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1/17/10 Dealing with the Car Czar...
1/15/10 What can YOU say?
1/10/10 "Systemic Failure" = Obama Failure

1/3/10

Some Good News About Heart Attacks

1/1/10

Homeland Security picture is out of focus.
12/27/09 Carter and Obama campaign on apologies.
12/20/09 Hugo Chavez keeps singing...
12/18/09 "But I never called the bitc* a stewardess."
12/13/09 Bad habits and phony arguments...

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2009 Commentary Archive

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2008 Commentary Archive

 

 

 

Conservative Commentary

by Ed Donath

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© Copyright Ed Donath January 24, 2010

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An OnStar call replay you'll never hear on the radio.

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General Motors began installing OnStar in select models in 1996 and eventually made its GPS-based safety/security system standard equipment on most models. I know about this firsthand because I've been there with OnStar, albeit reluctantly in Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, GMC and Cadillac dealerships, since Day One.

 

By now you surely know, as a result of those dramatic OnStar-call replay radio ads, that the system can do such things as report a subscribers' accidents or other emergencies to first-responders or unlock their doors remotely if they leave their keys inside their vehicles.  Recently, in addition to newly-updated navigational and diagnostic services, OnStar has been bragging about  its latest feature -- the capability to slow an equipped vehicle to a safe stop if it is stolen and/or involved in a potentially dangerous police chase.

 

OnStar performs all of those remarkable tricks you hear about in its call-replay radio ads with the help of a satellite like this one.  Of course, OnStar subscribers' privacy is invaded in the process.The downside of having access to these and other equally remarkable services is that every OnStar subscriber's precise location is known from moment-to-moment as GM's Big Brother Satellite scans the globe from on high.  Of late, it reminds me of those unmanned drones waiting for an Osama bin Laden sighting as he mountain-bikes his way through the Tora Bora hills. 

 

I don't know about you, but I'm not happy about leaving myself open to unmanned drone attacks, let alone speeding tickets from an invisible Bear in the Air. 

 

With GM now being "temporarily" government-owned, it wouldn't surprise me if OnStar's GPS satellites have been co-opted by the Obama czars to give them the ability to prove that my early arrival at Point B from Point A constitutes yet another act of defiant extremism.  What's next?  Will they slow me to a stop and have a unionized trooper detain me until I pony up some wealth that can be redistributed to various unionized shovel-ready projects?

 

While I have been forced, in effect, to shill for OnStar by continuing to sell GM's vehicles (for the record I like my day job and the GM products we sell), it had been quite easy for me to resist becoming an OnStar subscriber myself, simply by buying cars and trucks that could be ordered sans OnStar. Since doing so has become impossible in recent years, the GMC truck that I sold myself a year ago came with OnStar (and that one-year free trial they tout in those radio spots) as standard equipment. 

 

Of course, Mrs. Bloggo and I have never contacted OnStar and we have been quite happy that we have never heard from them either.  Just the same, it has always peeved me to have that electronic back-talking GPS monkey on my back.

 

Likewise, it has been very annoying having to spend all of that extra time activating OnStar behind the scenes for my new vehicle customers and then having to explain and re-explain how it works and how to use it. OnStar has never reciprocated with as much as an attaboy for my uncountable hours of slave labor on their behalf.

 

Furthermore, although their representatives regularly claim otherwise, I have never witnessed the consummation of a car deal that was a direct result of OnStar being part of the vehicle.  Needless to say, I was happy to receive a letter from OnStar last week informing me that the our free trial was about to expire. 

 

Then on Friday afternoon -- my day off! -- I got a phone call from an OnStar telemarketer attempting to get me to become a paid OnStar subscriber...

 

"Hello, Mr. Dontack?"

 

"Close enough.  Who's this?"

 

"It's Betsy from OnStar."

 

"Hold on, Betsy. Is this call being recorded?"

 

"It probably is, Mr. Dontath.  Almost everything we do is monitored for quality control."

 

"Great.  I'm going to make a statement.  Are you OK with that?"

 

"Yes, Mr. Dontatack."

 

"I'm a GM car and truck salesman and I've been forced to work for OnStar unpaid and un-thanked for many years.  For the last year I've been forced to have OnStar activated in my own personal vehicle. Nonetheless, today I am your most satisfied customer."

 

"And why are you so satisfied, sir?"

 

"Mainly because OnStar has finally been deactivated in my truck."

 

"Any other reasons?

 

"Yes. This number is listed in the Do Not Call Registry, so if I ever hear from anyone at OnStar again I'll sue.  I have just one more thing to say, Betsy."

 

"What's that?"

 

"OnStar call ended!"

 

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Comments may be edited for clarity and/or profanity.

Even though your onstar is deactivated I will bet you dollars to doughnuts that the gps is still active and they (the gov) could track you if they wanted.  You need to make a "straw purchase" or have one made for you then they would be tracking an insane 85 year old tree hugger and not you Eddo.

 

rocco0607

Great Falls, MT Tribune


Yes...I bet Obama is using the GPS capabilities of OnStar to track where you are going and how fast you are getting there. Do you have a cell phone, Ed? It's pretty darn easy these days to be tracked anywhere if you simply have your cell phone on your person, even if you're not making a call. Everyone is out to get you though, keep your tinfoil hat on.

 

Anonymous

Foley, MN


Paranoia strikes deep.

 

Anonymous

Montgomery, AL


That's hilarious.

 

TriarchicTheory

Jackson, MS Clarion-Ledger


It probably is not an issue for you, judging by your blog, but should you fail to pay your child support the government would be quite happy with bringing your vehicle to a halt and preventing it from starting until you bring your accounts current. It's not Lalaland, unfortunately, and should you be doubly cursed by having a professional license issued by government, you not only can't drive your car, you can't work either... Not an issue for me either, but it just blows my mind that this kind of garbage happens now in the 'land of the free, home of the brave'.

 

Maureen001
Townhall Blogs


Heck of a tale Ed. I never thought of OnStar as a spy for Uncle Sugar but you may be right. Just think, they could track me down to the Local Union Hall and spy on my vote! Well, maybe not spy, but surely know how I voted by my boasting how I stuck it to the man that night. Conspiracy theories are a dime a dozen Ed. Surely you can do better.

 

gas hog

Austin, TX American-Statesman

[I know the conspiracy theory may be a stretch, hawg, but most people never stop to think of the downside to having all that GPS crap in their cars

-- many of the same folks who scream for their right to privacy at every turn. -ED]


Striking a blow for freedom.  I wonder if the OnStar operators are as lonely as the Maytag repairman?

 

GreyCaravel

Montgomery, AL Advertise


Has our government ever had a device capable of illegally spying on its citizens that it DIDN'T use to illegally spy on its citizens? You don't need to take off your tinfoil hat, the others need to get their heads out of the sand. Cellphone tracking and internet usage are now standard law enforcement tools. All of our personal electronic gizmos have become the equivalent of court-ordered ankle monitoring devices, only more sophisticated. Another giant step toward total surveillance of law abiding citizens.

 

colecounty

Springfield, MO News-Leader


Hogwash! last time I checked Onstar was a subscriber service. If you don't want the service simply don't subscribe. If you have any evidence that the service is being used in any invasion of privacy way you should report it immediately. Otherwise you are simply blowing in the wind.

 

Anonymous

[It is a subscriber service -- after the one-year free trial.  But In order to retain a GM franchise, the dealer must give auditable assurance of activation for each buyer prior to delivery of each vehicle.  Furthermore, although the GPS element of OnStar can be deactivated after the subscription or trial expires, it is both an inconvenience and a cosmetic nuisance because the interior controls permanently display a red warning light.  Furthermore, there's a big difference between having concerns and writing an expose based on "evidence".  If you trust our current government more than I do, feel free to allow them the opportunity to breach your privacy.  Obviously, retaining your anonymity has some importance to you or we'd all know who you are. -ED]


Was there a government anybody ever really trusted? The gov tracking a person, for whatever reason, has been going on since long before the advent of GPS. The only way to prevent it is to completely cut yourself off from civilization... and there are very few people willing to go without the precious modern conveniences they have. OnStar can be tracked. Cellphones can be tracked. Landlines can be tracked. Your Internet usage can be tracked. Credit cards. Bank account. Hell, Google Maps can take a picture of you picking your nose while you fetch the Sunday paper from your porch. Anybody really THAT naive to think Obama is the only president to allow this? Anybody really think Bush DIDN'T do this? Or any other president going back to who knows when? Please. Anyone ever hear of J. Edgar Hoover? How did Hoover get those huge files on you little naughty little subversive hippies back in the day? No GPS, no cellphones, no Internet? I just can't wrap my head around the "we're being watched!" crowd. Governments have been doing this in one form or another since the beginning of time. And what about the good parts of things like GPS and OnStar? Its always the same... you protest the tracking part, but when a baby is trapped in a car after an accident and something (God forbid) horrible happens, you are the first ones yelling that "if the had something like OnStar in the vehicle, this would never have happened!!". Talk about double standards. Anyways, you do have a choice... if only for your peace of mind. Unsubscribe. Or don't buy a car with OnStar if possible. I'm sure there are some out there still. And, before you even say, yes, I agree they should give you the choice in every vehicle to have OnStar or not, or make OnStar equipped and non-OnStar versions of all vehicles. -

Cheers,

 

ThaRev
Kingsley, MI

[Only partial agreement, but a great rant nonetheless. -ED]


It's not only Government Motors, the Japanese are getting into the act with the EnForm on their Lexus.

 

Anonymous

Montgomery, AL


Conspiracy theory at its best, I bet back in the late 70’s you thought everyone was a commie. I would wager that people working for the government have better things to do than worry about where you are going. But there is a way to stop it, don’t buy a GM vehicle, don’t buy a Tom-Tom, Magellan or Garmin GPS unit, get rid of your cell phone and make sure you wrap you head with tin foil before you leave the house and you’ll be just fine.

 

Reddman

Montgomery, AL Advertiser

[Since I do not own any GPS devices and do not have a cell phone, the only GPS monkey on my back for the last year has been OnStar. I would wager that people who work for the government would do a lot more FOR the government than the rest of us. I also suspect that there are way more kommies plotting against us in the 20-Teens than there were in the 19-Seventies.  Funny how kommies will rave and rant about the Bush administration monitoring international calls to terrorist states but talk about tinfoil do-rags when GPS has the potential to be used against hundreds of millions of Americans. -ED]


You can rave and rant, but you are selling vehicles with OnStar as a standard feature and you get paid. That is you thanks and therefore you are not a slave. OnStar, cell phones, security cameras, satellites, we are being monitored, but don't tape my phone and monitor my emails, without a warrant. I don't like the idea of anyone monitoring me without cause, but then that is the world we live in today!


I do like the visual image of Osama on a mountain bike, too bad it doesn't have OnStar!

 

honestly_john

Wausau, WI Daily Herald

[Rant yes.  Rave no.  I think I explained my relationship with OnStar very objectively.  Thanks for the read. -ED]


So, Ed. You're saying that when you sell an On-Star equipped vehicle, that costs more, you're not getting a higher commission
on the higher selling price of that vehicle?  Once upon a time, when On-Star was an option to be ordered, you'd get either a
commission or bonus for having sold it. Now that it's available as a pre-packaged option, you're getting a higher commission
on the higher price. Please. I don't feel bad for you. You're not selling it for free. And how annoying it must be to give good customer service after the sale of a vehicle. GM still do CSIs? Woe for the days when one could take the dough, wave goodbye and never hear from the suckers again, no?

 

Anonymous

South Lyon, MI
[Your imaginary knowledge of the car business is pathetic.  Suffice it to say, OnStar is standard equipment --  a no-cost option -- for which there is no mark-up/profit.  I'll match my CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) with anyone over a 23-year period.  BTW, they've been keeping score since before my entry into the business in 1987 so I can only guess that you are fossil.  -ED]


Makes me appreciate my old cars. And my incentive to buy a new one is?

Don't you just love those telemarketing calls? I finally figured our how to avoid Sears calling me for an extended warranty on appliances. I pay cash, and my number is 555-1212. ;-) I've noticed they have MANY customers with that number, they usually have to do a second search for my name.

 

rainbowed

Great Falls, MT Tribune


Great blog.

 

MikeSears

Lansing, MI State Journal  


I have OnStar and am sooo glad to have it.  I am an elderly woman who drives in some remote places by myself and the security this gives me over-rides any concerns about the feature.

FROM A THANKFUL ONSTAR USER


Dear Mr. Donath,


Sir, if you are using a fairly new cellular phone that you leave turned on all the time, we know exactly where you are and where you go even without OnStar.


Respectfully submitted by Sgt. Skids at Ft. Huachuca

 

theglimmerman

Great Falls, MT Tribune

 

Dear Sergeant-

Please be advised that I have never owned a cell phone or any other GPS-based device and have no intention of caving in at this late date. Unless you boys are monitoring my keystrokes when I visit Mapquest, you will not know my whereabouts without burning fuel and/or shoe leather.

Best regards,
-eddobloggo


 

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