The PUMA-Our Future?

How about a little comic relief. Well, a little more comic relief, since I did have a funny Saturday too. Tim Slagle mocks the newest GM concept vehicle in The Newest Needless Car. The vehicle, called a PUMA, is a street legal Segway. Some quotes to whet your appetite:

With the assistance of GM, Segway did something everyone thought was
absolutely impossible: They made the Segway even DORKIER.

Or this:

Which was the motivation behind the PUMA: a street-legal version of a Segway. It is being touted as a solution to gridlock, pollution, Iraq, the energy crisis, and just about everything else the Left rails about; a glimpse into the future of transportation.

Great. A new car that is capable of reaching the blinding speed of 35 MPH… for an hour, before you have to plug it in. (It is specifically intended for urban transport, since a cross-country trip would be quicker in a covered wagon.) No trunk or radio, no heat or air conditioning, and when it rains, you get wet. Boy, I can't wait for the future!

Or this:

How many laws have already been passed against cool? Helmet laws, seat belt laws, and smoking bans have limited Americans’ choice to look cool. (How come "choice" doesn't extend beyond the uterus?) The same wallflowers that ran for student council are now in charge of this nation; the ones that told the teachers that the punch was spiked are frantically trying to legislate the fun out of everything American.

It is just another phase in the Dorkification of America. Americans have always had a swagger that set them apart from other citizens of the world, and the ultimate revenge of the nerds would be to turn these United States into Europe. Dorky kids look normal in Europe, where their pale complexions, skinny slumping postures, and bad teeth fit in quite well.

Like any good comedian, he conjures up a more than just the topic he is ostensibly discussing, and he is none to PC while doing it. Go and read the whole thing.

On a more serious note, GM and Segway were clearly working on this concept before Obama fired the CEO of GM (which he had no right to do) and put another CEO in his place (again, where's the Constitutional authority for this?). But having done that, and guaranteed GM warranties, I think Obama now "owns" GM, and all its stupidities. Is "The One" prepared to look as pedestrian as a Chevy?