Excuses, Excuses

They're right that Elon isn't helping, but it's also an excuse because Elon or no Elon, they don't have working products either and they've all been overpromising.

The Washington Post spoke with a dozen transportation officials and executives, including current and former safety regulators, auto industry executives, safety advocacy group leaders and autonomous-vehicle competitors. In interviews, they expressed worries that Tesla’s plan to unleash robo-cars on the road on an expedited timeline — likely without regulated vetting — could result in crashes, lawsuits and confusion. Plus, they said, Tesla’s promised “full self-driving” features fall short of industry standards for a true autonomous vehicle because humans will still need to be engaged at all times and ready to intervene in the beginning. Some of the people interviewed requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

“That concern among the industry writ large is real and valid because what potentially happens is you’re going to see fatalities in the news attributed to Tesla vehicles and the response you’re going to get from certain policymakers — kind of a knee-jerk reaction,” said a former senior official with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which oversees the motor vehicle industry, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so he could comment candidly about the industry view of the company’s claims. That, in turn, will affect “other manufacturers who were a lot more deliberate, a lot more careful.”

I don't think shutting down Elon's slaughterpilot is a "knee-jerk reaction."

Don't Look Under That Rock

Sometimes things are so obvious and I say them thinking they're so obvious and then people disagree and I feel like I'm Nathan Eckert all over again because the "you're wrong" folks all sound like Bob Sheffer.

The House Dems are slow-walking all oversight because they know that under every rock they turn over they will find more crimes and then they will have to get on teevee and talk about "self-impeaching" or some bullshit like that which is just code for "haha I think you voters are so stupid that you'll believe this shit please send money to the DCCC to stop Trump."

Morning Thread

West Coast Evening Thread

Afternoon Thread

Not quite happy hour.

Trump Racism Is Just For The Diner Rubes

One reason for the focus on old people in midwestern diners is that elite media types don't want to believe that the people they feel affinity with - other mostly white well educated people - are huge MAGA racists. It's just the blue collar dum dums. Hicks from the sticks. Not those nice suburban car dealer owners who come to our parties sometimes.

But those nice suburban car dealer owners don't exactly hide their racism, and nor do rich urbanites. If elite media types can't see it it's because they share it.

These Words Are Strung Together But Do Not Have Meaning

I'll just let this one be obvious.

Livingston is a software engineer for Designated Driver, a new company that’s getting into teleoperations, the official name for remotely controlling self-driving vehicles.

Related. Check the date.

In ~2 years, summon should work anywhere connected by land & not blocked by borders, eg you're in LA and the car is in NY

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2016

Real America Loves When He Does Raicsm

The widespread belief that it helps Trump to do his Bull Connor impression is related to the widespread belief that the most important voters in the country are blue collar whites.

— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) July 16, 2019

It's implicit in all the coverage. Whenever Trump cranks up the racism political journalists cover it like they used to cover a new James O'Keefe video dropping. He's got you now, libs! But they never make the next logical point, which is that if the racism appeals, and appeals specifically to Trump's base, that is because Trump's base and by implication Real America is filled with... um... help me out? Fill in the blank?

Morning Thread

Late Night

Rock on.

Monday Evening

Get your evening on.

Fractal Griftery

Nobody could have predicted.

Ex-Fox & Friends co-host Clayton Morris has left the country amid more than two dozen lawsuits from investors who say he defrauded them in real estate deals involving properties in Indianapolis.

Morris, who previously resided in a $1.4 million home in New Jersey, has moved with his family to a coastal resort town Portugal, according to his wife's Facebook post.

America, love it or leave it.

And of course.

In December 2018, Fox & Friends ran a segment about “real estate secrets” that promoted former co-host Clayton Morris’ rental property company and his recommendation that viewers buy rental properties as a passive investment. Several months later, Morris’ company is under scrutiny and he and the company are reportedly being sued by “nearly two dozen customers.”

And of course.

Racism..How The Fuck Does That Work?

Not sure whether too many journalists are genuinely confused if Trump is a racist or if they are just pretending to be confused, or which is better.

Perfectly Normal

The number of people who actively covered for and socialized with this guy...

"Just this morning the government became aware of a safe that contained a pile of cash, diamonds, a passport from a foreign country with a picture of the defendant under another name," Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Rossmiller told U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman.

"The passport was issued in the name of a foreign country, it was issued in the 1980s, it is expired, it shows a picture of Jeffrey Epstein, and another name," Rossmiller said, adding the passport showed Epstein's residence as Saudi Arabia.

This Is Our Emergency

The concentration camps are making clear who in the Democratic party actually sees this as a moral crisis, and who spends their Friday nights making dumb ass tweets against those who do.

The crisis provided the backdrop to an ugly back-and-forth between these progressive women of color and Nancy Pelosi and her staff, which has played out mostly on Twitter and in the mind of Maureen Dowd. In a move reminiscent of the segregated South, someone in House leadership leaked a poll of only white non-college voters to “prove” that squad members, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), represent a problem in swing districts.

That poll did not include just how popular Nancy Pelosi was with those same voters.

Leadership hates the "professional Left" (who mostly aren't professional) more than Trump.

New Phone Who Dis

Actually not a new phone but might need one. Don't realize how dependent you are on the damn things until they break.

Monday Morning

Advice On How To Win From A Loser

Claire McCaskill closing campaign ad.

The men then turn to McCaskill, with one conceding, "I don't always agree with Claire McCaskill."

"But she works hard, fighting against those tariffs, doing all those town halls," the man adds. "Claire's not afraid to stand up against her own party."

"Yep," the second man chimes in, "and Claire's not one of those crazy Democrats. She works right in the middle and finds compromise."

This has been not just the acceptable "moderate" playbook but the expected one for decades. If it works, well ok... but when it doesn't.

I WILL NEVER STOP FIGHTING FOR YOOOOOUUUUUUUUU

Or something.

Trump and Pelosi And The House Democrats Agree

"The Squad" should just shut up and go away.

This is unfair, of course, but Pelosi has been foaming the runway for this stuff by singling out these 4 women while letting a bunch of "centrist" white guys get away with much "worse" if "shit talking the party" is how we define "bad." So-called moderates have been running against the party forever. It's why they are called "moderates." When they tried to unseat Pelosi, the lefties stood up for her.

Followers of Jesus

My long pet peeve is people trying to impose Christianity on Christians. I don't really know or care if, for example, Mike Pence is 100% full of shit or if he truly believes he is A Good Christian (he can also, too, be both!) But obviously his Christianity does not bear any resemblance to any kind of "caring Jesus" brand of Christianity and it isn't productive to even suggest it should.

Being an evil piece of shit or a big hypocrite doesn't make him not a Christian. If he says he's a Christian, he is one. Pointing out that he's a Bad Christian just lends credence to the idea that embracing the label somehow should make you Good. Nothing against religion or Christianity but while it doesn't necessarily make you Bad, it also obviously doesn't necessarily make you Good. "But Mr. Pence, you're a Christian, and according to Jesus you must be Good!" This just lets him continue cloaking himself in false Goodness. That nice Mr. Pence can't be Bad, he's a Christian! Not how it works.

Sunday Morning

After a long and expensive court battle The Halifax Examiner finally got the police file in the wrongful conviction case of Assoun released. It is exactly as suspected. Not only was the conviction based on trumped up evidence, but police withheld exculpatory evidence when Assoun's case came up for appeal, resulting in a further nine years imprisonment.

I guess the moral of the story is that when the justice system completely fails, as it did here, investigative reporters are our last resort. It takes time and money. Consider a contribution to the The Examiner's Legal Fund, or take out a subscription.