Why is Obama Black?

[Pico and ME]

I vowed that I would never ever buy an SUV, but I am starting to get really sick and tired of not being able to see the road ahead of me because I sit lower than practically everybody in front of me or I can't see if there is a car coming up the aisle when I'm pulling out of a parking spot because both vehicles next to me are huge. Also, the cargo space would be kinda nice. But I don't really want to get saddled with a gas guzzler, especially considering that they are talking about prices going to $4 or $5 again. I'm really torn...and Dodge has improved the 2011 Journey too! (I'm stuck with Chrysler products being my only choice...that sucks too.)

[tw]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

You keep citing these cases of people fucking up because they don't know how to drive, and blaming on the vehicle/manufacturer/advertising, instead of where the blame belongs, squarely on the driver.

So it was the driver's fault that Suzuki Sidekicks were rolling over even in mild testing by Consumer Reports. And it was driver's fault that Firestone tires were killing people. After all, driver's should not get in that situation. And it was driver's faults that Toyota SUVs were unstable if the computer bug did could not keep the vehicle from rolling over. And it was the driver's fault that cars without redundant hydralic brake systems were crashing. And it was the driver's fault that he could not see cars crossing his path (and then the government required side lights which stopped all those deaths).

Nonsense. All cars must be driven violently. And do not roll over. Only vehicles designed to be unstable, unsafe, and as cheap as possible are rolling over. At one point, one out of every four SUV crashes were a roll over. And one in every four roll overs killed someone. Obviously only SUV driver's are incompetent - your logic.

Then we have SUV that overrun kids 60 times a week. These vehicles are intentionally (and unnecessarily) designed to be so high as to roll over kids that often. But you know this cannot be true. Only the parent's failures permit a kid to run behind the SUV.

Only fools need unsafe vehicles for their personal glory and ego. Why is a HumVee so much lower and has much higher ground clearance? Army worries about a soldier's safety - not his ego. SUVs could be that much better. But then the ego trip would be missing.

Why is the Jeep suspension and steering 'barbaric'? Because it is good. We can blame the driver.

Yes, it is the driver's fault. He was so stupid as to be driving a four wheel drive in inclement weather. Any informed driver knows a four wheel drive is the most dangerous vehicle in icy weather. So you are right. We should blame the driver for stupidly driving a four wheel drive. Good luck getting any 4x4 owner to believe you. Denial is all part of the experience.

[classicman]

A higher center of gravity combined with a narrow wheel base was the issue with the Sidekicks.
What does that have to do with four wheel drive being FAR SUPERIOR in snow?
What is the relevance to that versus 2 wheel drive.

Ya know, just for fun I took out an explorer in the snow. Drove it in two wheel and then four wheel drive.
There is NO COMPARISON - zero, none, nada.
In four wheel drive it had infinitely more control than in two wheel where the rear was frequently fishtailing.

[TheMercenary]

I would never own anything but a 4 wheel drive, and I don't even live where is snows. But I do live where is rains, and it rains a lot. And I hunt, and I use it to go to places cars cannot go. As classic stated there is NO Comparison as far as handling when road conditions are poor. The price of gas is no concern when it comes to my families and my safety on the road.

[Undertoad]

4WD/AWD in deep snow is a ton of fun. Rolling through 8" deep side roads with no trouble.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yeah, but tw's only experience is reading consumer reports and the economist.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Pico and ME

I can't see if there is a car coming up the aisle when I'm pulling out of a parking spot because both vehicles next to me are huge.

Visibility is a real problem in parking lots now. The combination of vehicle heights and ubiquitous tinted glass make a very real danger. I park pretty far from store entrances deliberately so it's safer for me when I back out. More empty spaces around. Better visibility.

Driving on the road is less of a problem. Just follow at a safe distance, and you don't need to see around the car in front of you. Plus, when you follow at a distance, the big vehicles take up less space in your vision.

[Pico and ME]

Originally Posted by glatt

Visibility is a real problem in parking lots now. The combination of vehicle heights and ubiquitous tinted glass make a very real danger. I park pretty far from store entrances deliberately so it's safer for me when I back out. More empty spaces around. Better visibility.

Driving on the road is less of a problem. Just follow at a safe distance, and you don't need to see around the car in front of you. Plus, when you follow at a distance, the big vehicles take up less space in your vision.

Good points Glatt.

[TheMercenary]

Hint.

Obama is not black.

[DanaC]

Hint.

It doesn't matter.

[ZenGum]

Obama is 85% black because he was run down by too many 4WD SUVs.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Hint.

It doesn't matter.

To whom?

[DanaC]

Okay, well let's take a different tack: why is it important?

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Okay, well let's take a different tack: why is it important?

I guess because a lot of people have co-opted his blackness for their own purposes and to his credit he has generally resisted. But yet I rarely hear of him refered to as half-black, multi-racial would be more accurate. By rarely identifying the other part of his background he ignores it, with the rare exception of pandering to to the crowd when required. Again, to his credit he has done a good job of generally staying out of it, with a few exceptions.

[Happy Monkey]

In this context, race doesn't have a scientific definition; only a societal one. The definition of who is black is a legacy of our racist past, and generally means, as mentioned in post four, having any known black ancestors. Otherwise, the concept of "passing" as white would be meaningless.

I'm not sure that a move to "biracial" is necessarily any better. Is the black parent black by historical definition, the child is biracial, and from then on any decendants they have are biracial by the same rule with a new label that labeled their parent black? Is that better?