The Cybertruck Conundrum

So last week while we were grappling with the horror of the attack on New Year's revelers in New Orleans, we had to process this event: someone blew up a Tesla Cybertruck in front of a Trump hotel in Las Vegas. 

The molten metal heap of the exploded Cybertruck was still smoldering when Elon Musk issued a statement that the Cybertruck exploding had nothing to do with the Cybertruck. 

Well, thanks for putting us at ease about that, Elon!  

The initial speculation was someone had a mad on at Elon Musk and/or Donald Trump.  

Turns out, the answer to that speculation was "no".

The perpetrator of the explosion in Las Vegas was Matthew Livelsberger, a decorated army veteran with an exemplary record of service who was an avid Donald Trump supporter. 

Livelsberger left a message that the intent of the explosion was a "wake up" call that the country was in trouble.  

Here is some text from his note: 

“This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wake up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives."  

Livelsberger added that the United States is “terminally ill and headed toward collapse.”

Sounds like Livelsberger had swallowed whole the message of Donald Trump's fear mongering rhetoric.

So parking a vehicle manufactured by Trump's biggest financial backer in front of a hotel bearing the name of your beloved President elect and exploding that vehicle was a message of support for Trump's fear mongering? 

I think it's a wake up call that some Americans don't understand "symbolism" which is a poor reflection on our education system.   

I wanted to mock Livelsberger for his stupidity but I felt bad about that because apparently, the dude had been through some shit.

He confided in a nurse and friend about his constant exhaustion and pain, not being able to sleep and reliving the violence of his deployment. He had a  tattoo of two skulls pierced by bullets to mark lives he took in Afghanistan. 

He was not coping well with his time in the service and because he was not just a man but a man in the military and to complain about shit like pain and depression, well, real men don't do that. do they? 

I feel bad that Matthew Livelsberger felt so awful that he thought death was his only escape from his suffering. And I feel bad that if he felt he had to die, he wasted his one shot at death to send a poorly conceived message.