April 27, 2006
Lawmakers talk gas, drive away in SUVs

Today's Seattle Times has this WaPo article about gas-guzzling Senators "Lawmakers talk gas, drive away in SUVs".

Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., hopped in a GMC Yukon (14 mpg). Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., climbed aboard a Nissan Pathfinder (15). Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., stepped into an eight-cylinder Ford Explorer (14). Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., disappeared into a Lincoln Town Car (17). Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., met up with an idling Chrysler minivan (18).

Next came Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., greeted by a Ford Explorer XLT (14).

Profligate fuel consumption is a bi-partisan fetish! This nicely foreshadows my upcoming report on Mayor Greg "greenhouse gas reduction" Nickels and his 2006 Cadillac DTS Luxury III [Fuel Economy 17 MPG City, EPA Greenhouse Gas score below average ]

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at April 27, 2006 10:35 AM | Email This
Comments
1. I personally saw Rep. Nancy Pelosi get out of her SUV in Washington, DC. Too bad she didn't make the list.

Posted by: Doug Timpe on April 27, 2006 11:06 AM
2. It really isn't fair to imply that Senator Kennedy is a hypocritical windbag when it comes to 'environmental' issues, is it? You decide. By the way there is a lot more fun Kennedy stuff on their site.

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/kennedy-misses-the-boat-when-i

Posted by: JDH on April 27, 2006 11:11 AM
3. Hey Stefan... how come you didn't include the following in your excerpt?

By comparison, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., was a model of conservation. She shooed away her driver and ducked into a sushi restaurant for lunch.

Just wondering....

Posted by: Goldy on April 27, 2006 11:26 AM
4. Goldy you're such a card

Maria becomes a saint for shooing away her "Driver"? Apparently Democrats need drivers so as to not be troubled by those plebeians in traffic I guess.

Posted by: swassociates on April 27, 2006 11:34 AM
5. One more thing Goldy

Look up "Ignoratio Elenchi" in the lefty dictionary.

Posted by: swassociates on April 27, 2006 11:38 AM
6. One more thing Goldy

Look up "Ignoratio Elenchi" in the lefty dictionary.

Posted by: swassociates on April 27, 2006 11:40 AM
7. Wow, Goldy, haven't you ever heard of "foot in mouth" disease? I think you caught it.

Posted by: katomar on April 27, 2006 11:46 AM
8. Folks, don't fall for this garbage. If people want to buy a gas-guzzling SUV, THEY HAVE THAT RIGHT! If they want to shell out hundreds of dollars for gas each month, THAT'S THEIR RIGHT!

I applaud these politicians for not hiding the fact that they proudly buy the vehicle they want to buy, endorsing the free enterprise system that made America great.

I denounce anyone who thinks that buying these vehicles is wrong or consuming large amounts of gasoline is wrong. IT DOESN'T CONCERN YOU, LEAVE THEM ALONE.

Posted by: Jonathan Gardner on April 27, 2006 12:01 PM
9. IT DOESN'T CONCERN YOU, LEAVE THEM ALONE.

If they weren't in the process of grandstanding about it I'd agree with you. But just in case you haven't noticed there's plenty of grandstanding going on. Pointing out hypocrisy is always fine.

Posted by: swassociates on April 27, 2006 12:23 PM
10. Can we spell H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E?

hyp·o·crite:
n : a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he does not hold

Posted by: A Watchdog on April 27, 2006 12:33 PM
11. Six People riding in a Suburban is net better than one person in a shiny new Prius. We should be more concerned with # of persons/cargo being transported per gallon of gas than just the auto itself.

Posted by: Robert on April 27, 2006 12:42 PM
12. Personally, I couldn't give a rat's a$$ what politicians drive. And they should keep their noses out of what I drive....

Posted by: katomar on April 27, 2006 01:09 PM
13. katomar & swa are right on this.

Every American has the constitutional right to keep up with the Jones's and drive around like rock stars. It's their money, their big screen TV and their freaking choice. Feel free to mock them, but don't take away that choice.

It's called personal freedom.

BTW- For the next couple of weeks I'm going to be blogging on energy over at Thurston Pundits.

Posted by: Andy on April 27, 2006 01:18 PM
14. Jonathan--you are right. We should be allowed to buy any vehicle we choose. But I don't like these two-faced slimeballs refusing to drill more domestic oil wells and then telling the rest of us to take public transit, carpool, reduce our car trips, etc. They have no business telling us to do things they will never, ever do themselves.

Posted by: Burdabee on April 27, 2006 01:59 PM
15. Not so fast!

Notice how in the original version printed in the Washington Post, reporter Dana Milbank writes that a Cantwell staffer sat in a car through the event, idling the engine and wasting fuel the whole time, only to be told that our Senator wanted to walk to the sushi restaurant (which is literally across the street) instead of being driven the full block and a half back to the entrance of her office building.

Furthermore, notice how in the version reprinted in the Seattle Times, this fact was redacted from the paragraph in question; how convenient for Senator Cantwell that the Times chooses to redact important facts that call in to question our Senator’s ability to practice what she preaches.

Posted by: Chris from Lakewood on April 27, 2006 02:53 PM
16. Do as I say, not as I do! Amen!

Posted by: GS on April 27, 2006 03:09 PM
17. The article on the Seattle Times' website has major changes made to the entire article, not just the one pointed out by Chris from Lakewood. I wrote both Michael Fancher Executive Editor of the Times, and Dana Milbank of the Washington Post. If they reply I'll post their responses.

Any reporters out there that can comment if making major revisions of this type is standard practice in the newspaper industry? Is it acceptable to re-write the article and still attribute it to the original author?

I hope to hear back from both people I wrote. Perhaps the author re-wrote the article for the Times. Who knows? Well, they do.

Posted by: Joseph Cantu on April 27, 2006 04:06 PM
18. Classic Goldy. How juvenile. What happened after Cantwell had her meal? She probably jumped into a waiting vehicle. I doubt is was a Prius.

Anyone who wants to see what inspires such a childish response from Goldy should go randomly pick one of the comment threads at his web site and wade through (if you can stomach it) the Horse's Ass droppings. You'll find about half the comments in any given post are from the same guy who thinks he is a Rabbit and is impressed by his ability to cut and paste.

Posted by: Jeff B. on April 27, 2006 04:41 PM
19. And here is a good read further detailing the hypocrisy of liberals lecturing on morality. Long, but lots of great examples.

Posted by: Jeff B. on April 27, 2006 04:47 PM
20. Maria? Sushi? Well I'll be Ebi don! It does smell fishy around here.

Posted by: Sniff Sniff on April 27, 2006 06:24 PM
21. Those who drive SUV's are hypocrites ! Goldstein is a first-rate weasel and muckracker for the corrupted state Democrat Party.

Posted by: KS on April 27, 2006 07:13 PM
22. Do not forget the darling of the left...John Kerry. He rides around in 8 different Chevy Suburban SUV’s. I guess he needs the room for all of his War Medals.

Oh, I forgot they belong to his wife...NEVER MIND!!!

Posted by: Pacific Grove Phlash on April 27, 2006 09:03 PM
23. Howyousdoin

One woman’s sushi is another woman’s bait

Forgetaboutit

Posted by: Joey bag of doughnuts on April 27, 2006 09:07 PM
24. Remember Democrats want to make the rules that they do not need to follow. They demand many things yet when they have to follow those same rules how often do they follow them. Not very. Democrats say they are for the enviroment yet their actions speak louder than words. It is just another way to can tell a democrat politician. Talks the walk but doesnt walk the walk.

Posted by: David Anfinrud on April 28, 2006 06:33 AM
25. Have you seen this before? It's a number guessing game: http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/guessthenumber.html. I guessed 31407, and it got it right! Pretty neat.

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