That is the linchpin for the counter-automobile politics that are coming to life, indifferent to traditional left/right-isms. When you are driving, you are in a police state. And not just de facto: the supreme court has energetically discovered motor vehicle exceptions to assorted rights in a century-long campaign that leaves drivers and passengers with little more than constitutional toilet paper. Given the lethal (or just crippling) violence that automobiles perpetually enable, that's not entirely unreasonable. But if you don't like living in a police state you'd better live somewhere that doesn't require multiple car trips every day.

For years people have been crying about how main street is dying, now with the aid of google earth, the reason for the death and decay of mainstreet America is obvious, CARS and the roads, parking lots, strip malls and flith that come with them.

I think of myself as a rightwinger, but I hate cars. I have always hated cars. As a child I hated my mother's driving, as an adult I learned to hate everyone's driving. I hate throwing my money away on insurance, gasoline, repairs and maintainance. My car is paid for, but if it wasn't I would hate making a car payment every month.

Raise taxes on gas! Add 5 bucks to the current $3 bucks a gallon, lets see how much Americans really love their cars. But cars are out symbol of freedom! Boo hoo! Funny how our symbol of freedom allows the government to take away our basic right of transportation on a whim.

God I hate cars.

If you're looking for a more technical view of the car-mpg scam: Chevrolet's greenwashing

And then there's that Cadillac ad that promises to "turn you on." Interesting; cars have always doubled as bedrooms, but in the commerical, the driver is alone. Draw whatever conclusions you wish.

Yeah, I ride a bike as my primary means of transportation. I also think the Evo and the WRX are neat. But what I'm really interested in is the new Jetta Tdi wagon. One drive in a direct injection turbodiesel that gets double the mileage of a clumsy gas motor and I guarantee you'll be impressed.

All the car magazines constantly write about these super cool fast cars that hardly anybody buys. But if you look close enough, even the car magazines see what's on the horizon. Climate change or not, the price of gas will continue to go up. We can plan for it now, or we can suffer later.

Call us when you have an efficient and compact antigravity device.

Oh god no, Doc! Can you imagine the carnage if everyone had their own personal anti-grav vehicles?

The truth is, personal automobiles are going to be a part of the transportation mix for a long time to come, so they might as well be efficient and attractive. The point is really to make transit fast, reliable, and safe; to reclaim unnecessary street space for green space and pedestrian use; to make cities supremely bike and ped friendly ; to switch the streetscape away from accommodation of motor vehicles and towards mixed uses; overall, to give people a fantastic alternative to cars, and to shift attitudes about transportation.

to wed Ms. Liberty to not one but three suitors who have been vying for her affection for the past several decades: Walking, Bicycling and Mass Transit.

Ooh, ferries are going to be pissed.

(With apologies to Nick Drake)