I want to make SUV owners (easy target) feel more directly and personally responsible for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq. If I had the money, I would similarly memorialize the iraqi dead…but thats over 600000 people, and who knows how many of those names are availible. These stickers will be used for mobile anti war propaganda, and will hit many where it hurts. SUV owners will be forced to link their desire for status and unnesessary consumption with individual deaths.
I should begin by making it clear that I in no way mean to belittle or demean James Johnson and his desire to make a difference. Nonetheless, I have a real problem with this project. My dispute with it is simple: SUVs AND THEIR DRIVERS ARE NOT THE REASON FOR THE WAR IN IRAQ. Nor are they responsible for the deaths of American soldiers. Frankly, to blame SUV drivers for American deaths is insulting, inappropriate, and just plain wrong. It takes an arrogance, a willingness to ignore the facts, and a detachment from reality that I find disturbing.
Yes, Johnson means well; I get that. If he’s so concerned about making a statement against the war in Iraq, then how about placing the blame where it actually belongs: on Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader. It was his lies, deception, and skillful employment of the propaganda of fear that convinced the American sheeple to support his Glorious Clusterf—k War in Iraq. It was his using the War on Terror © to justify a bloody invasion of Iraq, diverting troops and materiel from the hunt from Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
The war in Iraq and the resulting carnage are not the creation, nor the responsibility, of SUV owners and drivers. Yes, I suppose you can argue that the war is really all about oil, and even I would grant that there’s something to that argument. Having said that, however, I cannot in good conscience agree that Johnson’s campaign to smear and belittle SUV drivers is either appropriate or well thought out. Honestly, I believe that Johnson is completely missing the point. He’s allowed his hatred for SUVs and those who drive them to so blind him to reality that he’s willing to go off on a unjustifiable tangent.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that I like SUVs. If I could afford one, I would happily drive one, but I can’t, so there you have it. This is America; if you have the financial wherewithal to drive something the size of a road grader, then you should be able to do that without being harrassed by a few out of touch and easily misled zealots.
One thing I fail to understand is why so much vitriol seems to be directed towards SUVs and their owners…and yet nothing seems to be said about those who own and drive full-size trucks, which are every bit as fuel-inefficient as your average SUV. Perhaps it’s that SUVs are generally seen as an obvious sign of self-absorbed affluence, which make them easy targets for unbalanced nutjobs with an agenda.
What I truly don’t understand is Johnson’s self-superior conviction that SUVs are the root of all evil. Instead of placing blame where it truly belongs- on the shoulders of Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader and the American sheeple who voted for him- he’s determined to hold American consumers accountable for their…well, I’m not quite certain what, really.
Its time American consumers took responsability for thier actions. Its time American consumers stopped making ego driven purchases that lead directly to the death of fellow americans and the citizens of other countries….
His poor punctuation and capitalization notwithstanding, Johnson seems perfectly willing to focus his passion and his vitriol in a direction that makes absolutely NO sense whatsoever. Johnson’s campaign, while no doubt heartfelt, seems little more than a personal vendetta against vehicles he personally detests. That’s fine; if he hates SUVs, no one is going to require him to purchase or drive one.
If he was truly upset about fuel-inefficient vehicles, Johnson should have the intellectual honesty and the integrity to campaign against SUVs, high-end sports cars, AND full-size trucks. The fact that he’s focusing solely on SUVs indicates to me that he’s only interesting in pursuing his own personal vendetta.
There is one good thing about Johnson’s misguided campaign, though; at least he’s more rational than these nutjobs:
The H2 is the ultimate poseur vehicle. It has the chassis of a Chevy Tahoe and a body that looks like the original Hummer; i.e. it’s a Chevy Tahoe in disguise.
The H2 is a gas guzzler. Because it has a gross vehicle weight rating over 8500 lbs, the US government does not require it to meet federal fuel efficiency regulations. Hummer isn’t even required to publish its fuel economy (owners indicate that they get around 10 mpg for normal use). So while our brothers and sisters are off in the Middle East risking their lives to secure America’s fossil fuel future, H2 drivers are pissing away our “spoils of victory” during each trip to the grocery store.
Repeat after me: SUVs ARE NOT THE REASON AMERICANS ARE DYING IN IRAQ. The sooner y’all begin to get a grip on that reality, the sooner y’all might actually be able to do something that makes an actual difference. Focusing your anger and vitriol on a red herring is silly, wasteful, and just plain stupid.
If you want to blame someone or something, how about having the intellectual honesty to put the blame where it belongs: squarely on the shoulders of Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader and the American sheeple who voted for him. Otherwise, you’re simply spinning your ideological wheels- a lot of sound and fury, signifying absolutely nothing.
Really…don’t y’all think you can do better than this?
