Is there any phrase in journalism more compelling than “fiery crash?” Just saying it makes my mouth water. We had one this morning in Detroit, which followed another Pavlovian term, “high-speed chase.” Rumor has it a TV station had video, which I didn’t see; the TV doesn’t go on until late in the day at Casa NN.C, and that station in particular, the Fox affiliate, gives me bleeding hives.
Besides, if you wait, sooner or later everything goes on YouTube. Note ironic detail: Although the truck was stolen and the driver fleeing police, the crash was actually precipitated by another motorist, who failed to yield and turned left in front of the truck.
I hate police chases. We’ve had a couple of late hereabouts, and while they’ve all ended the way they’re “supposed” to — i.e., with the culprit smashing into something and injuring only himself — it’s only a matter of time before one doesn’t. What if the truck this morning had hit that minivan broadside and killed not only himself, but the people in the van? We’d have multiple deaths for a stolen car, a crime that happens approximately 11 zillion times a day around here. I know police give a great deal of thought to these things and don’t enter into them lightly, but there’s an adrenaline thing that takes over, too.
Pals, I’m working on a story this morning, trying to get it done a day early so I can spend tomorrow prepping for a week of vacay. Why don’t you guys suggest the bloggage today? If I had more time, I’d wade into this account of the fiery crash and parse the odd mix of journalese, euphemism and can’t-talk-very-well-on-live-TV language that comprises the reporter’s stand-up. The driver is “deceased in the vehicle,” which would make a great name for a band. (And note the signs on the post as the cameras pan by: HOUSES FOR SALE $9,000 or best cash offer. Good times.)
You carry the ball for a while, and I’ll be back later.
Cathy D. said on August 13, 2009 at 11:26 am
Esquire: The Last Abortion Doctor By: John H. Richardson
For thirty-six years, Warren Hern has been one of the few doctors in America to specialize in late abortions. George Tiller was another. And when Dr. Tiller was murdered that Sunday in church, Warren Hern became the only one left.
http://www.esquire.com/features/abortion-doctor-warren-hern-0909
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LAMary said on August 13, 2009 at 11:30 am
Here’s a nice starter.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205853/Lucky-duckling-takes-step-right-direction.html?ITO=1490
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whitebeard said on August 13, 2009 at 11:30 am
I groan about those high-speed chases as well, but do you want to guess that someone was twittering as they watched. You betcha! By the way, while I have declined any invitations to follow someone’s twitter, I do acknowledge that teens can easily fit their remarks into that space (140 characters is it?).
My grandson had a haircut yesterday, a special haircut that copies that of President Obama. He was less than half a block from leaving the barbershop when his cellphone played its musical ringtone. It was a text message from his baseball teammate’s sister driving by that said “Nice haircut.” Ah, this modern world!
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moe99 said on August 13, 2009 at 11:38 am
Rick Pitino. Nice guy.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090812/SPORTS02/908120382/Pitino+apologizes+for+affair
Oh, and for an instructive comparison of US vs. British health care:
http://tinyurl.com/kwuuhs
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whitebeard said on August 13, 2009 at 11:38 am
But sometimes, twittering sparsely is like getting into trouble with newspaper headlines or website video captions, e.g., this I one found this morning at the Associated Press Facebook page “Video Essay: Atlanta Abandons Ho…”
Wait a minute, didn’t Imus get in trouble for that choice of words.
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Danny said on August 13, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Moe, when I clicked on the link, I was was expecting to see a chart or a table of pros/cons or ratings like with Consumer Reports. One anecdote does not an “instructive comparison” make.
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jeff borden said on August 13, 2009 at 12:14 pm
When I was a cop reporter, the police department used to get so many cruisers smashed during chases that I thought they’d be wise to purchase a big, old boat –say a 1958 Oldsmobile– and fill the interior with concrete. They could tow it to an intersection and let the bad guys crash into that old wreck instead of a shiny new cruiser.
I have never known –maybe a visitor to this site can weigh in–whether police officers receive high-speed, heavy traffic training. Or do they channel Steve McQueen from “Bullitt?”
A couple of years ago, a young man on the most powerful motorcycle Suzuki makes was clocked doing 160-mph southbound on Lake Shore Drive in the wee hours, like 3 or 4 a.m., when it was largely deserted. Luckily, the coppers used their heads and simply radioed ahead so that another cruiser could intercept the guy when he exited LSD. No chase at all, but the daredevil wound up in the pokey.
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brian stouder said on August 13, 2009 at 12:20 pm
moe – I had heard a news blip about Petino last night, and the story sounded ridiculous; and the article you linked to is irritating right at the get-go (headlined Rick Pitino apologizes for affair; U o f L coach won’t resign, gets school’s backing) and then it becomes simply bizarre (University of Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino apologized Wednesday to his family, the university, his players and fans for what he called his “indiscretion” six years ago, when he had sex with a woman in a Louisville restaurant.).
In a restaurant? (talk about your “just desserts”!)
And the univerity’s Athletic Director says he’s “a million percent behind Petino”!! Aside from wondering what the university’s math and philosphy deprtments might do with that statement, we should probably skip the easy jokes about which position Petino would prefer to have his Athletic Director assume
Given the university’s apparent worldview (win, baby!!), and the coach’s worldview (I win, baby!), and the person with whom he got naked in the restaurant (I’m trying to win! Pay me, too!), I think his wife should hit the “eject” button and take as much as she can possibly get, along with her.
And speaking of money, the article says Under his contract, Pitino will collect a $3.6 million bonus if he is still coach on July 1, 2010.That contract allows him to be fired for acts of “moral depravity,” or for being dishonest with the university, or for generating disparaging media publicity, if it is caused by “willful conduct that could objectively be determined to bring (the) employee into public dispute or scandal.”
Hmmmm – so if Pitino has a disappointing season, and fails to WIN enough, maybe that $3.6 million bonus will look like a good reason to whack him before July, eh? Because that’s all that really matters (I wonder if the restaurant will see a spurt in their business)
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Danny said on August 13, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Les Paul has died. He was 94. Rest in peace, Les.
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nancy said on August 13, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Brian, you kill me.
That was my first thought when I read about the restaurant: Which one, and which table?
Oh, and Borden, the last time I asked a cop about chases he told me they have a “multi-page policy” that boils down to: Use your best judgment. I still think good judgment is the first thing to fly out the window in a chase situation, no matter which car you’re driving. Because these so often involve relatively petty offenses, I still think the policy should be Don’t Do It.
And speaking of speeding motorcycles: I’ve been passed several times this summer by heedless fools riding those crotch rockets you have to stretch out to pilot, and when I say “passed” I mean, “like a cruise missile blows past a pelican.” It’s very unsettling, because they come up and go by so fast you realize that if you’d made one tiny mistake — starting to change lanes before checking your mirrors, say — you could easily have killed someone. Sometimes they travel in packs, these 100-mph pelotons that just make me insane. They must know speed enforcement on Detroit freeways is a joke.
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beb said on August 13, 2009 at 12:27 pm
One of the problems i have with the local newspaper is that it rarely had any local news – news like “Man killed at local shop” which explained why the cops had the street blocked off when I was trying to get home. So i was surprised to find that news item today. On ly it wasn’t a car repair shop, it was a stereo dealership with an installation garage. Now if only I could find out why so many cops were rushing around Outer Dr at – er Outer Dr. (It makes a left at the light, in the other direction it’s Chandler Park Dr., but, yes, I know, too much information)
I found the news about the shoot in the Freep’s most emailed column. Right above it was an article “Did Miley’s Cyrus’ Pole Dance Go Too Far?” I assume this is a rhetorical question because any dance involving a 16 year old girl and a brass pole is by definition “going too far.” Naturally I had to find a video of the dance so my outrage ciould fully mature! All I could find was what looked like a cellphone video from the cheapseats in the audiatorium. Muddy sound, tiny image. Didn’t see any writhing. She was standing on a pushcart so the pole seemed there more for her to hold on to. Still the short-shorts and “biker” boots (in my youth they were called ‘F— me’ boots) were enough to sustain continued outrage.
Miley is another Disney protogee, like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilarram Lindsey Lohen and Vanessa Hodgens whose careers all seem to head straight into the gutter. It’s enough to make me wonder if there’s something wrong about Disney, like it’s being run by a child molester or something. I’m sure there are a lot of former Disney actors who have done well in their personal lives. It just seems like there’s more than an average number of girls coming out of Disney who are, well, messed up.
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jeff borden said on August 13, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Years ago Car & Driver magazine interviewed a young police officer in a major American city, where the cruisers are beat to hell within a week of delivery. (If automobiles can go to Hell, it must be as an urban police car or taxi.) He admitted that the cruiser he was assigned was so completely clapped out. . .worn out shocks and springs, primarily. . .that it would have been dangerous to drive it too hard or aggressively.
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LAMary said on August 13, 2009 at 12:40 pm
“It’s enough to make me wonder if there’s something wrong about Disney,”
Stop wondering. The answer is yes.
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moe99 said on August 13, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Brian,
Rick Pitino, this Catholic father of 5, paid the woman $3,000 for an abortion. And the Catholic University of Louisville doesn’t think that might be a violation of their morals clause? This is frakkin’ crazy.
Hey, Danny–I have yet to see one instance of where an ex pat American had to pay more for the medical care in the UK than they did in the US. Please post if you can find that story.
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nancy said on August 13, 2009 at 12:50 pm
She probably got the abortion for around $500. The other $2,500 was for silence.
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coozledad said on August 13, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I’ve always heard those bikes referred to as “donor sleds”.
Whole foods can go fuck itself: Do they really believe teabaggers are going there to shop for head cheese and powdered sugar donuts?
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08/whole-food-exec-slams-health-care-reform-says-people-should-just-eat-whole-foods.php?ref=fpb
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Dorothy said on August 13, 2009 at 12:58 pm
We had motorcyclists pass us while driving back to Ohio from Pittsburgh this past Sunday evening. Just as they got beside our truck, the lead guy popped a wheelie and my mouth dropped open as he held the bike up by just one tire for about 1/4 mile. Then they all just roared away, passing as many cars as fast and as recklessly as they could. I have never seen a show like that and it scared the crap out of me.
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jeff borden said on August 13, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Coozledad,
Agreed. Anyone who channels Ayn Rand is a no-go for me. Plus, Whole Foods is ludicrously overpriced. We prefer the little Mexican grocery down the street for fresh produce and fruit. Good ol’ Jewel/Osco for the rest. BTW, even our Jewel has a couple of aisles filled with organic and vegan friendly foods. You don’t need to troop down to Whole Foods to find stuff that doesn’t come from factory farms.
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moe99 said on August 13, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Sent an email to Whole Foods, telling them I would never darken their doors again, but they wouldn’t let it go unless I indicated a store to whom it was directed, so I settled for one in Dallas.
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coozledad said on August 13, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Harris-Teeter does pretty good down here. My wife and I get some stuff there, but mostly order bulk stuff through United Natural Foods.
Maybe this will signal the return of the co-ops. I miss shopping for sesame crackers in a store that smells vaguely of spliff.
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LAMary said on August 13, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Between Trader Joes, weekend farmers markets and Costco, I can get whatever I need without going to Whole Paycheck.
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Dexter said on August 13, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Les Paul…I am in my celeb-mourn phase. In 1968 I was slumming in the old St. Vincent DePaul store in FWA. I saw a band new, still wrapped in plastic, set of Les Paul records—big thick 33 rpm records. It cost me twenty five cents.
I had that set for years and I would play it for friends many times over the years, until 25 years ago, when I gave it to a dear friend who begged me for it.
If you don’t know Les, just read a little about him on your fave web site—he wasn’t a giant, he was THE giant—a genius extraordinaire.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My last thought before I dozed off…Pitino…on the kitchen chopping block like that nympho chick did it on one of those “in treatment” HBO shows?
In the office on a couch of the buddy restaurant owner? In the bathroom with a buddy denying entrance to anyone else? Business hours or after-hours?
Maybe on the floor …nah…that’s for youngsters…(why are my knees and elbows aching at the thought?)
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coozledad said on August 13, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Dexter: I’m ruling out the salad bar, because the sneeze guard would be in the way.
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Dexter said on August 13, 2009 at 1:44 pm
jeffborden: It was about thirty years ago and I was at a light on LSD just south of the old S curve, heading south. It was about 3:00 AM, but the lanes were filled except for one, and traffic from The Loop was entering the Drive bound both ways. All of a sudden an old Pontiac going maximum speed heading south blows right through the red light and somehow threads a path through traffic without hitting anyone, and he never slowed a bit. Was it Providence or luck? I don’t ponder such things, but that incident was so amazing to see I never forgot it.
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LAMary said on August 13, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Dexter, I had a friend who said he drove better on acid. Did you find that to be the case for yourself?
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MichaelG said on August 13, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Is this the type of high speed chase disaster you were afraid of reading about, Nancy?
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13047148?source=rss
CHP gets high speed training but I don’t know about anybody else.
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Dexter said on August 13, 2009 at 1:54 pm
LAM: The light was on LSD, not me. Lake Shore Drive.
I had many chances to partake of the acid, but I always abstained from both acid and heroin, which were easily available in both California and Vietnam during my army daze. Wine and weed, that’s another story. Mateus and Mexican, and Cambodian Red and red wine were great combos.
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coozledad said on August 13, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I talked to a guy who lived in LA who inherited a cache of Sandoz LSD. He said it wasn’t cut with any speed, so you had no idea you were tripping until ptereodactyls started hammering the roof of your Econoline on the way to see the Dead in SF. He said his “old lady burned a lot of vans going to see the Dead and Zappa.”
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nancy said on August 13, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Michael: Yes, exactly.
I’m sure our well-traveled LAMary knows about LSD, one of the great road abbreviations out there. It took me three years to learn them all here.
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mark said on August 13, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Enjoying very much watching the wheels come off the Obama administration. At this pace, conservatives should be back in favor by Christmas (or the season of many secular and non-secular celebrations and remembrances, if you prefer). While I still admire Obama greatly for his efforts to do something with the presidency rather than just enjoying it, it is gratifying to see the people quietly derailing the Obama express.
Cap and trade? Other than Michigan’s junior senior weighing in with the solid argument that she is certain of global climate change because “she can feel it when she flies,” we haven’t heard too much lately. I’m told the Obama people, but not H. Clinton, were absolutely shocked that China, India, Russia, Brazil, etc. flatly refused to shackle their economies, notwithstanding our willingness to put a straight-jacket on our own. This apparently caused a change of heart with more than a few senators.
Health care reform has become a true circus. Obama’s latest PR effort got him stiff-armed by the AARP and the American College of Surgeons for being fast and loose with the facts. And with hindsight, analogizing the new public option to the Postal Service, which has run deficits for decades despite having a monopoly on first-class mail, might not have been a great idea. But we do now have a White House website where you can report your neighbor for “fishy” statements.
Truly interesting times.
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Lex said on August 13, 2009 at 2:07 pm
One of the projects I always wanted to do and never got to before my buyout was a strict cost-benefit analysis of high-speed chases in our coverage area: Which agency involved, what circumstances led to the chase, what (if anything) the pursued driver was wanted for, who got killed or hurt (pursuee, pursuer, innocent third parties?), nature and amount of property damage, etc. Find out whether the chase was worth the candle, so to speak. What prompted my wondering was a case one county north in which a guy being chased by police for something relatively minor rear-ended another vehicle at a stoplight in the proverbial “fiery crash,” which killed the two people in the stopped vehicle but did no serious harm to anyone else.
But since the Intertubez are killing journalism, I guess we’ll never find out the answer to this one.
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Jeff Borden said on August 13, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Mark,
It may be a bit soon to talk about the “wheels coming off” the Obama Administration since we are barely past Day 200.
No president in my memory has ever inherited a bigger pile of shit than Obama, courtesy of the last administration. And yet. . .we have avoided another Great Depression, if Paul Krugman can be believed, and we will have some form of health insurance reform. We’re finally getting the eff out of Iraq, which we should never have entered in the first place, and attention is being paid to Afghanistan, where the last
Republican administration cut and run without ever bringing to justice the man responsible for the murders of more than 3,000 Americans.
Not bad for just over 200 days.
And if you think that band of intellectual and moral pygmies that is the full flower of the current Republican Party is primed for a comeback, there’s a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like you to buy. The GOP has NOTHING to add to the debate. I no longer consider the party the “loyal opposition.” With notable exceptions, the party is a freak show of angry, atavistic, white guys who see the writing on the wall, but cannot discern the message.
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Julie Robinson said on August 13, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Coozledad, we still have a coop here but it’s mostly gone upscale. Asked the DH to pick me up some whole wheat flour on the way home from work and it was $6.65 for five pounds. It went back. It’s still a great place for bulk spices but when they jumped on the organic bandwagon they lost me. In theory organic sounds wonderful but in practice I can’t afford it.
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LAMary said on August 13, 2009 at 2:38 pm
“I’m sure our well-traveled LAMary knows about LSD”
Si. I was just messin’ with ya.
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Sarah Kenny said on August 13, 2009 at 2:38 pm
OMG. That crash happened about 2 miles from where I work. What a zoo!
So, Jeff, how many days does President Obama have to capture bin Laden before you criticize his failure to bring justice?
How long is the Obama administration going to be allowed to “Rumsfeld” the Afghanistan war by underfunding and under-trooping it before you take issue with President Obama’s management of the war?
Just checking. Looking for some honest benchmarks. I know you aren’t a hypocrite, so that should be easy, right?
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brian stouder said on August 13, 2009 at 2:40 pm
First – regarding what Jeff Borden said – 100% agreement!! (I’d say “1 million percent”, but I don’t know what the implications would be)
Second, Dorothy and Nance – the young folks and I have had those exact experiences with insanely fast motorcycles – and I HATE it! I’ve seen morons pop wheelies and zoom down Sherman Boulevard (think mixed residential/light commercial – lots of kids and pedestrians and side-streets and alleys)
And – leaving aside Nance’s charitble concern for the welfare of the idiots riding the things, MY first reaction, upon seeing one of those sons guns hurtling toward me at 130 mph – was that he’d score a ‘kinetic kill’ upon MY family (and me).
I will never ever own a firearm….but it one of those high-tech Defense Department contractors marketed a gizmo that would record the speed and disable the ignition on one of those things (the better to have the rider arrested, after the bike rolls to a stop), I’d buy it.
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Sarah Kenny said on August 13, 2009 at 2:43 pm
And no, Mark. The wheels aren’t coming off the Obama administration. The American public has a memory about 4 months long.
The wheels are coming off the congressional Democrat majority/super-majority, that’s a given.
But come election time, nobody will remember. After a 2010 electoral pounding, President Obama will say, “Oh, okay. I get it now.” Clinton redux. Pres. Obama will be forgiven.
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mark said on August 13, 2009 at 2:44 pm
jeff-
I agree about the pile of shit inherited. But it becomes part of Obama’s political reality and I think he is overplaying his hand, particularly with the spending. On the economy, I think we have mainly replaced consumer spending with a huge amount of unsustainable public spending. If things are rosy eighteen months fron now, I’ll throw Adam Smith, Hayek and their buddies off ther bookshelf and become a Keynesian.
Yes, we re getting out of Iraq. On the same time-table Bush negotiated unless I’ve missed the news on the big speed-up. I wish Obama luck with Afghanistan, but he has failed miserably at enlisting help from other countries- military or financial. I don’t blame him for that but I do fault him for selling the idea that Once nasty old Bush was gone, our friends would come to our aid.
And I didn’t say anything about the GOP. Their bad behavior helped usher in Obama. My fear is the dems will self-destruct before the GOP goes through much needed soul-searching. Orders for $500 million in jets for Congress and rushing through gigantic legislation without reading it isn’t warming the hearts of moderates and independents.
Obama’s approval ratings are falling faster than for any modern predecessor. Much of that is because he is trying to do something, when he could just hang around looking cool and speaking well and keep the ratings high. But, again, it is still his political reality and reflected in dems in NJ and VA races putting some distance between themselves and the White House.
As for health care, I’m betting no big change this year. Time will tell us who wins that one.
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alex said on August 13, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Amen to what Jeff B just said.
Cathy D — the Esquire article was an excellent piece of literary journalism, very well done. Thanks for the tip.
Regarding Lake Shore Drive, I used to live in the 3550 building at the southwest corner of Addison. One night several years ago somebody driving well over 100 MPH slammed into an abuttment a half block away. Debris from the crash went airborne and penetrated units in the second and third floors of my building.
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Rana said on August 13, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I don’t understand why it’s a good thing if a presidency is “coming off the rails,” honestly. About the only way I can make sense of that attitude is either the person expressing that position is anti-government to a degree that a social collapse is preferable to the continued existence of any government, or if a delight in partisan schadenfreude is overcoming one’s practical good sense.
The failures of the previous administration were a matter of concern and worry to me, not an occasion for glee, and I hold the same opinion with regard to the current administration. A dysfunctional executive branch is not a good thing for the country.
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mark said on August 13, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Rana-
It’s a good thing for the defeat of policies I think unwise or dangerous- cap and trade, health care reform, lax border enforcement and amnesty, greater federal role in local schools, massive new grants for college ed, etc.
The failures and excesses of the Bush administration largely occurred when it was highly functional; when shock from 9/11 gave him 90% approval and had even dems saying “Go Bubba, do whatever you want.” Too much power in one party eliminates deliberation and encourages excesses.
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4dbirds said on August 13, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Sarah, bless your heart.
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brian stouder said on August 13, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Hah!!!
An inside joke that I actually GET!
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moe99 said on August 13, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Ah yes, health care reform, bad. Current US health care system, good. Rinse and repeat.
The GOP is reprising their role from the first 2 years of the Clinton administration, when health care reform went down in flames. At the mid terms in 1994, the Repubs emerged the winners, in part due to this, and they’re hoping for a repeat.
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Rana said on August 13, 2009 at 3:27 pm
mark, I don’t disagree with that point – but I do find it distasteful when people are gleeful about such situations. It’s like dancing on a corpse – even if the bastard fully deserved it, it says as much about the character of the person doing the dancing. A kind of grim satisfaction seems far more appropriate, if one’s going to respond emotionally to the situation, rather than intellectually.
In a lot of these cases, in fact, it strikes me that the behavior of the people so acting is less about feeling relieved that things they’re worried about happening are less likely to succeed, and more about dancing around saying “Nyaaaah” to the people who had hoped for success in those areas. That’s not a thoughtful reaction to policy decisions that need revision and contemplation; it’s taking an animal pleasure in laughing at the failures those who disagree with one.
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Danny said on August 13, 2009 at 3:37 pm
My fear is the dems will self-destruct before the GOP goes through much needed soul-searching.
Mark, I couldn’t agree more. The RNC is a mess and they deserve to be out of power for a long, long time. And then they need to actually grow a soul to search for. As a conservative, I’m very disappointed in them.
Sarah, I think you might be new, so if so, welcome. Good comments so far; keep’em coming. BTW, whether you meant it sarcastically or not, Jeff B. is definitely not a hypocrite. He’s a pretty straight shooter.
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Jeff Borden said on August 13, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Sarah,
I would be lying if I said I were not very disappointed in President Obama for a number of reasons.
1.) I want a complete and total repudiation of the tactics the Bush Administration used to gather intelligence. He has been far too timid so far.
2.) The time is long past to do away with Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Obama has done nothing.
3.) The Republican Party is not interested one whit in working with the president, yet he continues to pursue bipartisanship. Screw it. He won. They lost. Roll over them.
4.) The health care plan must have some kind of public option, but he has waffled repeatedly on whether this should be a critical part of the overhaul.
5.) While I initially counseled caution on this topic, I now believe it is imperative that some sort of panel be empowered to investigate not only the wrongdoings of the last administration, particularly with regard to torture, extraordinary rendition, black site prisons, etc., but the overall breakdown of American intelligence that allowed 9/11 to occur. And why a nation that spends 10 times more on defense than the next five nations combined had no armed warplanes patrolling our own airspace on that fateful day.
6.) Fuck the Blue Dogs. Either get them in line to support his programs or back more progressive candidates to run against them. The president has been far too passive and accommodating to these dicks.
And finally, regarding Osama bin Laden, it wasn’t Barack Obama who promised the nation he would bring him in “dead or alive.” That would be the wee man from Crawford, making yet another promise he would break.
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coozledad said on August 13, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Just a hint for your average aspiring rightwing terrorist. The #1 car of murdering filth everywhere is a sedate Mercedes sedan, not a red Beetle, despite what Investor’s Business Daily may tell you.
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-secret-service-chase,0,735045.story
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Jeff Borden said on August 13, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Sarah,
On Afghanistan, which I neglected to answer, Obama already has sent more troops than the Bush Administration. I guess he’d have more of an Army and Marine Corps to work with if the previous administration hadn’t ground them to the nub with repeated redeployments.
Of course, if the previous band of sociopaths had stayed the course in Afghanistan, we might have had OSL’s head on a pike and a relatively stable nation instead of the powder keg that remains today.
Remember, Sarah, we endured eight years of mis, non, and malfeasance on a scale so breathtaking historians will be parsing it for decades. How long do YOU think it should take for Obama to clean up a mess that makes the Exxon Valdez look like a blot of mustard on a necktie??
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Jeff Borden said on August 13, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Coozledad,
Yeah, what kind of aspiring rightwing terrorist tools around L.A. in a bright red FOREIGN MADE bug? Dude needs himself a Hummer or one of those enormous Ford Excursions. He’s gonna be the laughingstock of the militia crowd when he goes to jail.
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Rana said on August 13, 2009 at 4:35 pm
My first car was a red VW bug…
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brian stouder said on August 13, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Moe said “At the mid terms in 1994, the Repubs emerged the winners, in part due to this, and they’re hoping for a repeat” and I agree with her assessment.
Here’s what I’m hoping for in the 2010 midterms: Obama consolidation. As has been said, he’s only been in office for 200 days, and we have a president who is leading. Keeping in mind that many 10’s of millions voted for the other guy in 2008, it’s no surprise that some percentage of them will bitch and moan no matter WHAT happens. But don’t forget – “red” states like Indiana and Virginia and North Carolina (thanks to Cooz, et al) went “blue” for Obama.
Republican members of Congress might well enjoy the screamers and shouters at the townhall meetings; and indeed, in an off-year election, turnout would be reduced – so that we start with the most dedicated (or hard-core) voters, and then work to add numbers of other voters to that. Don’t know about you, but as for me, I wouldn’t bet against the Obama organization when it comes to organizing a national GOTV campaign.
Given any sort of success on the national scene – and the president looks pretty good on several fronts right now – it will all come down to GOTV
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LAMary said on August 13, 2009 at 4:41 pm
According to my sons, VW New Beetles are “chick cars” so you have to wonder what kind of terrorist guy is driving a red new beetle.
By the way, that attitude towards my beetle changed when my son got his driver’s license. He developed a deep appreciation for my car.
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Jeff Borden said on August 13, 2009 at 4:47 pm
LAMary,
My nephews experienced a similar ephiphany about minivans when they turned of driving age. The Dodge Caravan was suddenly quite a fine, fine vehicle, lol.
My first car was a 1963 VW Beetle, purchased for $300 from a neighbor. It was a nice starter car, but nothing I remember fondly. Mine already was rusty and mechanically needy. How little did I connect with my little Bug? So poorly I washed it twice in the 14 months I owned it. As our Web site hostess, Nancy, can attest, I am pretty anal about keeping my cars clean, waxed and well-maintained. I never felt a twinge about ignoring my ugly, smoky, rusty Bug.
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coozledad said on August 13, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Julie Robinson: We pay somewhat less than that for organic flour, but we get it in a 50lb bag (currently $57.15). I make a lot of bread, pizza, and dumplings.
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Dexter said on August 13, 2009 at 5:11 pm
the best Les Paul tribute I have found :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP7qI5RVtxw
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Dexter said on August 13, 2009 at 5:15 pm
It seems that 95% of New Beetle owners and drivers are women. It seems the same for PT Cruisers and to a lesser extent Chevrolet Aveos.
For gay men, there is no car that screams out I AM GAY like the Mazda Miata.
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LAMary said on August 13, 2009 at 5:25 pm
I was told that Honda Elements were lesbian cars, for what it’s worth. Also, I believe that Honda CRVs and Toyota RAVs are owned mostly by short, slightly overweight women in their fifties. I observed this at my workplace parking lot, and my sons and I now keep an eye out when we’re on the road doing more research. So far it’s got to be about 80 percent.
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nancy said on August 13, 2009 at 5:34 pm
My gay sources tell me the Subaru Forester is as accurate a predictor of lesbianism as flannel shirts and a Hitachi Magic Wand in the nightstand. We’re ‘bu owners ourselves, and oddly enough, the local dealership is in a gay suburb. The corporation knows its customer base and likes to wink at it in advertising. A while back they had an ad that featured a bunch of different vanity plates Subaru owners might sport, and one of them was XENA LVR. Ha ha ha.
James Lileks drives an Element. Shhhh. Maybe he could be quietly added here.
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Jeff Borden said on August 13, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Well, I’m not sure I can agree with the depiction of the Mazda Miata as a gay man’s car. The most prevalent vehicles in Chicago’s Boys Town are German: VW Jettas and Passats, C- and E-class Mercedes-Benz, 3 series BMWs, etc. This reflects the upscale nature of the neighborhood.
I’ve also heard the Subaru Forester is THE lesbianmobile, but who really knows? What do k.d. lang, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi drive??
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LAMary said on August 13, 2009 at 5:58 pm
I know for a fact Ellen drives a Prius. She used to tape her show right behind this building. Now she’s down the street at Warner Brothers.
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coozledad said on August 13, 2009 at 5:59 pm
I was reading somewhere that the car of pornstars is a yellow Mustang convertible. Then I read a story about some porn actor who was parking his custom sportscar at a restaurant with outdoor tables. As he walked past one of them, a group of women made some comments about sportcars and penis size. “Ladies,” he said, “My dick BOUGHT me that car”.
Just another phrase I’ll never get to use.
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MichaelG said on August 13, 2009 at 6:40 pm
What kind of car does Patino drive?
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LAMary said on August 13, 2009 at 7:00 pm
http://jezebel.com/5336975/earlier-today-i-had-two-friends-over-one-regular-one–one-indian-one
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alex said on August 13, 2009 at 7:56 pm
LAMary—
Just looked at the “my God’s better than yours” video and came away thinking what a horrible disservice parents do to children when they teach them this sort of shit. Sad. The Indian girl is more Christian than either of those two ignoramuses will ever know.
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Dexter said on August 13, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Pitino had his own line of Ford pickup trucks named after him when he was at UK…now, they do make Ford trucks in Louisville, but they’re the big kind.
Karen Sypher drives … wanna guess?———yep, an Escalade, natch.
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Dexter said on August 13, 2009 at 10:17 pm
1969 Woodstock anniversary weekend coming up on XM 40 and my 1969 VW Microbus sits rotting out back…I need to trash it because it is in about as good shape as the late Ken Kesey’s “Furthur” bus, which is also decaying on the old Oregon Kesey farm, last I heard, but damn, I wish somehow my old bus was running , if just for one more weekend, to blast around town in once again.
Furthur: http://media.katu.com/images/061229_kesey_furthur_bus.jpg
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Dexter said on August 13, 2009 at 10:25 pm
hey kids! any of you hip to donny dumphy, newfoundland’s lovable rapper?
i LOVE this shit, i mean, ya gotsta check this out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQS1Rwo5vp0
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basset said on August 13, 2009 at 11:12 pm
The former Ford big-truck factory in Louisville is now Sterling… Ford spun off their heavy-truck line a few years ago. The plant at I-65 and Fern Valley Road (I think that’s it, Fern something anyway) on the south side of the city is still, as far as I know, making Ranger pickups and maybe Explorers. Edsels were built there way back when.
Back to driving on acid for a minute – never did it myself but a friend who liked that stuff way too much claimed he used to drive an IU campus bus while tripping. Trying to set fast time through the kink at the east end of Tenth Street was supposed to have been particularly interesting.
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brian stouder said on August 13, 2009 at 11:43 pm
I’ve lead a much, much more boring life than to ever even fool with drugs other than alcohol.
I DO recall driving home from the Hillcrest drive-in with no clothes on (beer may have been involved), but we digress
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moe99 said on August 14, 2009 at 12:49 am
I went to law school with a guy who said he flew helicopters in Vietnam. They had radar that would go ‘ping’ when the Viet Cong antiaircraft guns would target them. That ‘ping’ meant that they had a very few seconds to move very abruptly to get out of the line of fire (almost wrote get the hell out but I remembered our hostess’ earlier discussion of this). At any rate he said he liked to go up stoned or worse to see how good his reflexes were under the influence.
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Christy S. said on August 14, 2009 at 2:29 am
Pitino is like Doug Manchester, the San Diego staunch Catholic who funded Prop 8 (anti gay marriage) here in Calif but is now being sued hard for divorce by his wife of 43 years. OK, Pitino is worse. But I can’t stand these hypocrites.
Brian, I don’t think U of L is Catholic, is it? If so, it’s not well publicized.
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ROgirl said on August 14, 2009 at 5:36 am
Ah, religion and hypocrisy, how delicious! A never-ending source of mockery as moral absolutism meets moral relativism.
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beb said on August 14, 2009 at 7:38 am
religion and hypocrisy… Inspires the following fortune cookie: “People who wear morals on sleeve should fear dirty laundry — in bed!”
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Dorothy said on August 14, 2009 at 10:30 am
Re Catholicism at U of L: http://louisville.edu/rso/ccm
Dexter thanks for that Les Paul link on You Tube. It was terrific.
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moe99 said on August 14, 2009 at 10:42 am
Christy: You are right. U of Louisville is not a Catholic institution. I misspoke. Bellarmine, another university in Louisville is, and Louisville is one of the spots in KY where there are more Catholics than in the rest of the state. My parents lived for a year in W.Ky and my mother got a taste of what it was like to be a real minority as Catholics made up only 10% or less of the population and she was accustomed to something quite different in the midwest. Indeed there were stories about how during the depression, in eastern KY the catholics were driven from town before the blacks were. At any rate, my goof.
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caliban said on August 16, 2009 at 4:50 am
Anybody that’s mot Catholic really should shut the fuck up on the subject. I was raised in the CFM 60s days and I’ve read everything Teillhard ever wrote, and I actually understand what he was getting at. Catholics, for instance, understand that if you claim to WWJD and understand the bible, you wouldn’t be keen on idiots at town halls holding up bibles to object to government having it’s greasy hands on your Medicare.
I’m prejudiced about this, and I know it’s popular to comsider the Catholic Church a drag on intellectual advancement, but please consider the bastard offspring. These people consider racism part of their Reformation. That’s not true? Yeah, it is. It’s a Rovian world when it should be Teillhardian. Peole are abject idiots at Town Halls and spout unmitigatd bullshit while wielding nibles? What would Jesus say about the least of His brethren being taken care of? Actual Catholics believe this is basic human rights.
Catholics gave their lives in Central America to oppose phony ‘Chritsian’ Reagan atrocities. So don’t make snide and uninformed generalizions about Catholics. It’s intellectually dishonest and it’s just stupid. And its spectacularly bigoted.
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