The absurdity of Donald Trump

[tw]

How ironic. Spend massively on GM's top luxury car. Only get performance that was routinely found in foreign cars after 1992. Cadillac performance is equivalent to that in a 2002 Toyota Prius. So what is the point? Intentionally ignoring glaring facts can justify a bogus conclusion and personal insults?

Apparently personal insults (and hate promoted by Nazis, White Supremacists, and the KKK) in the tradition of Donald Trump is now acceptable behavior. Why would anyone have so low self-esteem as to associate themselves with Trump?

That VW engine is simply what should now be standard in all cars. It also says why cars have long not required 6 or 8 cylinders. Today's 4 cylinders are doing that once required big block V-8s. And therefore last longer.

Hopefully the life expectancy of a Trump administration will be worse than the life expectancy of obsolete technology V-8s.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Originally Posted by tw

Apparently personal insults (and hate promoted by Nazis, White Supremacists, and the KKK) in the tradition of Donald Trump is now acceptable behavior.

You accept that behavior; you indulge in it hourly, without pause for breath, let alone for meals. It is observable, after this gap of years, that you are beyond a little bitch. I dub you therefore Micro-Bitch, to more nearly describe your neurotic badness of temper -- and your lifelong substitution of intemperate verbiage for action, either heroic or despicable.

Remember from this hour forward: all insults are personal to you, for you suck them to you like a Shop-Vac, and like that vacuum, store them up in your cylindrical belly.

Inventiveness -- well, that's mine. What you merit through your words and actions, that you shall receive. Best not to continue your plaints. But you don't know that, and wouldn't care to.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Something else we should remember about auto technology: General Motors, or Big Auto:

It's been noted that GM was never hit with an antitrust suit -- but for decades on end, GM behaved as if it were in mortal fear of being so. A culture, rather than a smokefilled-room conspiracy, grew up of Chevy not outdoing Pontiac too hugely (in dollars, I think, not so much cars off the lots), and Pontiac not crushing Dodge, and so on round and round the GM ambit. That is, competition was not pushed à outrance; that spice was missing from the mix.

Innovation comes through competition, and is the more stimulated the more intense the competition is. GM thought it found reason to avoid that, when perhaps a more cutthroat approach might have been nearer the ideal for service to the end users, the customers.

But who needs any conspiracy when you have the subtler debilitations of a culture? It doesn't even have to be consciously recognized by anyone, insider or out.

I expected the above kind of fallback argument to appear, that tw might salve his ego; again, tw does not seem to sufficiently recognize a) this power density dates back fourteen years and there's nothing at all to say it doesn't date farther back yet, and b) we bought that VW for 14Kdollars if I remember. Not exactly big auto money; not an especially low price either. The vehicle, used, had very modest mileage on it. It now wants some work done on its valve cam timing -- we won't know if it's just the cam gear or if it's the timing chain (a quite critical component, and timing chains or belts are durable but they aren't immortal and the car now has 155 K miles on it) until our mechanic goes in there.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Innovation comes through competition,

So GM repeatedly ran to government to get protection - so that innovation could remain stifled. And then those innovations appeared in patriotic American vehicles from Mercedes Benz, Hyundai, Toyota, BMW, Honda, Nissan (once called Datsun), and others.

Once they stopped running to the government for protection, then Ford also began to innovate. But they have a long way to go to catch up.

The 70 Hp per liter engine was ready for production in GM in 1975. But stifled until patriotic companies were selling it starting about 1992. They innovate because they have competition. GM has a repeat history of running to government for protection AFTER innovation terminated sometime after 1970. Facts are indelible.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Howdy, everybody. [waves]

Hi back! You've been missed. Let's get back on track.

I want to say at the outset that I have two posts. One is a response to your ad hominem attacks on dwellars. The other addresses your take on the political news, in this thread and in others.

They overlap considerably, and I find that unfortunate. Your attacks on the people here are really just a petty distraction, though at times they can be very petty and very distracting. I have little desire to engage you there. But you also use that tactic when discussing matters I find interesting and important. Still distracting, still petty.

They belie a weakness, an unsoundness to your arguments. Giving Hillary Clinton the label "The Unindicted Felon" is just cheap name calling. Obviously you could use her name, or her title "Secretary", those are descriptive and non pejorative. But you don't. Why don't you? I think it's because you dislike her and also because you have a mean bent. But that bend gets in the way of your arguments, reducing their persuasiveness to any not already swimming in your kool-aid. Of course I've seen this from you for years, and I try to edit it out so that I can more clearly see what you're trying to say. This is difficult for me and often I'm left with only a pile of insults among the scraps. The lacy remains of your argument can easily be seen through.

Y'know, maybe you could give us a TL;DR executive summary of your take at the beginning of these flames. I appreciate your writing, you're as mean and cutting as the best of them. But I'm also interested in hearing the ideas from someone who "stopped voting Democratic a while back". Not just the clickbait--I can get enough of that shit from Hannity et al. Show me your work. I struggle to know what's outside my bubble. You, you are outside my bubble. And I can hear you. I want to know what you have to say.