We are the dumbest nation on earth. 

Years ago, I remember hearing that an American car brand had determined the perceived value a buyer saw per inches of chrome. Maybe they’ve made the same connection between perceived value and ‘new car smell.’

Look, he’s an actual idiot. For sure. But he also plays his fans for suckers all day long.

Donald Trump [said something willfully ignorant because his willfully ignorant fans cheered for him]. 

Money is not intelligence. At the same time, I don’t understand his circumstances well enough to judge him on either.

I lived in Vermont about 25 years ago, and positively could have been on this list were I less lucky. I had a Subaru SVX, and I would set the cruise at well over a hundred on the freeway when it was empty. And it often was.

Okay, that’s fantastic.

I am totally down with ‘let people enjoy things.’ It’s a mantra we could all benefit from remembering.

I mean…you’re literally just describing America, not specifically social media. 

I think it’s totally plausible. These days even relatively inexpensive cars don’t need a key in an ignition, like the article says. The fob just has to be within range. One of our cars will chime at you in a different way if the fob isn’t in the car, but that could easily be ignored or not noticed if you were looking…

His frustration at the long pause demonstrates how little understanding he has of the situation he’s in.

As great as this advice was, and as much as I believe in it...I did not do that. I bought a 996 C4. I’m super excited to have something fun to drive on the roads here, but it’s probably ‘too fast’. At least with AWD, and with relatively low power for a ‘modern’ 911, it’s less likely to throw me off a cliff.

I wanted to come back to this article, as the one who wrote the letter to Tom, and provide an update. I doubt anybody will see it, but here you go.

I had a rental Chevy Aveo once. Points added for it being a rental, right? They lead a hard life. But that was the single biggest piece of crap I’ve ever driven. It was literally a new car and switches and trim just came off in our hands. 

I distinctly remember a review of the Ion that asked if GM had even test-driven their competition. 

I came to the comments to say the same thing. That must be a mistake. Stock it’s under 1200. 

I do find myself agreeing with the claim that kei trucks were not built for our roads, and are therefore unsafe for their occupants. My teenage son badly wants a kei truck, but there’s no way I’d have him driving one. So from that perspective, I get it.

Like, just…don’t be a dick, man. Is that so hard? Goddammit. 

It depends on the trip. I tend to check a bag if I need to. I just don’t want to fight over bin space on the plane.

Probably the ground, when I came to rest upside down in my race car. I knew I had escaped a really big crash unscathed.