Just cartoonishly evil, really. What do they even stand to gain from this?
Are they actually concerned that bicycles are cutting into the profits of their fossil fuel billionaire buddies?
In so many ways, the automobile and oil lobby follow in the footsteps of tobacco: relentless messaging and continual advocacy for their special interest. The tactics have changed over the years but the strategy is still the same: all gas no brakes and never willingly give up ground.
In that context, it’s perfectly expected that they’d go for the cheap wins, when the present administration is willing to play along, because their MO is to always be pressing their case, even when it honestly doesn’t amount to much.
The image of the automobile in the USA requires the perception that threats to their continued sales and normality is a threat to the American way of live. Wrapping the car in red white and blue, forcing it into every aspect of daily life, is precisely how it stays relevant when trying to delude voters and politicians. The lobby wants the lie to have such gravity that it will bend reality to make it seem almost like a truism.
This government is a joke. And not the funny kind.
Jesus Christ all the things wrong with it.
The worst is that we’re simply asking “why do 80% of Americans drive?”.
That’s not a normal thing. But asking questions is dangerous, and status quo keeps oil company’s ies happy.
