Smart Talk #25

Now that the feds and the subservient cheerleading media have stopped pounding the apparent joy to come from consumer EV purchases, reality has set in among the decision-making consumers who right now would rather stay with their gas-powered vehicles or, taking a half-step away from the left toward common sense, perhaps purchase instead a hybrid.  And so, listen to this. With pure EV’s “stacking up on dealer lots,” many Buick dealers, in fact almost half of them nationwide, have decided that they’d rather take a franchise buy-out from General Motors in order ”to avoid having to sell EV’s at a time when consumer reports show Americans are increasingly turned off by the cars.”  This buy-out option, once exercised, means that GM ‘s Buick dealerships will then number just about 1,000, as those dealers leaving the fold are exiting “rather than investing potentially millions into retooling and (preparing) dealers to service and sell EVs.” Note that these former Buick dealers can continue to sell and service other GM models, such as Chevrolet & GMC. Certainly, a different landscape from several months back when, with heavenly trumpets sounding, EV’s were touted by the government-media combo as the automotive Prince of the Kingdom, especially for those with extra money who embrace the supposed positive environmental impact, while searching out on the road, often in vain, for a charging station.

And speaking of electric vehicles, the State of Maine was all set to approve a strict future mandate on resident vehicle purchases, when a significant wind and rainstorm brought flooding and knocked out power within 14 of the state’s counties. Prior to the storm, the legislative proposal was something called the “Advanced Clear Car Program,” which would mimic regulations in California mandating that more than 40% of new car purchases in the state be electric by 2027 (Just 3-years from now!) and 82% be electric by 2032.”  More dictatorship than democracy. And worth pointing out that a wind and rainstorm like had just occurred there would shut down EV’s, including electric utility, fire and medical first responder vehicles! Despite seeming Democrat dominance in Maine, at least on this issue, there was opposition expressed.  And even some opposition from the Democrat side.  Said U.S. Representative Jared Golden (D-Maine): “Forcing Mainers to purchase cars and trucks powered by electricity when our grid is insufficient, charging stations are few and far between, and a storm like yesterday’s would render 80% of cars useless is, to say the least, ill-advised.” Smart thinking, especially when the electric grid capacity issue is a serious nationwide problem, and likely will be for many years to come.

As we’ve recently learned via television coverage of campus anti-Israel, anti-Jewish demonstrations, a certain percentage of today’s college students seem to hold these ‘anti’ beliefs. According to a Caps/Harvard poll, “59% of Gen Zers admit that Hamas is a terrorist group of brutal killers, but 51% also say that the brutal killing of innocent Israelis was justified because of Palestinian grievances.” So then, where did this level of confused hatred among young people come from? Responded one intellectual: “From infancy, young Americans have imbibed a steady diet of postmodern cynicism, anti-American propaganda, and racist resentment. Most in Gen Z think that capitalism and American values are evil. They’re primed to accept without question propaganda of those who hate Judeo-Christian civilization, including terrorist groups.” The author reminds us of what happened in Germany some ninety-years ago when “Hitler bolstered his power by radicalizing the youth,” a militant group that eventually grew to about 20% of young Germans. As sadly proven back then, “it doesn’t take a majority to destroy a nation. It requires only the activation of an outraged minority and the acquiescence of the rest.”  He goes on to remind us of a poignant quote from G.K. Chesterton: “When people stop believing in God, it isn’t that they believe nothing, but that they will believe anything.” The author continues with this thinking: “Those wishing to attack society’s stability know that they must first attack God.  Attacking God means attacking the Judeo-Christian worldview that says humans have value because of God.”  What then can parents do to try to turn this hateful thinking around? They must stress to children that “individual violence is never the solution.” And “explain how the Judeo-Christian worldview has provided greater political, religious, and economic freedom than any other form of society in human history.” Smart, impactful words and thinking, and perhaps a good place to start, although unfortunately one thinks it’s going to take a whole lot more than family fireside chats.  Besides explaining the difference between today’s good and evil, it will pay huge lifetime awards to more carefully consider and select a college or university that hasn’t been overcome by smothering ultra-liberalism, and where the dominant emphasis is continually directed at rigorous legitimate career preparation. Regular attendance at worship services and/or Bible study might well also be a positive way to begin or reinforce a respect for God especially, and with it, the overall historic good that is America, the very best nation on earth for all those with clear heads.

And speaking of university students, in particular those currently studying in the State of Florida, Governor DeSantis, coordinating with the chancellor of the state’s university system, “has moved to crack down on student groups there that have expressed support for Hamas terrorism,” which may then result in “terminating student chapters and suspending school administrators.”  One example is a student group known to be active within two Florida system universities.  That group is known as National Students for Justice in Palestine, the members of which then refer to Hamas as “the resistance”!  Reinforcing the state’s policy, via letter to all university administrators across the state, it makes it very clear that it is a “felony under Florida law to knowingly provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.” Therefore, the chapters of the group earlier identified, must be “deactivated.”  As an active candidate for the U.S. presidency, Governor DeSantis has additionally promised that, if elected, “he would cancel student visas and deport foreign nationals who celebrate Hamas.”  Smart and appropriate thinking to cut down on campus demonstrations in support of Hamas Palestinians, the group responsible for the murder of hundreds of Israelis the night of the original brutal attack on that nation’s citizens, and the resultant capture of many others held as hostages subject to even more reported brutality. Israel has every right to respond for the sake of protecting its nation and citizens, from an unprovoked purely evil campaign of slaughter, rape, and reportedly, some dismemberment. Congratulations to the State of Florida for taking the high road with its firm stand across its campuses in support of Israel and clearly against Hamas.  May the right side, that of goodness, eventually prevail.

Speaking about ‘elite’ schools of higher learning, the often common-sense liberal broadcast host, Bill Maher, refers to them as “North Korean re-education camps.” Mr. Maher continues with his thoughts on the Israeli attack, the continuing evil aftermath, and the elite school students too many of whom have, in their confused minds, actively embraced evil. Said Maher via his popular HBO series: “There are few if any positives to come out of what happened in Israel, but one of them is opening America’s eyes to how higher education has (produced) the indoctrination of a stew of bad ideas, among them the simplistic notion that the world is a binary place where everyone is either an oppressor or oppressed.  The same students who tell you that words are violence, and silence is violence, were very supportive when Hamas terrorists went on a rape and murder rampage worthy of the Vikings.”  Tough talk, badly needed, to counter the scourge of university students who seem to have little if any knowledge of history, and the nation of Israel and, thus, have in too large a measure, gravitated to the side of the enemy’s mayhem and evil. Of significance here: Bill Maher is, himself, an Ivy League graduate.

And to wrap up this Smart Talk edition, this thought from the ever-brilliant Thomas Sowell: “One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce, and canonized those who complain.”

 

(Fact Sources: GM’s electric cars via breitbart.com, John Binder, 12-20-23; Maine EV mandate plan via foxnews.com, Thomas Catenacci, 12-21-23; Turning negative feelings about our nation into positive ones via dailycaller.com, Jeff Mascott, 12-1-23; Florida takes action against Hamas supporting student groups within its state university system via foxnews.com, Andrew Mark Miller, 10-24-23; Bill Maher’s stark and appropriate rebuttal to elite school students on the side of Hamas via breitbart.com, Ian Hanchett, 10-21-23; “Random Thoughts” from Thomas Sowell, Hoover Press: “Ever Wonder Why?”).