Chevy’s Hybrid Lineup

Did you know that you can get a hybrid version of the Chevy Malibu?

Or the Chevy Tahoe SUV?

Or, in a few months, a hybrid Silverado?

Neither did I, until very recently.

Check it out, at http://www.chevrolet.com/hybrid/ . Since the Priuses are currently on back order anyway, why not try an American hybrid, if you can find one? (And no, GM’s not paying me a dime to do this. They probably have no idea I exist.)

Differences

These excerpts from the candidates’ forum hosted by Christian pastor Rick Warren starkly illustrate the differences between Barack Obama and John McCain.

What was your greatest moral failure?

Obama: Well, in my own life, I’d break it up into two stages. I had a difficult youth. My father wasn’t in the house. I’ve written about this. There were times when I experimented with drugs. I drank, you know, in my teenage years, and I traced this to a certain selfish necessary on my part. I was so obsessed with me and the reasons that I might be dissatisfied that I couldn’t focus on other people. The process for me of growing up was to recognise that it’s not about me.

McCain: My greatest moral failing – and I have been a very imperfect person – is the failure of my first marriage. It’s my greatest moral failure. America’s greatest moral failure has been, throughout our existence, perhaps, we have not devoted ourselves to causes greater than our self-interest, although we’ve been the best at it of anybody in the world.

The significant statements are right at the end of each quote: Obama acknowledges it’s not all about him. McCain boasts and contradicts himself in the same statement (we’re the best at something we haven’t done).

Who are the three wisest people in your life?

Obama: I don’t think I’d restrict myself to three people. There are people like Sam Nunn, a democrat, or Dick Lugar, a Republican, who I listened to on domestic policy. I’ve got friends ranging from Ted Kennedy to Tom Colbert who don’t necessarily agree on a lot of things but who both, I think, have a sincere desire to see this country improve.

McCain: First one, I think, would be General David Petraeus, one of the great military leaders in American history – who took us from defeat to victory in Iraq. One of the great leaders. Meg Whiteman, the CEO of e-Bay. Twelve years ago, there were five employees, today there are one and a half million people that make a living off [e-Bay] in America [and] in the world.

Obama describes the people from whom he seeks insight and advice, people who “have a sincere desire to see this country improve”. McCain equates wisdom with success, specifically success at making war and making money.

Does evil exist/ What do we about it?

Obama: Evil does exist. We see evil in Darfur, on the streets of our cities and in parents who have viciously abused their children. It has to be confronted squarely and one of the things that I strongly believe is that we are not going to be able to erase evil from the world. That is God’s task. We need humility in how we approach the issue. A lot of evil has been perpetrated based on the claim that we were trying to confront it.

McCain: We defeat it. If I have to follow him to the gates of hell, I will get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice and I know how. No one should be allowed to take thousands of American – innocent American – lives. Of course evil must be defeated. We are facing the transcendent challenge of the 21st century – radical Islamic extremists. Our troops will come home with honour and victory and not in defeat.

Obama sees evil as that which causes people to suffer. McCain reduces it to a campaign soundbite.

These three excerpts may not be representative of each man’s statements over the course of an hour. They have a notable consistency, however. Obama’s responses are about people. McCain’s are about winning.

I don’t think I’d like the decisions McCain would make as president.

Oooops

Seems there was a slip-up in FOX’s much-vaunted guest vetting process:

Wow, Faux really blew it here, bringing in a 12 year old Ossetian girl “hero” to talk about how bad the Russian aggression was, first-hand, only to have the girl stop the flow of the interview and point out that her ordeal was caused by Georgian troops, and she thanks the Russians who helped her escape.

[…]

After the girl embarrasses the hell out of them by saying it was Georgia who was trying to kill her, not Russia, and that Russians actually came to her aid, the girl’s Aunt, seated next to her (it was live) does the same thing, stealing the interview to tell the world that this was caused by the Georgian President and the government of Georgia. They were the aggressors, she says.

Here’s the video link. Watch it while you still can.