Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

This really is a full service blog.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Bark louder, little dog.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

“woke” is the new caravan.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Tuesday Evening Open Thread: BEEP BEEP!

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: BEEP BEEP!

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Let the man have a little treat!

… “I should be quiet,” Biden joked.

Ford will publicly debut the truck on Wednesday. Biden visited the company’s new Rogue Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, to promote his infrastructure plan, which would put billions of dollars into U.S. electric car development.

The White House didn’t announce the stop at the test track before Biden arrived. U.S. presidents seldom get a chance to drive vehicles themselves while in office, out of concern for their safety and security.

In remarks at the plant, Biden boasted that he’s a “car guy.” The president owns a General Motors Co. 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray.

How different, how very different, from the home life of our last Oval Office Occupant…

Reader Interactions

136Comments

  2. 2.

    Ken

    All right, there were language pedants in the earlier thread, so here’s a question raised by one of the replies to kilgore trout’s tweet.  Is it proper to use the phrase “hit the gas” in an electric vehicle?

  5. 5.

    Gravenstone

    From the title I expected to be reading about the bus backing over yet another MAGAt. Turns out it’s a much more pleasant topic. In keeping with the actual post, just saw an ad touting all Volvo vehicles will be electric only from 2030 and beyond. The times, they are a changin’.

  7. 7.

    jl

    I  want to see Biden washing one of those in the WH driveway soon, along with his fav muscle car, whichever one that is.

  8. 8.

    Citizen Alan

    Serious question. Is there any evidence at all that TFG actually knows how to drive a car? Not a golf cart but an actual car?  I remember when the cult was awestruck that one time he climbed into the seat of a large truck with a hard hat on and blew the horn like an excited toddler.

  9. 9.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Ken:    I suppose he can “hit the accelerator” or “hit the throttle” as he drives his electric truck.

  11. 11.

    JoyceH

    Does anyone know if Trump even knows how to drive anything bigger than a golf cart?

  12. 12.

    jl

    @Ken: ” Is it proper to use the phrase “hit the gas” in an electric vehicle? ”

    Yeesh, good question. I’m striking out on that one. Going right over the backboard.

    How about ‘hit the juice’, or does that violate some grammar dictator’s rules?

  14. 14.

    Yutsano

    Since the thread be open…

    RUT-ROH!!!

    Is miss Suzie-Q in trouble?

    New: the FBI is investigating what it says is a scheme to illegally funnel six-figure sums from a Hawaii defense contractor to Susan Collins' 2020 campaign and a super PAC supporting it https://t.co/JUUwQy0Wa9— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) May 18, 2021

  19. 19.

    dfh

    @dmsilev:  I heard the audio, and our guy does say ‘sucker’ — which in my life I don’t think I’ve heard a president say.

    That said, I am a sucker for a sane president.

  20. 20.

    Roger Moore

    @Ken: ​
     

    Is it proper to use the phrase “hit the gas” in an electric vehicle?

    Yes, it is. Words and phrases take on a meaning of their own beyond the metaphor that originally informed them. That’s why we still dial the phone and use ring tones, even though both dials and ringers are antiquated technology.

  22. 22.

    Gravenstone

    @Catherine D.: Sure. It wouldn’t be a mechanical linkage but it would emulate the feel of a mechanical accelerator because that’s what people are used to.

  23. 23.

    trollhattan

    @Ken:

    A Brit might say “depress the accelerator” but of course would proceed to instead hit the brake pedal.

  24. 24.

    Spanky

    @Ken:

    Is it proper to use the phrase “hit the gas” in an electric vehicle?

    No, “crack the whip” is the proper term.

  25. 25.

    Steeplejack

    USPS anecdatum:

    Received a letter from the IRS today. Eek! Turned out to be from Joe Biden announcing the $1,400 payments. Whew. But dated April 23! (I received my direct deposit on April 7.)

    Can’t get rid of Louis DeJoy soon enough.

  28. 28.

    trollhattan

    @Gravenstone:

    Cars have been drive by wire for a good while, so any difference should be negligible.

    Only thing I’ve ever noticed is the progression of braking on hybrids (the few I’ve driven) can feel odd, maybe because of regenerative braking (SWAG).

  32. 32.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    WASHINGTON—Taking advantage of the warm spring weather Monday, Vice President Joe Biden parked his 1981 Trans Am in the White House driveway, removed his undershirt, and spent a leisurely afternoon washing the muscle car and drinking beer.
    ***

    White House aides said that Biden pulled into the driveway shortly before noon, the chorus of Night Ranger’s “(You Can Still) Rock In America” blaring from his car’s stereo.***

    “Back in the day we used to call ’em panty-melters,” Biden continued. “One babe caught a glimpse of those rims after a Cinderella concert in ’86 and she couldn’t get into that backseat fast enough. If any of you girls wanna take a ride, just let ol’ Joe know.”

    For the remainder of the day, Biden occupied himself with hosing off his car, giving the side doors an extra coat of wax, and throwing out a variety of items from beneath its front seats, including crumpled-up fast food wrappers, a number of soft packs of Doral kings, an issue of Cheri magazine from 1991, and Senate bill S. 486.

    (link)​​​​

  36. 36.

    Roger Moore

    @Jerzy Russian: ​
     

    I suppose he can “hit the accelerator” or “hit the throttle” as he drives his electric truck.

    Calling the pedal the accelerator makes sense in an electric car, but calling it the throttle makes no more sense than calling it the gas. Like gas, it refers to something that only makes sense in the context of an internal combustion engine.

  37. 37.

    Spanky

    It’s a warm spring evening, the sun is out, the windows are open, and I’m satisfying a hankerin’ for Beethoven’s 6th.

  38. 38.

    Gravenstone

    @trollhattan: True, but they still emulate the resistance of a mechanical linkage. Again, because of familiarity. Although I’d enjoy trying out an electric car with a HOTAS set up. Give me more room to stretch out my legs.

  39. 39.

    Anne Laurie

    @jl: I want to see Biden washing one of those in the WH driveway soon, along with his fav muscle car, whichever one that is.

    Per the article (why I included the quote), a GMC Corvette Sting Ray.

  41. 41.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Roger Moore: but calling it the throttle makes no more sense than calling it the gas. Like gas, it refers to something that only makes sense in the context of an internal combustion engine.

    Doesn’t “throttle” only make sense in the age of carburetors?

    eta: trying to remember, didn’t early fuel injection systems have a “throttle body?”

  42. 42.

    Steeplejack

    @Ken:

    I would say yes. We still say “I taped that program,” “He was caught on tape,” etc., even though all that is done digitally now.

  43. 43.

    Calouste

    @Gravenstone: There’s lots of talk in European countries about ending the sale of new ICE cars by about 2035-2040. If you’re a car manufacturer who sells a large number of your vehicles in Europe, developing a new ICE is something that is not going to have a great return on investment. Everyone of course keeps selling the existing models, and probably some new models with existing engines, as well as continue existing development, but I doubt many are going to invest 5-7 years in developing a new ICE engine that they can only sell for 5 years.

  45. 45.

    trollhattan

    @Gravenstone:

    Agreed, they mimic cable-to-Holly to the point I never think of it.

    I never had an accelerator cable fail but did have a clutch cable go out and what a PITA that was. [pushes back onto two chair legs] Why, back in the day….[all run for exit]

  50. 50.

    Dan B

    @jl: Me / us too!  EV truck in the White House.  And an EV or Plug In in every staffer’s abode!!

    We tried to persuade a friend to get an EV but there are issues about parking on the street and charging.  There will be hundreds of people who live in older apartments and with our friends’ charging issues.  Charging, range, and affordability will be big hurdles to adoption.  In several wealthy neighborhoods in Seattle people run extension cords across the low-foot-traffic sidewalks.  But many people won’t.

    One auto consultant has said that Tesla, VW, and the Chinese will be the only success stories because retooling, building complex supply chains for raw materials and parts, which Tesla and China have already accomplished, will put other manufacturers ten years behind.  Biden’s support will be crucial.  The GOP (Grand Oil Party or FFP – Fossil Fuel Party) will fight with everything they’ve got.

  52. 52.

    trollhattan

    @Baud: ​
     
    Guess goobers in 20 years will have to drive around with little bonfires in the back of their electric trucks to pwn the Prius drivers.

  54. 54.

    jl

    @Morzer: 
    ” Hammer the Hobbits! ”
    Similar problem in digital signal processing. Do you say ‘blow the Baud’ or ‘bang the bits’?

  56. 56.

    Anne Laurie

    @JoyceH: Does anyone know if Trump even knows how to drive anything bigger than a golf cart?

    To be fair, nobody in NYC *needs* a drivers’ license, which was true even before the ubiquity of Uber / Lyft / et al.

    And a ‘rich businessman’ not only doesn’t need to drive himself, it’s considered bad form NOT to be chauffeured, because trip time is ‘valuable work time’ for reading reports or making calls or whatever.

    The only places TFG voluntarily goes where he can’t be hauled around like a parcel are ‘his’ resorts, and for that he can use golf carts, for which I don’t believe you need a license.

  58. 58.

    Mo MacArbie

    Maybe we should leave gas metaphors behind and embrace warp speed. “Engage.”

  65. 65.

    Roger Moore

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​
     

    Doesn’t “throttle” only make sense in the age of carburetors?

    Most gasoline engines still have throttles even in the days of fuel injection. Gas engines have tight restrictions on their fuel/air mixture, so they have to restrict air flow to run at very low load. If they tried to control only by lowering the amount of fuel, they’d wind up with too lean a mixture to ignite. Diesels don’t have the same problem because they always have a locally rich mixture right around the injector and often don’t have a throttle. That’s part of the reason diesels can be more efficient.

  66. 66.

    Dan B

    @Catherine D.: Electrics have accelerator pedals.  Tesla even have modes to select that go all the way to “Ludicrous” mode.  This means that when you step in the pedal you can terrify passengers with the acceleration.  We’ve done it in our wimpy Nissan Leaf.

    EV’s have beaten every ICE* race car made.  I’m not sure about Ram Jets but those go fast, sometimes in all directions at once – as in fireball…

    *Internal Combustion Engine.

  69. 69.

    Gvg

    I hate that paint job. Is it a paint job or a wrapper to conceal the real paint and trim till Wednesday’s big reveal?

  70. 70.

    Morzer

    @Baud:

    “Our Lady of blessed acceleration, don’t fail me now!”

     

    And if any of you whipper-snappers call me old, I’ll shake my virtual cane at you.

  72. 72.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Roger Moore: Huh. Back in the day I remember adjusting the throttle (and the choke, etc) but the only thing I recall ever doing with fuel injectors is replacing them. (it’s been a few years, these days I do brakes and not much more)

  73. 73.

    Martin

    @Gvg: That’s the obscuring wrap. Makes it really difficult to make out the underlying styling. Very common on road testing for not yet released vehicles.

  74. 74.

    Tim C

    @Dan B: This.    I got a Chevy Bolt EV for a bunch of reasons,  but one of the major surprises was the performance of the vehicle in terms of acceleration, range, etc.   Biden ain’t lying, they are just fun to drive.

  76. 76.

    craigie

    @trollhattan: When I got my (first) Chevy Volt, I took it back and said there was something wrong with the brakes, they felt soft.

    They drove it 5 feet, and then said nope, that’s how they are.

    I got used to it. In every other way, electric cars are incredibly fun to drive.

  78. 78.

    frosty

    @Ken: “Bury it” is an acceptable alternative, which I think Joe used in his Jay Leno bit in the Stingray.

  81. 81.

    Martin

    CNN: Labor shortage may signal trouble for Biden.

    That’s right.  Presidents must deliver the precise number of jobs for the economy. Not too many, and not too few. Heaven forbid we hit a point that we need to compete for labor.

  82. 82.

    tom

    The Dearborn resident and pedant in me needs to point out that it’s the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, not Rogue. Rouge, as in Rouge River, as in Rouge complex. You’d think a biz publication like Bloomberg would get it right.

  83. 83.

    dmsilev

    @Gvg: It’s camouflage basically. Car companies do that a lot with unreleased models: they can test drive on public streets while preventing people from getting clean pictures of the New Shiny.

  84. 84.

    frosty

    : @Ken: “Bury it” is an acceptable alternative, which I think Joe used in his Jay Leno bit in the Stingray.

  85. 85.

    VeniceRiley

    Does “pedal to the metal” apply if the vehicle is carbon fiber?
    In the words of Joe Biden, “C’mon, man!”

  88. 88.

    Brachiator

    @Ken:

    All right, there were language pedants in the earlier thread, so here’s a question raised by one of the replies to kilgore trout’s tweet. Is it proper to use the phrase “hit the gas” in an electric vehicle?

    Ha! Probably not, but it takes a little time for metaphors to adjust.

    Also, language pendants tend to be left in the dust while new usage speeds ahead.

  89. 89.

    Mike in NC

    As a pampered trust fund baby, Trump probably never bothered to learn to drive a car or get a drivers license. He was always chauffeured around in a limousine, as befits a 1%er, even as a child.

  90. 90.

    trollhattan

    @Tim C:

    Congrats on the Bolt. Gig Car’s fleet (point-to-point short term rentals) are Bolts and they’re roomy, have great range and are fast has heck, no malarkey (trying to channel Joe here).

  93. 93.

    J R in WV

    @Anne Laurie: ​

    Per the article (why I included the quote), a GMC Corvette Sting Ray.

    Actually, Corvette is manufactured by Chevrolet, not GMC, even though Chevrolet is operated by GMC. Confusing, but true.

  94. 94.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Dan B: We’re looking into getting one, since our current cars have started to hit that phase where small things break.

    My wife’s idea is that when the car windows stop raising or lowering cleanly, it’s time to consider a new car because you’re entering that period when maintenance starts just happening all the time.

  95. 95.

    Brachiator

    @Roger Moore:

    Is it proper to use the phrase “hit the gas” in an electric vehicle?

    Yes, it is. Words and phrases take on a meaning of their own beyond the metaphor that originally informed them. That’s why we still dial the phone and use ring tones, even though both dials and ringers are antiquated technology.

    My niece and nephew, in their 20s, never talk about dialing the phone. They have never seen a dial phone, except maybe in an old movie.

    Not sure if they ever refer to ring tones.

    Just watched the clip of Biden driving the truck. Looks like he was enjoying himself.

  96. 96.

    Dan B

    @tom: I noticed but I sorta like “Rogue”.  Rad!

    Bob Ford goes rogue!

    Blows away any relic mustiness.

  97. 97.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MisterForkbeard: We’re looking into getting one, since our current cars have started to hit that phase where small things break.

    Almost to the end of payments, eh? It’s just a matter of the devil you know vs the devil you don’t.

  98. 98.

    Dan B

    @Tim C: A couple weeks ago we looked at Bolts with a friend who was interested and wanted input from us long time EV drivers.  I loved the roominess and styling as much as the VW ID 4.  They’re different styles but very well done.  The trouble is there is great demand here and no new stock incoming.

  100. 100.

    Gretchen

    Quibble:  it’s the Rouge Plant, not the Rogue Plant.  Detroit started life as a French trading post on the Rouge River.

  101. 101.

    Brachiator

    @Calouste:

    There’s lots of talk in European countries about ending the sale of new ICE cars by about 2035-2040.

    There was a recent news story about Volvo.

    Volvo Cars said Tuesday it planned to become a “fully electric car company” by the year 2030, with all sales of the firm’s pure electric models set to move online.

    In order to meet its target, the company will look to remove cars with internal combustion engines — including hybrids — from its global offering by the end of the decade.

    The other very interesting tidbit here is their intention to do sales online, presumably getting rid of auto dealerships.

     

    ETA: I did not know that Volvo is now owned by a Chinese company.

  102. 102.

    Dan B

    @MisterForkbeard: We’ve been leasing for six years now because the technology is advancing rapidly and there are fantastic new models arriving on the market next year and the year after.  We watch YouTube about EV’s at least  ten times a week because it’s where the great innovations are arising, that and other renewables.  Plus there are lots of varied opinions and stories.

    Good idea when the windows stop.  A friend got a hybrid when repairs on her 20 year old car were much more than the resale value.

  103. 103.

    Dan B

    @Brachiator: Our dealer for our Leafs has said they won’t be around in two years.  He sells and leases more Leafs than anyone else in the state.

  104. 104.

    J R in WV

    @trollhattan:

    I never had an accelerator cable fail but did have a clutch cable go out and what a PITA that was.

    I had a 1971 Toyota Land Cruiser with a 3 on the tree shifter, and once the Jesus nut came off the shift linkage, while we were several miles from the nearest pavement, down in a creek driven canyon near New River Gorge.

    Was a pain in the ass!

    Put it into second gear manually from under the cab, then used low range to drive up out of the wilderness area, shifted to high range to drive home V slowly. Then used two nuts and a lock washer to fix that problem semi-permanently. Truck was built like a cinder-block!

    Three different vehicles hit me while I was driving that vehicle, totaled all of them, I drove home after every collision.

  106. 106.

    Craig

    Can Bloomberg get an editor? It’s a Corvette Stingray, not Sting Ray.

    ‘Hit the gas’ always translates to ‘Punch it Chewy!’

  107. 107.

    Martin

    @Calouste: CA has already announced a ban effective 2035. So same problem in the US as CA is something like 20% of the US auto market. This is why CA can dictate mileage standards for the  US. We’re just large enough to pull the entire auto market due to economies of scale.

  108. 108.

    Brachiator

    @Martin:

    Yeah, Trump can’t drive. Part trust fund baby, part NYC resident. Lots of NYers don’t drive.

    When I was in college during the Stone Age, I knew a lot of people from NYC and the East Coast who did not know how to drive a car.

    My college girlfriend, who was from The Bronx, could not drive a car or ride a bicycle. But she knew how to ice skate.

  109. 109.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Dan B: Right. I mean, there’s a difference if you’re low on money or like working on cars. But for us – we’re doing fine and we hate dealing with weird maintenance issues.

    Leasing is actually a great idea, especially for EVs. I may want to look into this.

  110. 110.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    @Martin: ​
      What labor shortage? U-6 is at 10.9%, it was 6.7% before the pandemic.

    Fucking media. We never heard of labor shortage under Dump.

  111. 111.

    Martin

    I went one further. Rather than go to an electric car, I went to an electric bike.

  112. 112.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Brachiator: I have an aunt in the eastern Bay Area who’s over 70 and never learned how to drive. Just didn’t need to – between busses and a family who all drove, she just didn’t want to learn and never bothered.

    Made the kids all very self-sufficient, too.

  113. 113.

    Soprano2

    I’m having a great night,  watching the future of the Cardinals. So far the rain has held off,  and it’s actually somewhat sunny. And we have a great president who can actually drive a car.

  114. 114.

    Roger Moore

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    The throttle is still there in fuel injected engines, but I think the use of a mass flow sensor makes the system inherently a lot less fiddly than a carburetor.  As long as the throttle opens and closes properly, there really isn’t much to adjust.

  115. 115.

    Mike in NC

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: The current media “scandal” is about peoples’ “confusion” about wearing masks. Oh, the humanity! This could well be Biden’s Katrina. (In reality, chain stores have to wait until the OK from corporate to take down the signs.)

  116. 116.

    Soprano2

    @Dan B: Dealerships make money on service and repairs, and there isn’t much to service or repair on an electric car.

  118. 118.

    beef

    @Dan B:

    If you’ve never seen the original electric street racer, John Wayland’s White Zombie, it’s worth checking out.   In a nutshell, he stripped down a 72 Datsun 1200 and loaded it up with batteries.   I don’t think it holds any street racing records these days — I mean, Lamborghini is making electric cars now — but it’s hilarious to watch that little grandma car leave Mustangs & Impalas sitting at the starting line.

    https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15146501/batteries-included/

  119. 119.

    burnspbesq

    @Catherine D.:

    Do electrics have accelerator pedals? Does “floor it” still work?

    ‘Oh yeah. Electric vehicles, by and large, are capable of whiplash-inducing acceleration.

    ‘And yes, they have two pedals. The VW id.4 First Edition’s pedals have play and pause icons.

  121. 121.

    There are those who call me...tim... (Still posh)

    O, please. Trump is still president and Biden is a hologram. Everybody knows. Well, everyone whose deep-state “vaccination” hasn’t blinded them to objective reality. Normal!

  122. 122.

    randy khan

    @Ken:

    Is it proper to use the phrase “hit the gas” in an electric vehicle?

    We still “dial” phones, so I’m going to say yes.

  124. 124.

    Gary K

    I have to vent. My wife is reading about a recent death on Facebook, a distant member of her extended family. Everyone’s lining up to say what a gentle and kind lady the deceased was. Yeah, I met her once: the wife of a tobacco company executive, dressed in a full-length mink coat, and the first thing I heard her say was that “Michelle Obama dresses like a whore.”

  129. 129.

    WaterGirl

    People will post their questions in the comments.  To answer, you will hit the “reply” button below the comment with the question, and then type in your reply.

Comments are closed.