[pplassm]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Aren't these the same Luddite wackos who axed nuclear power in this country? Do they even think how much electric power and heatis produced by imported oil in this country? Until they're all living in 1000 Sq. Ft. 2 bedroom apartments, they have nothing to say.

 

[seruzawa]

Okay. I admit it. Everything that goes wrong in the world is the fault of the USofA. Heaven forbid that the fanatic lunatics who bomb buses full of children and buildings full of innocents should be blamed for their acts. Oh no. It's all the fault of Americans who drive SUVs.



Anyone want to bet that Ms. Huffnpuffington rides around in a Honda Insight? She's just like the Sierra Club president who actually owns and drives a Chevy Suburban to work every day. These clown's proposals never seem to apply to they themselves. What hypocrisy.



Political power is a two edged sword. So be very careful what you wish for. You may get it.

 

[Abe_Froman]

Huffington in a righteous huff

Isn't this getting a little old.......

Look at the question: should they be banned?

The short answer: no.

STOP TRYING TO BAN STUFF. What happened to "give me liberty or give me death"? Oh, I guess we Americans have ditched our former philosophical and individual greatness for our current panty-waisted We Are The World pansiness.

Huffington doesn't care what premise under which SUV's are banned, as long as they're banned. I don't know what got into her, but it takes a lot of nerve to believe the American public is this stupid. Does she honestly think that no one will connect the dots to see that our entire economy is fueled by petroleum? The trucking industry is a huge user of petroleum, and a dirty and inneficient one at that. Let's ban 'em. Oh, by the way, then the papers with her ads won't get delivered to newstands and homes. Darnit.

 

[Tim_White]

"She's just like the Sierra Club president who actually owns and drives a Chevy Suburban . . ."



Is this true?

 

[Zapata]

No, it's not. After 9/11 she traded in her luxury SUV and bought a Toyota Prius. Ariana puts her money where her mouth is -- she's awesome.

 

[seruzawa]

Oh well, I guess Ariana did sell her luxo-boat go to a smaller car.



However the Sierra Club president did in fact own and operate a Chevy Suburban a few years ago when the SC was hot on bashing SUVs. I believe his wife owned another Suburban for herself.



Huffnpuffington is still a loony talkinghead.

 

[mconlon]

The ads are funny, but I think quite a few people miss the point--this isn't SUV bashing, this is a parody of the Bush admin.'s "Drug users fund terrorism" anti-drug ad campaign. It makes exactly as much sense as the anti-drug campaigns... only its being paid for by a private, not-for-profit group instead of a government agency funded by your and my hard-earned and nonsensically spent tax dollars. Want an effective anti-drug ad? Run a police scene photo of Jimi Hendrix or Kurt Kobain for a full 30 sec. and finish it up with "Got drugs?", not this drug-users-fund-terrorism bulls**t.

 

[longride]

"After 9/11 she traded in her luxury SUV and bought a Toyota Prius. "



Kinda like saying I only spend half my earnings on cocaine, instead of all of it. She is funding them on a lesser basis, but still funding(her logic, not mine). If she really had her money where her mouth was, she would have bought a bicycle.

 

[seruzawa]

True, but there are people who are seriously promoting this moronic idea that SUV owners are funding terrorists. So if Huffnpuffington does it she's going to get tarred with the same brush, parody or not. Maybe t'aint fair but there it is.

 

[273]

Re: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Actually, Ms. Huffington and her friends were hardly among anti-nuclear power advocates. You might want to check your facts before trying non-sequiturs as a form of argument.

 

[273]

Irony tends to get lost in this crowd.

 

[Zapata]

Re: Huffington in a righteous huff

"What happened to 'give me liberty or give me death?' "

Indeed, what *is* happening to our Constitution and the personal liberties we once took for granted? Somehow it's now considered "un-American" to voice dissent. John Ashcroft and the rest of that rogue Administration must have forgotten about Paine and Jefferson, true Patriots in every sense of the word. Why, Shrub is nothing but a Connecticut Tory, a veritable "Fortunate Son."

If you must drive a SUV, at least agree that they should be beholden to the same emission and mileage standards as other passenger vehicles. If that's your choice, fine, but be prepared to pay a hefty price for that privilege.

Liberty, for me, is being able to see through the miasma of Republicrat doublespeak and their corporate underwriters.

 

[273]

Frankly, I fail to see what's "moronic" about it. US dependence on imported oil, to which SUV's contribute disproportionately, contributes both directly and indirectly to the resources and justification for terrorism. The fact that Americans would like to continue a pattern of unlimited consumption of petroleum doesn't alter that.

 

[gooseman_1]

Ah.....Tim_White asked if it's true that the pres. of the Sierra Club drives a suburban, and the answer is yes. He didn't ask what this freak Ariana drives. Try this one: the terrorists are SOLELY responcible for their actions. It speaks volumes that anyone in this country would make excuses for their cowardly actions.



As much as I think SUVs are useless pieces of crap, I don't blame their drivers for the actions of madmen.

 

[seruzawa]

Absolutely. It's all our fault! We need to wear sackcloth and ashes and beat our breats in penance. And write lots more checks!



Seriously, the amount of excess consumption of oil that SUVs cause is a veritable drop in the bucket. It's miniscule in the total picture of oil consumption. Anyhow, the US gets less than 20% of its oil from the mideast.



Should we find other sources of energy besides oil? Sure.



Should we strive for a pollution-free ecenomy? Sure.



But to think that any such actions will encourage these terrorists to leavs us alone is wishful thinking. These mideast despotisms NEED outside causes to blame for their own internal corruption and crushing poverty rates. That's why we are the target. These despots like Arafat and the rest live in multi-millionaire luxury while their people starve. We are the convenient scapegoat to blame for their own incompetence and criminality.



And I'm sick of these non-MC related threads too.

 

[seruzawa]

Re: Huffington in a righteous huff

What's wrong with you? You're not supposed to escape the fiction that there are substantial differences between the two major Syndicates.... er I mean Parties.

No one may escape. It's the scrutiny of the Toatal Information Awareness Department for you!

 

[longride]

Sorry but I had to throw this one on the board. It's always a popular topic here at MO.

 

[bwarbiany23]

First point: seruzawa, I'm not disagreeing with you, just using your post as a starting block...



I don't understand how the environmentalist think that somehow these other sources of energy will just magically appear, even if we fund them from the public till (I'm sure they're plenty funded)...



Should we find other sources of energy? WE HAVE OTHER SOURCES OF ENERGY. They're just not to the level, yet, where it's economically viable to implement them.



People want us to use electric cars. Well, if I didn't need to recharge for 6 hours every hundred miles, I would do so. I might want a hybrid, but what am I going to do when I want to tow my bike up to a trackday (full disclosure: I don't have a car, but will be buying a jeep wrangler this year)...



The simple fact is, people like SUV's. And for a lot of things, they're useful. Most people don't get that use out of them, but there's no reason that we should find some way to take their SUV's away. When the automakers can come up with a good, powerful, long-range engine running on alternative power (I think it'll have to be fuel cell, but that's just me), or when gas gets sufficiently scarce that the prices get too high, then we'll be there. Until then, no amount of complaining is going to get normal people to buy products that aren't as good (i.e. lower power and higher cost).



For me to make the switch, we'll need an alternative energy vehicle that meets my needs, and is as cheap or cheaper to run than a gas-powered vehicle. For example, I want a Jeep Wrangler. If you can put a fuel cell in that sucker, and give me a powerful enough engine that I can occasionally go off-road in it, then I'll buy it. Until then, it's the standard 4.0L dinosaur engine they stick in there...



Brad

 

[KPaulCook]

Are Americans myoptic? selfish?

I am sympathetic to let consumers decide. However, I think her point is that if we all change are driving habit by our choice not by govenment regulation our country would be beter off. I admire that she has the courage of her convictions.

Cleaner air

Less foreign oil consumption

Less envy from the world

After living in Israel for short time, I wish we would do everthing in our power to reduce our dependance of middle eastern oil. Lots of folks say we get most of our oil from South America, Canada, etc . But the fact remains the Middle East is where most of world's oil resources are. Too me the political costs are too high i.e. supporting regimes, monarchies, that we would never support if they didn't have oil.

Also can somone tell me why gas is so much more in Canada? Which has more oil reserves than we do. Go to Vancouver B.C. and you will not see the epidemic of SUVs. I work with two Canadians who are amused with the U.S. consumer and how we are so willing to go to war about oil. If Iraq was in South America would we be going to war ?? I don't think so. Weapons of mass destruction good grief Pakistan has the bomb. You know that Pakistan is the country where Osama may be hiding out.

 

[mconlon]

Please re-read my original post, above: point is not are SUVs good or bad; point is the Bush Admin's "Drugs fund terrorism" makes about as much sense as "SUVs fund terrorism." Only the SUV bashing ad is not paid by the public, like the anti-drug ads.



BTW, by the same logic as the new "drugs fund terrorism" ad campaign, buying cocaine in the early 80s was downright patriotic: not only were you supporting the country by funding drug cartel pruchases of US-made weapons, but you were also supporting both the CIA-advised overthrow of a democratically elected government in central america and covering up arms sales to middle east nations, some of which are now suspected of terrorist activities or harboring known terrorist organizations.