“Be green: In celebration of the smart fortwo’s first-year anniversary in the United States, smart USA is planting a tree in honor of every vehicle sold in 2008. In partnership with American Forests and Daimler Financial Services, smart USA will plant approximately 25,000 trees in southern Illinois. Learn more about this project and other ecological fun facts about the smart fortwo on our green life page.”

This is a quote from www.smartUSA.com, the official website for the so-called Smart car. The official name for the car is Smart for two. It is basically an enclosed golf cart that seats two people. Not exactly a good fit for families. That’s because the ugly truth is, enviro-Nazis like the people behind the “Smart Car” firmly believe that people cause environmental calamity and thus large families contribute to our alleged environmental woes. They believe they should discourage families larger than 1 or 2 people so they build a product to that end. If your family is too large to fit into their car, then as far as they are concerned, it is too large.

On the hit TV show "Friends" Chandler once made the comment "who wants to buy a car you have to put together yourself?" Even though he was talking about a generic compact car, this quote fits the Smart fortwo. With a body by Playskool and an engine by Briggs & Stratton one can easily see why this car lacks widespread appeal here in America and especially here in Texas. I would expand Chandler's comments even further by saying who wants to buy a car that you have to pull a rope to start?

This so-called car is actually smaller than a the two seat golf carts you see running around. And yet its owners expect all of us to embrace this fiasco as the savior of the planet. Wanting to save the environment is fine, except there is NO ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS, and even if there was this little toy car isn't the answer. What do you think would happen if the Smart fortwo got into a crash with a Suburban, Hummer, F-250, or any other large vehicle? I'll tell you what would happen. the occupants of the fortwo would most likely be dead.

The car may be smart, but its makers and its owners are another story. Especially if the owners bought the little enclosed lawn mower because of the envrionmental doom and gloom stories being told in order to sell it. It doesn't take a lot of smarts to be fed the pablum that someone wants to feed you. It doesn't take a lot of brain power to blindly follow an agenda without researching it for yourself just because some slick talker like Al Gore put a guilt trip on you.

So my fellow Americans, buy a REAL CAR!! Not an over-priced toy like the Smart fortwo.

Now this is the way to park a Smart!!

Jim L. Chitty
Writer/Columnist/Blogger