Rusted Sky

Give Up Your SUV -- And Other Nauseating Hypocrisy | Editorial Blog at Motor Trend

You can't make this stuff up, folks. Last week, during a speech to a labor group in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards told the crowd: "One of the things [Americans] should be asked to do is drive more fuel-efficient vehicles." Asked if by saying that he was specifically telling Americans to give up their SUVs, Edwards replied, "Yes."

It's a wonder we Americans haven't choked to death on all the hypocrisy we've been force-fed of late. Naturally, Edwards owns and drives an SUV himself -- several, in fact. In Washington D.C. he often pilots his Cadillac SRX, while at his North Carolina spread -- a 28,000-square-foot manse more than ten times the size of the average American home -- one can easily spot several more those-aren't-Priuses (click to enlarge accompanying photo). Asked at the labor-group speech how he can reconcile asking other Americans to sacrifice while he's living so large, Edwards replied: "I have no apologies whatsoever for what I've done with my life. My entire life has been about the same cause, which is making sure wherever you come from, whatever your family is, whatever the color of your skin, you get a real chance to do something great in this country."

Translation: "I get to do something I call great (make millions off class-action lawsuits, buy a leviathan house and big cars for my family, and pamper my hair), but your 'real chance' ends with buying a transportation device that I've decided may affect the future of my precious spawn."

There's a decided double-standard at work here, and though the Dems are quite used to it, (indeed, it's been part and parcel of the culture for so long that it's virtually invisible - like a background noise you notice only when it's not there) the more they try to gain promenence, the more attention they get, and it gets less possible to hide the fact that they condone their own hypocricy while berating others. It's been possible to evade that recognition for a long time - but Al Gore's internet's been really bad for the ability to hide embarrasments.

By the way, Motor Trend isn't exactly notable for their political bias. They DO tend, however to be critical of stuff that doesn't work. That's their job, after all.

J.