OP-ED Nolte: Now They Want to Cancel Our Pickup Trucks

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
_______________
[Yes, we already had a thread on this. But this one is too funny not to share. Note the part I bolded below. These Bolsheviks are completely deranged - Dennis]


Nolte: Now They Want to Cancel Our Pickup Trucks

JOHN NOLTE7 Aug 202098
5:22


They seek to take our guns, tear down our monuments, destroy our suburbs, and have shut down our churches. Now, they’re coming for our pickup trucks.

And when I say “they,” I’m, of course, talking about “Railroad men, bounty hunters, Deke Thornton.”

The excuse? Some ninny at the Wall Street Journal almost got hit by a pickup. So, you know — now, they all have to go: The article begins, “A FEW MONTHS ago, on an ordinary day in an unremarkable Costco parking lot, I was nearly squashed by an unusually large pickup,” then continues:
As that chrome grille closed on me like a man-eating Norelco shaver, time slowed. It seemed I was watching myself from afar, being nimble for a man my age, darting from the path of a towering, limousine-black pickup with temporary plates, whose driver barely checked his pace. Jerk.
What the hell was that thing? A 2020 GMC Sierra HD Denali? It was huge! The domed hood was at forehead level.
“He didn’t even see me,” the ninny adds in italics, because inattentive drivers only drive pickup trucks, or something…

And then, for another 1,700-plus words. NinnyMan rails against the growth of the size of the pickup. He seems especially intimidated by the front grille.

I mean, NinnyMan is so freaked out by that front grille, he brings it up 13 times. Here are just a few examples:
  • As that chrome grille closed on me like a man-eating Norelco shaver
  • The paramedics would have had to extract me from the grille with a spray hose, like Randall Jarrell’s ball-turret gunner.
  • [T]he 2500 HD sports an elaborate chromified grille that gleams like a tea service.
  • Could the extra tall hoods and bluff grilles, the sightlines, the scale, the very form language of the traditional American pickup ever be made pedestrian safe?
  • GAUDY GRILLE: The vast chrome rictus of Chevy’s Silverado has been coolly received by some critics and customers. But…
  • Silverado sales are up, and there’s a booming business in aftermarket grilles.
And then he goes on to compare pickup grilles over the decades.

Is the widdle NinnyMan gunna cry now?

Naturally, as Townhall’s Brad Slager first noticed, this stupid narrative is gaining traction elsewhere on the left. The Week’s Ryan Cooper described it this way: “Sales of mega-pickups, which have basically been deliberately designed to intimidate and kill pedestrians, are booming.”

NinnyMan’s entire thesis is based on the concept that larger pickups are unsafe because the driver can’t see over the hood — the hood, which, as you know, helps to support that gonzo grille that puts your own poop in your pants.

“Could the extra tall hoods and bluff grilles, the sightlines, the scale, the very form language of the traditional American pickup ever be made pedestrian safe?” he asks. “Of course not,” Kimberly Marte, associate professor of design at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, assures him. “No way,” she adds for good measure.

What are these ninnies talking about?

The only way you are not in the sightline of a pickup truck driver is if you’re standing right in front of the thing. If you take a step back, you’re in his sightline. It’s the same with semi trucks.

We have a whole bunch of small kids in my neighborhood, a couple of whom are small enough you can say the same about them — you can’t see them if they are standing right in front of you — no matter what vehicle you’re driving.

What about the babies, NinnyMan!

Who will save the babies from the hoods and grilles of the malevolent Mini Coopers!


Gee, I hope NinnyMan doesn’t drive one of those evil, pedestrian-killing SUVs — cuz science.

Kidding aside, I don’t purchase vehicles with the safety of others in mind. If there’s an accident, I intend for my wife and me to survive. If the other asshole’s driving some 4-cylinder, environmentally safe gerbil-mobile made from recycled plastic and good vibes, that’s on him.

This attack on the pickup has zero to do with logic, zero to do with safety, and everything to do with culture.

Like the firearm and church and masculinity and rural life, the pickup represents rugged individualism — a guy who hauls and tows his own stuff… That’s what they hate.


I can’t imagine life without my mid-size pickup. But unlike our elites, I haul my own garbage to the dump. (I also don’t recycle because recycling is stupid.) I also haul a lot of lumber and tools for my various projects, and most of all, I haul my camper.

My pickup makes me a whole lot less reliant on government (garbage) and big business (delivery services and hotels). That’s what these ninnies can’t stand… Besides, what am I supposed to do, hang my rifle rack in the back window of a Prius? Haul dead animals on the hood of a Lexus? Have the horn on my Mercedes blare Dixie? :lkick:

Well, from my cold, dead hands, NinnyMan…

You’ll take my grille from my cold, dead hands.

Oh, and Boo!

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.
 

Grouchy Granny

Deceased
NinnyMan would have a heart attack if he stood in front of my 2004 F-250 with the 6-inch lift kit! And, yes I bought it that way. Girls like trucks, big trucks, too - I have several female friends who drive ones just as big as mine.

No, you can't have my truck - mine, all mine! At least if somebody hits me, they'll know they've really hit something, damage to mine will be minimal, theirs probably totaled.
 

Dobbin

Faithful Steed
When your sole means of transport is the subway, or a foreign speaking Uber called to your service by your SmartPhone, your perspective "shrinks."

So does your expectation of being able to simply "go" with the turn of a key.

And living in your little "controlled" world, you start to think EVERYONE should be living like you.

In fact at first you extol.

Then you pontificate.

Or at the very least think less of those who don't agree.

Then, given power of a social, MEEDIA, or political kind you "compel."

And wonder why the "split" in social mores has occurred?

Not thinking at all it might be you doing the splitting.

Dobbin
 

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
Is this the same guy that was terrified by shooting an AR?

It felt to me like a bazooka — and sounded like a cannon.
One day after 49 people were killed in the Orlando shooting, I traveled to Philadelphia to better understand the firepower of military-style weapons and, hopefully, explain their appeal to gun lovers.
But mostly, I was just terrified.

Not in my hands. I've shot pistols before, but never something like an AR-15. Squeeze lightly on the trigger and the resulting explosion of firepower is humbling and deafening (even with ear protection).
The recoil bruised my shoulder, which can happen if you don't know what you're doing. The brass shell casings disoriented me as they flew past my face. The smell of sulfur and destruction made me sick. The explosions — loud like a bomb — gave me a temporary form of PTSD. For at least an hour after firing the gun just a few times, I was anxious and irritable.
 

Cuffo

Contributing Member
I don’t know, in my area, there lots of these giant pickup trucks which are driven by idiot assholes. The have no idea how to park, how to stay in their lane. These drivers pay attention to nothing and are always in the way. I got stuck behind one who made made an 18 point turn when he tried to bully his way into the drive through line.

Don’t get me wrong I like pickups. I’ve driven big mean looking pickups.

But giant pickups are some new weird status thing and are being driven by people that have no business driving one. I live in Suberbia and it’s getting stupid.
 
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MinnesotaSmith

Membership Revoked
Related:

Hummer: Now Everyone Will Know


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nomifyle

TB Fanatic
I love my truck, they, who ever the hell they are can kiss my rosey red grits. "They" want you to drive something powdered by electricity so they can cut it off it you don't toe the line. Look at what the major of Los Angeles is threatening to do if you don't follow the rules.

God id good all the time,

Judy
 
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Marthanoir

TB Fanatic
Mercedes makes a pickup truck, admittedly they don't make it they just put a expensive dress on a Nissan Navara but still its a Mercedes badge on a truck

2018_Mercedes-Benz_X250_Power_D_4MATIC_Automatic_2.3_Front.jpg
 

Grouchy Granny

Deceased
I don’t know, in my area, there lots of these giant pickup trucks which are driven by idiot assholes. The have no idea how to park, how to stay in their lane. These drivers pay attention to nothing and are always in the way. I got stuck behind one who made made an 18 point turn when he tried to bully his way into the drive through line.

Don’t get me wrong I like pickups. I’ve driven big mean looking pickups.

But giant pickups are some new weird status thing and are being driven by people that have no business driving one. I live in Suberbia and it’s getting stupid.

You got that one right on the nose! There was a guy I worked with that wanted to buy mine for his 16 year old son who had just gotten his license - looked him in the eye and flat out told him "Not for sale and NOT a beginner vehicle for a 16 year old". He went out and bought him one anyway - wonder how long that lasted until the kid rolled it? Grandson thought he was going to drive mine - he got the same response.

Mine also has overlarge tires which make turning very very interesting - I always parked out at the end of parking lots because people just loved parking right on my running boards so I couldn't even get in the drivers side.
 

rafter

Since 1999
I don’t know, in my area, there lots of these giant pickup trucks which are driven by idiot assholes. The have no idea how to park, how to stay in their lane. These drivers pay attention to nothing and are always in the way. I got stuck behind one who made made an 18 point turn when he tried to bully his way into the drive through line.

Don’t get me wrong I like pickups. I’ve driven big mean looking pickups.

But giant pickups are some new weird status thing and are being driven by people that have no business driving one. I live in Suberbia and it’s getting stupid.
It depends on what they are used for. I've seen some little men drive big trucks to make up for the fact that they are little men......just sayin.
 

CaryC

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I like trucks, even way back when I use to ride in the back. Those things have always been the coolest.

Even though I prefer a Jeep.

Just like with guns, some people don't really need to own one. My son and his wife own the double duce and a half, and have had 3 wrecks in it, the last I checked, and couldn't even turn the thing around in my driveway. For comparison oldest son turns his around, same size, every week.

Youngest son has been driving a Miata size car for the past 5 years.

And yeah just because some people shouldn't, doesn't mean they should be banned.
 

raven

TB Fanatic
I like trucks
I WANT a truck
I have always WANTED a truck
But I am an INTJ, for the life of me, no matter how I crunch the numbers,
the price associated with one does not make a lick of sense.
The price only makes sense, in a business case where the open box cargo capacity is used in the production of income.
And the short bed pickup is even more difficult to justify - won't fit a 4X8 sheet of plywood
If UHaul had a frequent flyer program, I would qualify. Twenty bucks plus miles for a day is a butt load cheaper than a $70K new truck.

I only say this because I had this conversation today. I don't think they should be banned.

If you want to drive down the highway throwing your money out the damn window, you have every right to.
And it is good for the economy which is good for me.
 

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
I like trucks
I WANT a truck
I have always WANTED a truck
But I am an INTJ, for the life of me, no matter how I crunch the numbers,
the price associated with one does not make a lick of sense.
The price only makes sense, in a business case where the open box cargo capacity is used in the production of income.
And the short bed pickup is even more difficult to justify - won't fit a 4X8 sheet of plywood
If UHaul had a frequent flyer program, I would qualify. Twenty bucks plus miles for a day is a butt load cheaper than a $70K new truck.

I only say this because I had this conversation today. Not because I don't think they should be banned.

If you want to drive down the highway throwing your money out the damn window, you have every right to.
And it is good for the economy which is good for me.

Simple...

Don't buy a new one.

Get an old truck that's cheep to keep.

Having a spare driver can be a life saver.
 

waterdog

Senior Member
Still got my 98 ford single cab long bed 6 banger red on the outside. It's 22 years old, in 75 I had a 59 ford pickup it was only 16 years old. Sold it for 300.00 to pay the entire hospital bill for my wife to have our oldest daughter included 3day stay. My 1st new pickup was a chevy price 4400.00 it had automatic and air v8 engine that was in 75. Back then you hardly ever saw kids or women driving a pickup. Boy how things have changed. Wuhan lujan has the same plan for N.M. No new pickups sold after 2025.
 

Cacheman

Ultra MAGA!
When I went to the DMV to take my driving test in 1982 I used my dads truck, a 1980 Chevy 4wd that rode rough as hell and we didn't have time to clean the cow crap out either, after hitting the first pot hole the lady said "We can go back now, your a farm kid and have been driving all your life". The enire test start to finish was probably less than five minutes.
 

anna43

Veteran Member
Pedestrian in a parking lot should be watching for cars and pickups. Pedestrian should always use their eyes to see if they can see the driver because if they can't he/she likely can't see them. I was taught "right of weight over right of way" which means pedestrians need to pay attention in a parking lot. I live in rural Iowa and we have the big fancy "look at me" trucks, but the majority are big, dirty work vehicles. If the ninny was intimidated by fancy chrome imagine him facing bull bars.
 

Dozdoats

On TB every waking moment

day late

money? whats that?
Go ahead. Ban pickups. But what is numb nuts going to do when he has to move? I suggest that numb nuts does like my parents trained me to do when my age was still in the single digits.

"Look both ways before you cross the street."

But being an old man I forget. These days we have a "right" to be protected from our own stupidity.
 

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
You got that one right on the nose! There was a guy I worked with that wanted to buy mine for his 16 year old son who had just gotten his license - looked him in the eye and flat out told him "Not for sale and NOT a beginner vehicle for a 16 year old". He went out and bought him one anyway - wonder how long that lasted until the kid rolled it? Grandson thought he was going to drive mine - he got the same response.

Mine also has overlarge tires which make turning very very interesting - I always parked out at the end of parking lots because people just loved parking right on my running boards so I couldn't even get in the drivers side.


Good point. A few years ago, I was supposed to teach my granddaughter to drive (I was homeschooling her). I looked at my truck, looked at her, and shook my head. My brother was visiting and took her out for some practice driving in his Subaru wagon, but a big truck just isn't a good beginner vehicle. I've been driving mine for thirteen years and it still feels like a tank sometimes.

Kathleen
 

Marie

Veteran Member
I'd imagine he'd crap his pants if I drove my 76 c60. We use our trucks they're not for "lookin"
I have livestock feed, fence posts and wire, a saddle and gear, tools I need everyday I show up prepared. He ain't getting my truck. Be awful hard to haul a couple tons of corn in a prius
 

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
I like trucks
I WANT a truck
I have always WANTED a truck
But I am an INTJ, for the life of me, no matter how I crunch the numbers,
the price associated with one does not make a lick of sense.
The price only makes sense, in a business case where the open box cargo capacity is used in the production of income.
And the short bed pickup is even more difficult to justify - won't fit a 4X8 sheet of plywood
If UHaul had a frequent flyer program, I would qualify. Twenty bucks plus miles for a day is a butt load cheaper than a $70K new truck.

I only say this because I had this conversation today. I don't think they should be banned.

If you want to drive down the highway throwing your money out the damn window, you have every right to.
And it is good for the economy which is good for me.


It sounds like you've got alternatives that work for you. But you don't have to buy a new truck. Mine was ten years old when I got it thirteen years ago -- paid $10,000 for it. I used it for hauling hay, trash to the dump, building materials, livestock feed, moved with it three times, and on and on. Probably don't need a truck anymore, but I have it, it still runs fine, and it's been paid for for nine years, so I don't see any need to get something smaller yet. Maybe, if I was commuting to work every day, because it uses a lot of gas. But we usually only go to town once a week, sometimes not even that often. I'm saving up to replace it, but hopefully we'll be driving the truck for a few more years.

Kathleen
 

TxGal

Day by day
Well, if that NinnyMan would like to try to get 20 square bales of hay, 25 50-lb bags of cattle and chicken feed, or 4-5 250 lb cattle tubs in the back of whatever it is he drives, I'd love to see it! Or, how about throwing your household trash bags in that smaller vehicle to drive down to the town dump on trash day. At least if one leaks we can hose down the bed of the truck...not so easy in a small car. Oh gosh, the list goes on and on.

Our other car is a small car, and I drive all the time around trucks on the roads. Sheesh...just pay attention and don't be a Ninny - Man. :-)
 
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