Luck! It's a joke. So Musk, offering his reliable network, at a significant cost to his company and his customers, is a potential game changer. And all he gets for it is crap from the jackboot licking fascists in the Democratic Party.

Gunner said...

What if his "business opponents" are actual right wingers?

Joe Smith said...

As someone with a Tesla on order, this is not good news.

As for 'too much money,' I wasn't aware that Musk had stolen any part of his net worth...

gahrie said...

“business opponents”? Is that a new phrase?

Using "competitors" would imply too much legitimacy to Musk and his companies.

Aggie said...

Matt Taibbi was on Joe Rogan's show a while ago, where he was noting the process of 'Hitlerization' that takes place when a formerly Kool Person falls out of favor and even worse, dares to take a position that is out of sync with the so-called 'narratives' that steer popular culture. Musk is now subject to being jawboned into the 'Hitler of the Week' now, for the sin of showing common sense and even-handedness on Free Speech issues. And of course in conversation, when pressed to provide examples of his fascist excesses, a Progressive sputters & stutters their way from stunned silence straight to 'Off with his head'!

Yancey Ward said...

I am guessing the non-Tesla owners will be paying a premium to use the Tesla chargers because, otherwise, he has just greatly degraded the value of owning a Tesla car.

Sebastian said...

"A very dangerous man."

Right. Building several incredibly successful businesses is dangerous in itself. Then you undermine prog power and expose the harm it does: that's super dangerous.

When the next prog nut takes a shot at Elon, progs will cheer. After all, it was right and proper to eliminate the danger.

Dude1394 said...

It's okay, I've been boycotting your democrat supporters for a long time, bring it on. Anyone that doesn't bend the knee to democrat fascists is a "right wing clown" so Elon probably wears their tears as badges of honor.

Known Unknown said...

Enjoy your Chevy Volt.

Dude1394 said...

Elon is being really stupid to open up his grid, really a dumb business move. Something that a "right wing clown" would never do.

We all owe quite a bit of gratitude to the free speech freedom fighter, Elon Musk. Much like we owe quite a bit to Snowden/Assange.

MadisonMan said...

He has in the last year exposed himself as a right wing clown with too much money and certainly too much power. A very dangerous man
Stochastic Terrorism.

Dude1394 said...

William is absolutely correct, the writers should be identified and called to task.

JAORE said...

The sieve for screening the acceptable to society if getting finer and finer.

And the culling process is getting more permanent by the hour.

Ah, good times..

Bob Boyd said...

Michael K said...

I wonder what multiple the "right wing clown" income is of the commenter?

Critter said...

Isn’t it time we stop reading and listening to unnamed Twitter and social media people. Same for news reports that cite unnamed sources.

I would love to see Twitter disclose the name of anyone who makes a post like this one. We can’t stop such violent rhetoric without knowing who is spewing it.

hombre said...

My Portlandian son, who drives a Tesla (of course), recently purchased several thousand shares of Tesla stock at $107. His wife, a progressive, otherwise lovely woman who ought to know better, was furious because Musk is a "bad man."

Wow! Musk is bad! Musk is a right-wing clown. Really? Does this mean that exposing lefty election cheaters and their corrupt government accomplices is right-wing and therefore bad? Evidently.

Even in this political climate there are some things it is disheartening to learn.

On the upside, my son kept the stock.

stlcdr said...

Too much power?! in what way, pray tell.

Twitter? "build your own!"

Tesla? Plenty of competitors around.

Satellites and rockets? You mean, doing what we have been paying NASA to supposedly do?

He has only as much power as what you give him.

hombre said...

My Portlandian son, who drives a Tesla (of course), recently purchased several thousand shares of Tesla stock at $107. His wife, a progressive, otherwise lovely woman who ought to know better, was furious because Musk is a "bad man."

Wow! Musk is bad! Musk is a right-wing clown. Really? Does this mean that exposing lefty election cheaters and their corrupt government accomplices is right-wing and therefore bad? Evidently.

Even in this political climate there are some things it is disheartening to learn.

On the upside, my son kept the stock.

gahrie said...

Elon is being really stupid to open up his grid, really a dumb business move. Something that a "right wing clown" would never do.

I bet he is receiving extreme pressure from the government to do so.

Also you have to remember, Musk's long-term goal isn't to maximize Tesla's profits, it is to accelerate the transition to electric automobiles.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

The highest rated comment sounds like a bar-fueled boast that somebody without the means to buy a Tesla would say. Only Liberals and Conservatives believe in Free Speech now. The Left has totally abandoned any tether to our Bill of Rights, and obviously the hardest of hard left almost exclusively run the NYT and comment on its articles.

Drago said...

Gahrie: "I bet he is receiving extreme pressure from the government to do so.

Also you have to remember, Musk's long-term goal isn't to maximize Tesla's profits, it is to accelerate the transition to electric automobiles."

Musk's primary long term goal is to create an self-sustaining human colony on Mars.

To do that, he needs advancements in every technology area that, surprise(!), he is invested in and delivering on here on Earth.

Tesla (advanced battery technology, AI, robotics, materials, improved manufacturing), SpaceX (Heavy/gargantuan lift reusable rockets utilizing fuel sources found off-Earth with advanced and yet more powerful simplified engines) along with satellite communications, The Boring company (tunneling tech), etc.

Twitter fits into this scheme because I think its quite believable that Elon knows only in a truly free society can his dream come true and today's social media married to authoritarian state actors threatens those basic freedoms.

n.n said...

stoch - ass - tic terrorism

Pin the tail on the donkey.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

But the rest is BS.

Very much so since Tesla has roughly 80% of EV market share last I looked, if not more. So your main competitor for charging is likely to be another Tesla, which if not an issue now won't be hampered by the one Rivian truck in town and a few other surviving stragglers in the EV market.

The first car company to show some balls and stand up for ICE rather than showing EV in almost every commercial will buy a lot of goodwill. Most of us who don't believe that industry will really die off in eight years are waiting for one of these companies to push back on the madness. Look at Ford's layoffs today, based on a non-existent market they are exiting the one that pays their bills. Unbelievable.

Bruce Hayden said...

“Also you have to remember, Musk's long-term goal isn't to maximize Tesla's profits, it is to accelerate the transition to electric automobiles."

“Musk's primary long term goal is to create an self-sustaining human colony on Mars.

“To do that, he needs advancements in every technology area that, surprise(!), he is invested in and delivering on here on Earth.”

I agree. His investments all seem interconnected. Interestingly, I was looking at home batteries, instead of running electricity from the house (where I am putting in a generator) to my new garage in MT, and, the best rated batteries in that sector are Teslas. That entire sector, including Tesla’s, seems to revolve around storing solar power until it is needed. Makes perfect sense - much better than shoving it into the grid off cycle, and letting hydro and fossil fuel plants, hundreds of miles away, compensate.

I still think that one of the drivers for his Twitter purchase though is synergy with StarLink. We shall see.

I really don’t think that Musk stays up at night worrying about this sort of competition. They aren’t going to be able to compete very long. Short run, it would be all cost, without much in return. He can build the cost into his car prices, and they can’t, esp now that he has made the big price cuts that are likely to cause the rest of the EV market bleed more red ink.

Dude1394 said...

“The first car company to show some balls and stand up for ICE rather than showing EV in almost every commercial will buy a lot of goodwill. ”

That company is Toyota.

SteveWe said...

So, who else might be a "A very dangerous man."? Billy Gates, Zuckermound, George Soros? Xi Jing Ping, Vladimir Putin, Joey Biden? Lots of dangerous men (and women) on the left side of the spectrum.

n.n said...

“The first car company to show some balls and stand up for ICE rather than showing EV in almost every commercial will buy a lot of goodwill. ”

That company is Toyota.


Quality, performance, and conservation. Their hybrids, in particular, are a model to follow.

Wince said...

rehajm said...
In business there are competitors. Politics has opponents…

Reflects the zero-sum mentality of the left.

They cannot even conceive of a political economy that isn't a fight over what already exists.

rehajm said...

There were government incentives for TSLA to open up their charging network. Musk claims it will allow them to expand the network…win for tesla, sucks for tax payers but the government probably would have been wasted somewhere else

Assistant Village Idiot said...

Another example of the the descriptor "right-wing" meaning "not reflexively left wing." Political leaning as social descriptor, not intellectual descriptor.

Tom said...

The guy spends $44B to advance the cause of free speech and end censorship in our virtual public square and the Left gets the vapors. The left are showing their true colors as dumb authoritarians.

PM said...

Musk should buy the Washington Post.

Leland said...

36 hours later, TSLA stock down 5%.

So your main competitor for charging is likely to be another Tesla

Except other Teslas can supercharge. Non-Tesla EV's cannot. While previously you may have waited in line behind another Tesla, in 30 minutes it would be charged and gone. That Chevy Bolt will be there a bit longer.

It's not about Musk. In fact, I mostly agree with Bruce Hayden. Musk doesn't care. His goal with Tesla was to make better batteries, because he'll need them for Mars. Tesla is a means to an end. It doesn't mean every move he makes is a good one for investors.