It’s understandable people hold strong opinions for and against Elon Musk and his work as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, which is making large cuts to government programs. Protests against Musk and Tesla Inc., of which he is CEO, are taking place at two levels.
First are peaceful demonstrations against Musk and other “oligarchs.” Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, last week held rallies in Nevada, Arizona, Nebraska and Colorado dubbed the Fighting Oligarchy tour. On March 22 in Tucson, Ocasio-Cortez insisted, “Trump handed the keys of the government to Elon Musk and is selling the country for parts to the richest people on the planet for a kickback.”
Agree with these critics of Musk or not, but peaceful protests and exchange of ideas are an essential part of democracy. The First Amendment guarantees “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Along these lines are peaceful rallies at Tesla dealerships, such as those organized by #TeslaTakedown. It’s planning a March 29 Global Day of Action under the slogans “Sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines.” And, “We’re tanking Tesla’s stock price to stop Musk.”
We don’t see the wisdom of such attacks on a stock owned by millions of regular people. Ironically, if the stock tanks, a lot of public employees, the backbone of the Democratic Party, will be hurt. For example, although CalPERS cut its Tesla holdings in half last November, it still holds 4.9 million shares, worth about $1.37 billion.
This level of criticism and protest is one thing. People can and should disagree about things in this country. Being able to do that is one of the perks of being here. But it’s when rhetoric and protest become violent, threatening or destructive that we enter a completely different realm.
There have been physical attacks on Tesla vehicles and properties across the country. On Monday, the FBI launched a 10-person task force to investigate “domestic terrorism” against Tesla. According to the New York Post, the task force includes agents from the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
We hope the investigation doesn’t include people “keying” Tesla vehicles, or punctuating their tires. Although abhorrent, those likely are acts of common vandalism and ought to be treated as such by local authorities.
It’s also worth remembering individual Tesla vehicle owners are just regular Americans of different political persuasions. Indeed, until recently Teslas have been fashion symbols of reducing climate change.
A sensible statement came from progressive Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley, including Tesla’s Fremont factory. “I’m not going to root against Tesla,” he said. “There are 20,000 people who work in my district who make a living off of this. They’re building electric vehicles that ultimately are good for the climate.” There also are 70 Tesla dealerships across California.
Finally, although we have our own disagreements with some of what Trump and Musk are doing, their cuts overall are only the beginning of attacking the U.S. national debt, currently at a staggering $36.6 trillion and still climbing at $2 trillion a year. Now that’s something to protest.
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