I'm a conservative and an athiest, and Romney just lost any possibility of earning my vote. His statement that "freedom requires religion" is outrageous, but apparently it is reflective of the new normal in American politics.

The Republicans have fielded a truly oddball team of candidates this year. Huckabee doesn't believe in evolution. Romney believes that freedom doesn't exist unless God says so. McCain is so obsessed with foreign policy that he has no ideas about how to actually govern. Ron Paul is simply not electable. Good grief, autocratic Rudy Giuliani is starting to look like the best of the worst...

Another excellent article, Patrick. Your discussion of unforgiving aircraft has direct parallels in the automotive realm. Every car currently on sale is a safe car, but some are much more forgiving than others. A Dodge Viper ACR is known as a fairly unforgiving car at high speeds. Get it wrong and big, scary things can start to happen in a hurry. By contrast, a Nissan GTR is extremely forgiving, despite its high performance capabilities. Its all-wheel drive, trick differentials, and sophisticated electronics can save a driver from all sorts of boneheaded moves.

Both cars are extremely safe, but the skill of the driver is more important in the Viper than it is in the GTR.

Thanks for so frankly expressing your ignorance about the Volt. Here are a few things you left out of your post:

1. The Volt is very different from the Prius because the Volt's wheels are only ever moved by battery power. The gasoline engine does not power the car. It recharges the batteries. This is completely different from the Prius, where the gasoline engine and battery work (most of the time) in parallel to power the car.

2. Based on current specs, the Volt can run for up to 40 miles without ever firing its gas engine. For most people, that takes care of 90% of their daily driving.

3. The Volt can be charged from a standard electrical outlet. No retrofitting is required.

4. Many Volt drivers would buy no gas at all unless they were making the occasional road trip. Instead, the car can be powered by whatever source of energy you use to power your home. As alternative energies proliferate (wind, solar etc), Volt drivers may be able to drive while using purely renewable energy to power their vehicles. This helps position America to sever its dependence on foreign oil in the future.

5. The Volt will only get better. Batteries will get better and cheaper, driving down the price of the vehicle while simultaneously increasing its usefulness.

Does the Volt make immediate economic sense at $40,000? Probably not (but don't forget that juicy $5,000 tax credit). However, the price of the car will drop in future years as batteries get cheaper and development costs get amortized. How about a $28,000 Volt that can go 100 miles without a drop of gas?

The Japanese will certainly play catch-up. Toyota is working on a similar version of the Prius as we speak. But Chevy appears to be leading this important area automotive development, and deserves tremendous credit for its vision.