The beginning of this story brought a smile to my face:

A week ago, in the middle of the night, 20 new Hummer H2's worth about $50,000 apiece were set aflame and destroyed at a car dealership here, part of a wave of vandalism in which 50 other vehicles had been damaged at the same dealership and others in the suburbs east of Los Angeles.

Then, there was this obligatory idiocy:

"They burn gas — so what?" he said. "That's not the way to look at it. A lot of people buy these cars because they're safe. A lot of women buy them for that reason. They've got a patriotic feel to them, especially after 9/11."

There are a few things that really irritate me. And as I've said from the very beginning, SUVs are one of 'em. They are, after all, the dishonest emblem of lazy suburbanites who choose their decadent, overindulgent lifestyles over true patriotic sacrifice.