Until recently, I had assumed that there were Tesla dealerships on the Eastern Shore even though I had never seen one. There aren’t any. Tesla Cybertrucks are still rare on the Eastern Shore. Still, you are more likely to see a Tesla sedan than a Buick or Cadillac. Were people driving to Bethesda to buy their cars?
Remember when Teslas first came on the market? Buying one was doing something to fight climate change. Hollywood stars traded in their Mercedes sports cars, and sometimes their Toyota Priuses, to be seen stepping out of a Tesla when making their entrances onto the Oscars’ red carpet.
I remember thinking about buying a Tesla, but, given recent events, I’m sure glad I didn’t. I’d prefer not to drive a car with “F*ck Elon” painted on its side.
Want to see a Cybertruck? If you can’t get into the Fox News parking lot, try a California junkyard. There, in addition to the Cybertrucks that caught fire with no assistance from an anti-Trump or anti-Musk “lunatic,” you will find Cybertrucks torched in protest to DOGE and Trump.
President Trump, confident that he knows unfairness when he sees it, expressed outrage against people venting their anger and attempting to draw attention to what they see as an authoritarian takeover of government, by vandalizing Teslas.
Said Trump, “I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20-year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla. Perhaps they could serve them in the prisons of El Salvador, which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions!”
The President has directed the FBI and the Department of Justice to track down those responsible. Kash Patel and Pam Bondi are on the case.
There is irony in Trump’s anger. He pardoned his “January 6 Patriots,” who Trump described as peace-loving people venting their anger after Trump lost the 2020 election. Trump convinced them that the election had been stolen, which, in Trump’s mind, justified their violence against police officers and the Capitol. The anger of the people protesting DOGE is different, right?
President Trump is now considering compensating the “January 6 Patriots” because they were treated “so unfairly.” A concert by the now world-renowned “J6 Choir” can’t be far behind.
The Tesla vandals (Musk, Trump, Kash Patel and others call them “terrorists”), like their J6 counterparts, illegally engaged in violence. I don’t see the difference between them and Trump’s “J6 patriots.” Both groups deserve punishment for vandalism, but the President now celebrates one group while subjecting the other to a nationwide hunt, with harsh punishment promised.
Elon Musk was surprised when the vandalism against his cars started. He told Fox News: “It’s actually disadvantageous for me to be in the government, not advantageous. My companies are suffering because I’m in the government.” Musk added, “Do you think it helps sales if (Tesla) dealerships are gonna be fire-bombed? Of course not.”
Musk is, of course, right, but while I join him in condemning the violence, I am not about to pull out my violin. He has received over $38 billion in government contracts and, as head of DOGE, will receive more, which is one explanation of why he joined the Trump administration as a “volunteer.”
Musk will suffer millions of dollars in losses in the stock market value of Tesla, but he is the world’s richest human. The economic harm he will suffer is nothing compared to that of the tens of thousands of federal employees that Musk and his DOGE team members have fired.
Those of us on the Eastern Shore who have friends who worked for the federal government know that DOGE has caused more pain and suffering than the Tesla vandals would cause Musk if they torched every Tesla ever built and every Tesla dealership. There just isn’t any comparison.
I hope the FBI crackdown on violence against Teslas will be successful. Nobody wins when violence is tolerated. The Tesla vandals are not heroes. If arrested, just like the January 6 insurrectionists, they should be prosecuted for their crimes and not be pardoned by the president or compensated for being “treated very unfairly.”
J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.
Mr. Dean will be on travel next week. His column will return on April 16.
Deirdre LaMotte says
Curious that this administration calls the vandals of Teslas “domestic terrorist” yet the killing of school children
by automatic weapons elicits nothing but “thoughts and prayers”.
Karen Mack says
A salient point.
John Dean says
Yes, very curious.
Wendy Wander says
I totally agree that those committing vandalism at Tesla dealerships or on Tesla cars should prosecuted. In fact, I don’t know one person, Democrat, Republican, or Independent that disagrees with Dean’s argument. The hypocrisy from the current administration regarding the “J6Patriots” is ludicrous and even worse, they know it! So do many of their supporters. Yet, they justify themselves because FOX and other right-wing media gives them plenty of reasons to do so. It’s truly brainwashing at the highest level.
John Dean says
Thank you for your comment.