AS ALWAYS, LIFE IMITATES THE EARLIER, FUNNIER ITERATION OF SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: USA Today Suggests Rioters Should Only Burn Cars in an Environmentally Responsible Fashion.

Add @waymo to the list of carnage from the LA riots.

What baffles me is LAPD calling these protests mostly peaceful when you’ve got gun fire and burning cars . pic.twitter.com/NDoHWnlhKe

— Oz For NY (Ozsultan.eth, phantom: @ozsultanx) (@OzForNY) June 9, 2025

This is not a preferred method of free expression, according to Elizabeth Weise of USA Today. She delivers a cautionary tale that when seeking ways to deliver your message of opposition to repatriating enforcement by ICE agents, you should be more selective in your choice of vehicle to set ablaze.

Electric vehicle fires can burn hotter and more intensely than gasoline-fueled cars, if their batteries catch fire. This can happen if they are crashed or if their batteries are infiltrated.

…

There are important distinctions between electric vehicle (EV) fires and traditional gasoline-powered vehicle fires, both in terms of combustion characteristics and potential health hazards, said Dr. Alberto Caban-Martinez, deputy director of the Sylvester Firefighter Cancer Initiative at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

EV fires can release gases such as hydrogen fluoride, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and metal-based particulates.

“These emissions differ in composition from those generated by gasoline combustion, which primarily include carbon monoxide, benzene, and other hydrocarbons,” he said.

From Saturday Night Live’s parody of the 1992 presidential debates, starring Kevin Nealon as Sam Donaldson and the late Phil Hartman doing his pitch-perfect Bill Clinton impersonation:

Sam Donaldson: But isn’t it true that during one of the peace demonstrations you burned an American flag in Red Square?

Bill Clinton: I tried to burn an American flag once. I didn’t like it. It gave off toxic fumes, so I didn’t inhale.

As Brad Slager adds at Red State, “Back when Tesla dealerships were being hit with fireballs, no hand-wringing feature articles were being generated. There was a  case of the messaging taking priority over the damaging effects on the planet.”

Well, yes. Elon was getting dangerously close to cutting off the funding for the Democrats who are rioting this week.