Political stewardship and Tesla bans (06-24-2025--Hour1)

What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, I daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to dpeakclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support. And it's Tuesday. It's twelve noon, and that means we chat with Andrew Dunn. He is a contributor over at the Charlotte Observer and he also is the publisher of long Leaf Politics longleafpol dot com. Andrew, how are you today? I'm doing good, trying to stay cool out of the sun. Have you got one of the Duke's smart meters on your house? Are they? Are they throttling your AC? They try it. They keep trying to make me sign up for that, but I'm not gonna do it. Yeah, I said new They're like, oh, but you could you pay a little bit less every month? Like yeah, and then when I really need it, I'm not going to have the AC. So smart man, so okay, let's talk a little bit at a couple of pieces you've got. This is first over at Long Leave Politics, and I did go read this story at WRAL that you kind of us to sort of pivot into a discussion about stewardship by elected officials. But the WRAL story was about apparently the sad state of the Hawkins Hartness House, which is where the Lieutenant governor works out of. And I remember I used to have Dan Forrest when he was Lieutenant governor on the show. I'd have him on like every other week, and I remember him talking about this effort that he and his wife Alice did to like solicit a bunch of private donations and fix up this house because it was just it was just grimy and dirty and in disrepair. And so he did all of that work. And so now I guess the WRL story is it like it's all kind of reverted back. Yeah, basically, I mean, so I used to work for Dan Forest back when he was running for governor. So I had the privilege of going to this house, the Hawkins Hartness House, a number of times. It's right there in downtown Raleigh, old Victorian era mansion, not really a mansion, but a bigger house. And basically when Dan took office in twenty twelve, he described it as a dump that you know, it just hadn't been kept up. So yeah, he and Alice raised a bunch of money from private donations, fixed it up, really turned it into this kind of crown jewel for the state, and he had this vision that it would be, you know, this asset that would be passed down to future lieutenant governors. But yeah, but the WRL story found is that when Rachel Hunt took over, it was mostly empty. You know, a lot of the furnishings that Dan and Alice had collected were kind of in the basement, broken or deteriorating, and uh, it was not handed off in the way that that former Lieutenant Governor Forrest had envisioned. You know, it's not a scandal or anything, but it kind of made me think about how different people view public service, you know, whether it's a stepping stone or it's or it's a charge that that they're that they have responsibility for. Right that you're you are a temporary placeholder. You're just supposed to be a steward for the office and for you know, the people and literally like the furniture, and so I'm assuming that this stuff was handed off to Mark Robinson in fair condition or you know, the place was furnished, I assume. But then and then when I was reading through the w r L piece, I couldn't really figure out like what exactly, like how did all of this stuff happen? They kind of just chalked it up to, oh, you know, people just kind of lost track of this stuff. But the question I kept asking was if they got all of these donations from the private sector, like did they get did those donations go back? And then would why would the state take those furnishings and move them to some other facilities, Like shouldn't those things have remained? But also if I made a loan of furniture to the Hawkins Heart and his house, then should I be able to get it back when that Lieutenant governor leaves? I just I was left with a lot of questions From the WRIL. Story, Yeah, it was written really convoluted, and the author of the piece actually went on X and said that he didn't want to get hit with a libel suit and that's why he left it real vague and didn't play the blame game, but I think it's safe to say that Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson when he left office, he did not have the same perspective of wanting to hand down something nice to his successor as Dan did. And I think the RWRIL story pointed out that Rachel Hunt had made some pretty nasty comments about Mark Robinson, so maybe that had something to do with it. I don't know, but in sort of a related you write a lot about Dan Forest over these three pieces. I noticed he shows up in all three of your recent pieces to a long Leave Politics and the News or yeah, one of the Charlotte Observer News and Observer, but the next one is at long Leave Politics, and you talk about this epiphany you have. I guess while listening to Hometown Holler, which is a lefty podcast, I guess I have not heard of it, but they apparently. One of the co hosts says, we go from a kind of milk toast bland country club dad like Dan Forrest as our lieutenant governor, to I'm a black Nazi Mark Robinson, like whoh, somebody looking at our state in twenty ten would look at our state government twenty twenty five and if they hadn't lived in the interim, would be like what am I smoking? And this rubs you the wrong way as it did me, but probably more so you because you worked for Dan and you remember what the media did to Dan and what the left did to Dan Forest when he was lieutenant governor. Yeah, exactly, And it's funny, Yeah, it just kind of worked out that way. A bunch of my pieces mentioned Lieutenant Governor Forrest. I haven't written about him in years. You know, obviously look back fondly on those days working in that job. But yeah, I mean the way that WRL and any progressive, liberal leaning publication treated Forrest was was really out of box, you know. It was they were using the scary music, the you know, the dark photo editing and said that North Carolina had never had a candidate this extreme. Really just treated him like this completely you know, unconventional, scary, dangerous person. And you know, it's just funny to hear the strange New respect is a phrase that I like to call that people that Democrats have for Republicans after they're no longer. Running for office, Right, well, those are the best Republicans among Democrats. But but you also talk about how you And I mentioned this too the other day when I saw Thomas Mills's piece, this very piece that you read as well. Only one party promotes violence and it's not the Democrats, was his argument. And it's just it's so it so illustrates the blind spot that people have for their own team, because they will forgive all transgressions if it's you know, if it's a fighter on their side, because you know, in the culture war, you can't you can't suffer any losses of casualties or anything. You need everybody in the fight. And so it's like there's this blind spot that they cannot see the violence that is being fetishized on the left, and it does. It absolutely is also on the right. I mentioned that as well, and then you tied it to the Age of acrimony, which I was not aware of. What is the age of acrimony? Yeah, so the Age of Acrimony is a term used for post reconstruction politics. We're talking eighteen seventy to about nineteen hundred, and there was a historian who wrote a great book called The Age of Acrimony where basically talked about how politics in those days really super high turnout. It was kind of a focal point of public life. Everybody had to pick a team, and the debates were extremely raucous and very violent too. To be honest, I read that book and was just shocked by how crazy things would get. You know, this was before the secret ballot, So how actually voting was done was everybody would gather in the you know, the center of town and you know, bring their own sheet of paper and it was all who you know who who you could round up from the saloons to go cast their ballots. So, you know, people forget Obviously, nobody alive today was around to remember that. But we always talk about how we're in unprecedented times and it's worth bringing a little bit of historical perspective that actually, you know, things are pretty pretty tame compared to some periods in our history. Yeah, we will leave it there. There's another piece that we did not get to, which is on jet zero, but we can bring that up next week. Let me chat with you. Thanks, Andrew, I appreciate the time. Thank you. All right. That's Andrew Dunn. You can read his work at long leaf pol dot com Longleaf Politics. He's also a contributing columnist over at the Charlotte Observer. Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina. Just a quick drive up the mountain and Cabins of Ashville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to plan a memorable proposal, or get family and friends together for a big old reunion. Cabins of Asheville has the ideal spot for you where you can reconnect with your loved ones and the things that truly matter. Nestled within the breath taking fourteen thousand acres of the Pisga National Forest, their cabins offer a serene escape in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Centrally located between Asheville and the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It's the perfect balance of seclusion and proximity to all the local attractions. With hot tubs, fireplaces, air conditioning, smart TVs, Wi Fi grills, outdoor tables, and your own private covered porch. Choose from thirteen cabins, six cottages, two villas, and a great lodge with eleven king sized bedrooms. Cabins of Ashville has the ideal spot for you for any occasion, and they have pet friendly acommodations. Call her text eight two eight three six seven seventy sixty eight or check out all there is to offer at Cabins Offashville dot com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. So Andrew Dunn's piece over Longleave Politics, where he's talking about the Age of Acrimony, he writes, in the decades after the Civil War, American politics entered what historian John Grinspan called the Age of acrimony. Voter turnout was sky high, reaching eighty two percent in eighteen seventy six, but as interest swored, so did violence. Campaigns blurred into mass spectacle. Riots and assassinations were common. By the way, there's also uh North Carolina has a rich history on this score. I believe they were called the red Shirts. They went around committing all sorts of violence on behalf of the Democrat party machine against Republicans and black people. You had the you know, the Wilmington Coup that Democrats along with the news and observers publisher you know, fomented against the Republican fusion government that was elected in Wilmington overthrow that government. You know, then began, you know, taking over all of the offices and implemented Jim Crow laws across the state. So we have our we we have examples of this in North Carolina history as well. Riots and assassinations were common. People did not just argue, they brawled literally. Eventually that fever broke. But the medicine wasn't always pleasant. Americans did not find common ground. It ended when political leaders chose order over participation. Nationally, I think about that order over participation, right, This is one of the things also where you hear, you know, on the left is a oh, we need to you know, get were voters to the polls. You know, that's what democracy is all about. But you end up with a lot of people that don't actually have a very good, let's say, a sense of things that are now being you know, not just engaged in the political process, but they are consumed by it and they may not have the mental balance, the grounding to participate in policy discussions and such. Right. Nationally, political reform had some positives, privatizing voting which means like secret ballots, reducing the power of political machines, and intellectualizing campaigning, but it also involved voting restrictions and cutting the public out of the process. In North Carolina, lowering the temperature meant overthrowing multi racial governments and replacing them with one party Democrat rule. Civility returned, but it came at a price. He says. We are watching the age of acrimony return. Now. The noise is back, and so is the distrust. Sadly, so is the violence. A good example of this was the attacks on Tesla. Right, you had leftists who until about you know, forty seconds prior, we're loving them some electric vehicles and we're touting, you know, all of the the miracles of Gaya Earth and how she's so fragile she needs to be protected from you know, gas guzzling SUVs and the like. That we all have to mind the rare earth minerals creating even more pollution in order to you know, create these electric batteries, make the make the vehicles. And then of course the one who you know, mass produced these things and built this American car company, Elon Musk. He had some double plus on good thoughts about poly and governance and who might be a better leader for the country, Donald Trump or Joe Biden, and that that is an unforgivable sin to the leftist, to the point where they now had to sacrifice the ever so fragile Gaya Earth on the altar of their left wing politics, because again, the issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution. So the issue isn't climate change, never was, It's the revolution. It's to tear down Western civilization and the institutions where those stores of value reside. So they had to tear it down. So if we have to, you know, send a bunch of toxic plumes of smoke into your local area, well so be it. It's all in service of defeating you know, literally the next Hitler Donald the Orange. Well, Elon Musk was collateral damage in all of that, and the left they can hold aground, no doubt about it. And last night at the Charlotte City Council meeting that grudge was on full display, where the city decided we're not going to give Elon Musk any business. We're going to cut him from our list of approved vendors. And their cover story was safety or something safety of the vehicles. Yeah, they never actually articulated any actual reasons. They just they just wanted Tesla cut from the list. All right, if you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events, and I know you do too. And you've probably heard me say get your news from multiple sources. Why Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with ground News. It's an app, and it's a website and it combines news from around the world in one place, so you can compare coverage and verify information. You could check it out at check dot dot news slash pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. I started using ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself check dot ground dot news slash pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. Meanwhile, the Charlotte City Council is punishing tech sector political foes. Oh I'm sorry, No, this is all about safety concerns. Safety concerns right the Charlotte City Council last night. They do their meetings up in this room. I think it's room two sixty seven. I spend many an hour there. I probably spend thousands of hours in that room covering city council, County Commission, transit meetings, all sorts of stuff when I was a reporter for WBT News. And this is usually where they you know, they go over like a couple of items in depth, and they pull some stuff for discussion, stuff that doesn't ever really make it into the full blown meeting that occurs at seven o'clock. This is their dinner meeting. So they all sit around, they get some presentations, they eat their dinner, and then they go downstairs to the big chamber. So that's where this meeting occurred, was in this room upstairs at City Hall. And they have a thing called the consent agenda, where it's usually like, you know, thirty or forty items that are quote non controversial, they're not expensive, and so they just throw them all into the consent agenda. Now, if a council member wants to pull an item off of the consent agenda and discuss it, they can do so. But every anything else in that consent agenda just gets approved all at once with one motion, So you don't have to vote on thirty or forty different items. Right. It's just a way to speed up the meetings. Anyway, One of the items that was in the consent agenda was a list. It was approval of a list of vendors that the city could use to purchase electric vehicles. Okay, and on that list was Tesla and so before so, while they're in this meeting, council Member Lawana Mayfield, Democrat, pulls this item out of the consent agenda and says she wants to remove Tesla from the list. Just Tesla. Ed Driggs, Republican. He expressed concern about this. I think I understand why that's being suggested. I have a concern though, that the reasons for removing Tesla do not have to do with the quality of the product, and this is part of a cooperative contract. I think we just set a dangerous precedent if we have reasons that aren't related to the cost and the performance of purchased items for excluding them. We already have Tesla's in the fleet, and I don't know what the impact is of not allowing for the possibility of adding a Tesla. I do think also it'd be helpful, mister manager, if you would explain a little bit what this is. We're not buying both these things, so our approval of this creates the possibility of transactions with each of these partners, but there aren't amounts assignable to each of them. Is that right correct? I mean, I doubt that Tesla is a big piece of this, but I just again have a concern about the precedent that we set if we start letting considerations like the owner in this case and. His activity. Take precedence over our responsibility to the public for simply getting the best equipment we can at the best price that we can and integrating that with the fleet that we have. So I will not be supporting the motion, and I really encourage you that we not go down that road. Yeah. So what they're talking about, what Mayfield is talking about, is boycotting basically Tesla. They're refusing the City of Charlotte is refusing to do business with Tesla. That's what the practical impact of this motion was. Last night here was Mayfield's I don't even want to call it explanation. So one, it has been proven that this particular product has had multiple challenges with the quality of the design as well as the health and safety, and there are multiple lawsuits that are around the nation regarding the quality of this vehicle. Not to mention at the Poor City Council has the ability to one of three things a pool denied defer. So what I am asking, in light of all of the multiple between B and C, other businesses and opportunities that we have through our cooperative agreement, that I don't think that it would necessarily be advantageous for us to use tax dollars to purchase into a particular product when we have seen multiple accounts of that product being an unsafe product. We do have some of those products within our fleet, which is fine, but also many years ago there was a very narrow feel of selection when it comes to electric vehicles. Today that is not the case. We have multiple other products and providers out there that also have much have different pricing that will probably be more comparable to what we're looking for. As our city continues to grow. So it is not about just the particular owner of this product. It is the fact that this product has been in multiple lawsuits because of safety issues, and there are multiple concerns. Are you aware of all of the safety concerns around Tesla's I did a quick search. They actually are very highly rated, very you know. Stories are powerful. They help us make sense of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect us to the people of our past while transcending generations. They help us process the meaning of life. And our stories are told through images and videos. Preserve your stories with Creative Video started in nineteen ninety seven and Minhill, North Carolina. It was the first company need to provide this valuable service, converting images, photos and videos into high quality produced slide shows, videos and albums. The trusted, talented and dedicated team at Creative Video will go over all of the details with you to create a perfect project. Satisfaction guaranteed. Drop them off in person or mail them. They'll be ready in a week or two. 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We did not review all of their safety records. We didn't look at the data. This was proposed by professionals who look at these things and identify suitable parties for a contract. Tesla's had some lawsuits. If you look at the history and the automotive industry of recalls and other lawsuits, you'd have to rule out GM Ford Toyota, just about every major manufacturer. So let's be objective here. The reason this has been isolated out of this long list is political. It has to do with the owner, the majority owner of the Tesla company. And I am responding to your no, no, I'm talking, it's my turning. I'm speaking. I am rebutting the specific suggestion that there are safety reasons why this body should decide not to include Tesla on the list. I think that's a fair response to what you said. And once again, we then put ourselves in a position where we would need to be able to say, for Amic Equipment, Capital, Chevrolet, Deacon Jones, that they are safe and reputable, that they are the best people. We are not identifying the names on this list. You are singling out one name on this list for political reasons, and you don't have enough data about Tesla compared to other car companies to suggest that they shouldn't be here. And I just object again to trying to disguise this is anything other than a politically motivated desire not to have that name on this list. He is correct, Mayor. I am going to respond to that, because, first of all, he is not a mind reader nor does he know the research that I have done on the other companies, which I tend to do quite a bit of my research before I bring something forward. But she did not bring any of that research forward. She did not make any kind of a case, did not present any kind of data, no comparative analysis, just some vague concerns about quality and safety and oh there are lawsuits. That's it. This was not a rational, logical, well researched proposal from her, which indicates that ed Drag's is exactly correct. Yet, even if it was political, of which I have never had a challenge to say what is is? So if it was mainly or predominantly political, for me, I would have clearly said that because unlike some people, I don't have a problem calling that out. So only if it was mainly or predominantly political. So she's not actually denying that there is a smidge a teens ween see little bit of politics in this move? Huh. Or here's another thought. Maybe she's afraid of getting sued by Elon Musk. Guy's got a lot of money, right, You're gonna sue him. You're for discrimination because like you. That's what he would argue, is that he got cut from this list because of his politics, or maybe, as I saw on this message, maybe it's because he's an African American. He might have a discrimination suit because he's from South Africa and he's an American citizen. Now I don't think he would sue over this, but let's all be clear. This is a boycott of Elon Musk by the city of Charlotte. That's what happened. All right. That'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please for them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to dpetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.