Obama Condemns Big and Fast Gas Guzzlers, But Drives Hemi V8 Sedan

May 12th, 2007 2:26 AM
USA Today photo by Kate Patterson

The religion of the left seems to be environmentalism, and the everyone knows what happens when religious figures on the right are exposed as hypocrites. Ted Haggard, Jim Baker and others have claimed to stand for one thing and privately lived a life that conflicted with their stated beliefs, and the media covered it non-stop. In contrast, the media ignore that the darling of the Democratic presidential candidates has again been nailed as an environmental hypocrite.

Barack Obama was outed as an SUV driver in 2006, who said at the same time, "the blame for the world's higher temperature rests on gas guzzling vehicles." Now, a year later, the Detroit Free Press' on-line site Freep.com reported similar contradictory behavior today and stated, "his choice to drive a V8 Hemi-powered Chrysler 300C emits a whiff of hypocrisy along with its exhaust fumes."  (emphasis mine throughout):

The Democratic presidential contender was in Detroit on Monday, oozing charisma and environmental awareness as he chided local automakers for building too many big vehicles and not enough fuel-efficient hybrids.

So his choice to drive a V8 Hemi-powered Chrysler 300C emits a whiff of hypocrisy along with its exhaust fumes. Obama's choice proves once again that fuel economy is seldom the No. 1 factor when Americans buy cars. The 340-horsepower 300C has plenty of room for the lanky senator, his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters. It gets 25 miles per gallon on the highway, good for a big sedan, but far short of hybrids and compact cars.

His campaign Thursday said it leases a flex-fuel vehicle, and Obama, whose family has just one car, "believes we need to work together to achieve energy independence."

Newsbusters blogged about this Detroit speech that this article referenced. Keep the description of Obama's car in mind when reading these excerpts of his the above-mentioned speech:

Obama this week flew to Detroit to deliver his message that the U.S. auto industry is the villain for "investing in bigger and faster cars while foreign competitors invested in more fuel-efficient technology."

"While our fuel standards haven't moved from 27.5 miles per gallon in two decades, both China and Japan have surpassed us, with Japanese cars now getting an average of 45 miles to the gallon..."

So, while Obama is chastising the auto industry for making “bigger and faster cars,” he's driving a big, heavy Hemi V8-powered Chrysler 300C sedan that gets 25mpg, which is lower than the 27.5 mpg US standard that he says is too low.

Now, driving the same kind of car that one claims is responsible for destroying Earth doesn't raise the same level of interest to the media as religious leaders doing meth off of a prostitute's rump or defrauding little old ladies, but to the left, anthropogenic global warming has reached religious-like fervor. A Democratic pol who violates liberal environmental dogma should be treated the way conservatives are when their private lives appear to contradict their political beliefs or their party's.

Frankly, I don't blame Obama for driving the 300C; it's a pretty nice ride, but don't drive it if you tell the people who created it that they are doing something wrong and ruining the world by making it. Unlike with Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney's controversies, except for the Freep.com article, the media ignore this example of conflicting behavior and claims of double-standards; not even a belief in the overall social issue of the environment is enough to get them to cover the story.

 In contrast to the examples of media coverage of hypocrisy on the right, the media have not pinned Obama down on his double-standard of chiding Detroit for making the same kind of “bigger and faster” inefficient carbon-spewing Earth-killer that sits in his drive way.

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