I'm in the $1,450 to $1,550 market myself…

…but I thought I'd push this comment to the front page as a service to the slightly more prosperous.

Frequent commenter (and off-line pal o' Upper Left, via Vets for Kerry connections) Terry Parkhurst, when not brightening this space with his historical and literary gifts, is an automotive journalist. While we're waiting for a new Congress to offer a rational energy policy to the country, Terry reports we have options...

Here's some names for you to remember Denny: Dodge Caliber SE, Honda Fit Sport, Hyundai Accent GLS, Kia Rio5 SX, Missan Versa 1.8SL, Suzuki Reno and Toyota Yaris S. They range in price from $14,560 to $15,500 (with options such as antilock brakes). Highway mileage (what most commuters run) varies from 30 to 40 miles-per-gallon. City mileage varies from 23 to 34 miles-per-gallon (when using five or six-speed manual transmissions). More information is in the May 2006 Car and Driver.

Now if you, I and just half of American drove these kind of machines, instead of the 6,000 pounds of truckular jewelry many of us do, there'd be no need to even consider drilling in ANWR. And most likely, we'd never have gone into Iraq. Those are facts based on what we could do TODAY. We don't need to look to politicians to solve all our problems; although it is nice when they lead in the right direction.

As the little guy in the old Pogo cartoon said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

The 'little guy' is, of course, Pogo hisself…