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This week reminds Detroit that campaigning still is sometimes about doing what I say, not what I do. (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070511/COL14/705110399/1014/BUSINESS01)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2007_Chrysler_300C_Hemi_V8.jpgMark Phelan - Detroit Free Press - May 11, 2007

2007 Chrysler 300C w/ a HEMI V8 - EPA rated at 17/24. Some SUV’s are rated better then this yet this candidate talks fuel efficient hybrids?

Sen. Barack Obama talks a good game. He also drives a good car, but the two are not entirely compatible.

The Democratic presidential contender was in Detroit on Monday, oozing charisma and environmental awareness as he chided local automakers for building too many big vehicles and not enough fuel-efficient hybrids.

So his choice to drive a V8 Hemi-powered Chrysler 300C emits a whiff of hypocrisy along with its exhaust fumes. Obama's choice proves once again that fuel economy is seldom the No. 1 factor when Americans buy cars. The 340-horsepower 300C has plenty of room for the lanky senator, his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters. It gets 25 miles per gallon on the highway, good for a big sedan, but far short of hybrids and compact cars … http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070511/COL14/705110399/1014/BUSINESS01

:( Is it too much to ask to have someone actually "walk the walk"?

Actually there was a feature in the Free Press this week with a "What they Drive", several of them own FEH's, and one owns a Prius.

Did it say how much they use them? I heart about Al Gores usage of his prius, or lack of. I am as you know very syncale of these politicians on both sides. On one side we have the govenator with is FC hummer and the other side we have Gore with his slightly used prius.

And all of them fly around in private jets and sometimes have jets flown in to an airport just for them and they decide they don't like the one sent and take another.

I'm getting tired of all these press releases. Most of these people running for president are already in office. Maybe they could do something useful with their time instead of signing off on press releases. And frankly even stories like this that take them to task.

These people are the same as you and me. The want comfort and chances are they are not going to get the comfort they have grown accustomed to in a prius or FEH. Why should we complain when lots of us have two cars and very few of us (with the exception of the Fons family from Milwaukee) have all hybrids in our driveway.

I think we know what was uncovered about Jimmy Swaggart when he was turning in other pastors for immorality. ;)

Just last night I heard part of a debate a Greenpeace leader wanted private jets banned and demand their members live off the grid. I assume he was actually serious. I do wonder on a more practicle level, an enhanced 1st class could be set up in liew of private jets.

When he is driving to his property, Al Gore in An Inconvienent Truth is drving an SUV - some think it was probably a HyHy.

Symbolically, a Chrysler 300C is not that bad of a statement, although it's definitely not a fuel sipper. Personally, I like the old style better - the new one seems like a sedan tying to look like an SUV. Once I think I took a picture of a new Chrysler 300C and strech it vertically to make that point.

I wish some of that scrunity would be directed at the people we see daily, so maybe they would start facing peer pressure to get something in the other direction.

Well, being that I've never voted before this may seem kind of bad on my part, but I honestly don't plan on voting anytime soon. Our political system is set up in such a way they we are basically encouraged to be two-sided and wasteful. I'm not talking about like leaving the water running while brushing your teeth here either. I'm talking about like accidentally leaving the floodgates open on the local dam. It's just not supposed to happen but it does anyways, not that they accidentally leave them open, but you get the point.

Almost all of the bills proposed in Congress have money dedicated to something completely and utterly useless. No biggie for one or two bills, but for the hundreds, if not thousands or tens of thousands, of bills that get looked over every year it all adds up. The money has to come from somewhere, and where do you people think it comes from. THE US TAX PAYERS. We pay for just about everything those selfish, greedy bastards do.

I say if they can't walk the walk then they should be fired/impeached/kicked-out-of-office. I don't want someone saying one thing and then doing another, especially if they are supposed to be better than us. If someone better than us can't do what they preach then how in the hell are we supposed to do it?

The money has to come from somewhere, and where do you people think it comes from. THE US TAX PAYERS. We pay for just about everything those selfish, greedy bastards do.

I say if they can't walk the walk then they should be fired/impeached/kicked-out-of-office.

Which is exactly why everyone in America should exercise their right and vote! :flag:

How does that mean we should vote? I am under the impression that we the people can't just go voting to kick people out of office. If we can, then I'm gonna have to go make a very very very very very very long list though.

Funny concidence: It may show up in the pulse & glide video as I'm gliding out of the alley into the street, but it looks like I'm about to crash into a silver Chrysler PT Cruiser, prominently displaying a couple of Obama stickers.

Promise I'm not going to hit the PT Cruiser...

It remains the case that our politicians just exhibit varying degrees of worthlessness, not so much real value. We have to start fixing this problem for ourselves, not waiting for our government to do it for us!

Well, being that I've never voted before this may seem kind of bad on my part, but I honestly don't plan on voting anytime soon. Our political system is set up in such a way they we are basically encouraged to be two-sided and wasteful. I'm not talking about like leaving the water running while brushing your teeth here either. I'm talking about like accidentally leaving the floodgates open on the local dam. It's just not supposed to happen but it does anyways, not that they accidentally leave them open, but you get the point.

Almost all of the bills proposed in Congress have money dedicated to something completely and utterly useless. No biggie for one or two bills, but for the hundreds, if not thousands or tens of thousands, of bills that get looked over every year it all adds up. The money has to come from somewhere, and where do you people think it comes from. THE US TAX PAYERS. We pay for just about everything those selfish, greedy bastards do.

I say if they can't walk the walk then they should be fired/impeached/kicked-out-of-office. I don't want someone saying one thing and then doing another, especially if they are supposed to be better than us. If someone better than us can't do what they preach then how in the hell are we supposed to do it?

You have no say and no right to complain.

...and you are keeping us in Iraq.

You have no say and no right to complain.

...and you are keeping us in Iraq.

Good point (about not voting), but the polar opposite of blindly voting a straight ticket could also be unhelpful. If your convictions say vote only for this party, that's OK - but make sure you are comfortable electing that person.

How does that mean we should vote? I am under the impression that we the people can't just go voting to kick people out of office. If we can, then I'm gonna have to go make a very very very very very very long list though.Actually, that is exactally how I've voted in the past.

If I find a politician is behaving correctly, I'll vote for him on re-election (never happened yet). But if I don't have a compelling reason to vote for him, I'll vote against him. I see the primary problem with our election system is that the chance of getting voted out are < 20% (http://www.laits.utexas.edu/gov310/VCE/conreelection/index.html). This gives our political system a very high recidivism rate.

I think once politicians truly feared for their jobs, they would listen to the voters.

11011011

I vote Democrat because I hate fossil fuels. If you don't vote, or if you vote Republican for other reasons, I respect that. But it also means I hate fossil fuels more than you :)

Love,

Marc

:)

And I try to avoid politics on this site, unless the topic is brought up by others as in this case :)