I really don't understand all the anti-SUV sentiment. In the last month I've hauled around a 23' boat, brought home a huge gas grill, and transported a 6' tall washer/dryer. A big SUV or fullsize truck were the only options for doing this. Now are these activities typical for my life? Not especially. Normally it is me occuping 1/8 of the seating. But is it nice to be able to do all this? Definitely.
Edit 1: With the roads around DC I can actually imagine how it is possible to hit someone and rationalize to yourself that it was just a monster pothole or something.
Edit 2: On the lifted SUV issue, I agree with the original poster - there is definitely a limit to how much lifting accomplishes anything useful. Typically your ground clearance will be limited the most by your axles, as the pumpkin in the center will typically hit something long before it would bash into the body of your car. So yes the trucks that are 6' off the ground with 33" tires (giving them about 15" of ground clearance even if the pumpkin didn't exist) are completely worthless, except that you can walk underneath to change the oil.