Latest Reader Question (October 27, 2017)

Here’s the latest reader question, along with my reply:

Jim asks: I am a big fan of yours and contributing listener. You have written well about GM banning you from their cars for offenses against the auto ayatollahs. Maybe you should have an online petition we can link to and sign asking for Eric to get a test drive in a Tesla and GM; nothing like PR to make them grovel. I would still like to meet and greet you when I visit my medical school classmate in Blacksburg on my next drive down I-81.

My reply: It’s not a bad idea! The chief obstacle, though, is the virulence of the political orthodoxies I – and many others – are up against. Normally, the sole criteria that decides whether a car journalist gets access to press cars is: Does this guy write for a legitimate publication(s)? That – in normal times – being determined by circulation/readership.

Well, this web site has a larger readership than my old outfit, The Washington Times. (Yes, I once worked for the Reverend; long story.) And in addition to that, my car reviews are syndicated by the same syndicate that carries Pat Buchanan’s and Thomas Sowell’s columns – Creators Syndicate. And in addition to that, I write regularly for a number of pretty solid print publications as well, including The American Spectator.

The problem, then, goes beyond how many readers I have. Which, when you stop to think about it, gives you an idea of the virulence of the PC orthodoxies I am up against. It is bad business for them to lock me out – and yet they do so anyway because business concerns take a back seat to concerns about “gender” politics, “diversity” and sexual preferences.

Yes, it’s that bad.

The only thing that stands any chance of persuading them to change their minds will be extreme public pressure. The problem there, of course, is that the national discourse is currently dominated by peddlers of the PC orthodoxies and almost everyone – especially the major media – genuflect embarrassingly before the new god.

I am, however, hopeful. Because I suspect that most people – as opposed to most media people and corporate people – loathe and have had it up to “here” with the PC orthodoxies but are afraid to say so openly.

For now.

But, Trump’s unlikely ascendance revealed that all is not well in the PC Village. As flawed as he is as a man and a candidate/president, he was still able to tap into something very real and very important.

All that’s needed now is someone who is less flawed – who can better articulate the things that Trump mangles – to pick up the banner, so to speak, and carry it forward.

My friend Pat Buchanan likes to quote Latin. He often reminds us: sursum corda – lift up your hearts. It is a religious reference but that does not invalidate its message. There is still hope while there is still time.

I will do everything in my power – and I can do what I do because of supporters such as yourself!

PS: While I am something of a recluse – particularly post-divorce, as I paw through the wreckage and try to figure out what’s next – I welcome visits to the bunker. The address is open source: 721 Hummingbird Lane SE in edentulitic but very scenic Copper Hill, VA. I keep erratic hours but am around, usually.

. . .

Got a question about cars – or anything else? Click on the “ask Eric” link and send ’em in!

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