I''m not surprised at all about the reaction to my post earlier today. Why is it that at least 4-5 people - who have written me - don't see the "bait" and fun in the blog post? First off, the title and short post should be a hint as to my motive. People hate SUVs/Hummers and go off quite easily on the topic. And as usual, they are! In years past, when this topic was hot and a pet topic of mine, I got my more hate mail and death threats from writing on this issue more so than any other single issue. (One person, I remember, even wished my whole family dead, including my dogs.)

Second, no one seems to be reading (or skimming) the underlying paper - the CNW piece that the article links to, which is the real draw here. They only read the Slate author's comments attempting to debunk the paper. The simple fact to draw from this is two-fold: making the Prius is absolutely energy intensive, and, beyond that, no matter how much people dislike the un-pc-ness of it, people have the freedom of choice to buy and drive a big, nasty, arrogant Hummer. I always find this to be an entertaining topic because it really amazes me how many people are so bugged about the choices and (non-violent) actions of others.