Nothing to see here, move along

Appears that by 6:30 PM, the Lake Cities Sun had deleted the article advocating assualt and murder of motorcyclists. I guess they didn't like all the publicity they were getting. Gosh, I only told about 15,000 of my closest friends around the world . . .

It is interesting - the article was originally posted on the 16th of March. I was out of pocket and didn't see any pointers to it until mid morning today. I took a bit of offense and let others know how I felt about the issue by a couple of free 'blogs and posts to newsgroups and e-mail lists of people holding a common interest.

Those small steps made a difference, and hopefully the Managing Editor, Doug Simpson, will think before typing up incitement to injure and kill people.

I've taken the liberty of posting the original article below:

3/16/2006 10:40:00 AM
Airing of grievances
Douglas Simpson, Managing Editor

To quote Seinfeld's Frank Costanza at Festivus dinner, now is the time for the airing of grievances. Usually there's one hot topic to prompt me to write a column, as my fingers angrily dance across the keyboard. But there are a few things that are, well, bugging me that I need to address.
Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Motorcycles. Why are these things street legal? I challenge anyone out there to remember a time they saw a motorcycle that was driving the speed limit and adhering to all traffic laws. When I see them, they are usually going about 120 mph down I-35E, weaving in and out of lanes like those white lines are just there for show. Nothing irks me more than sitting in dense 5 p.m. or Friday traffic, only to see a motorcycle driving between the rows of cars, going about 40 mph. I want so badly to open my car door just before they reach me. I'll never forget the time I was driving down the George Bush around 10 p.m., when all of a sudden scorching down the road were not only about five motorcycles driving erratically, but they were all riding on their back tires. Popping a wheelie while doing 80 mph down a public roadway: stupid. I remember a few years back, I think after Gary Busey had his bad motorcycle wreck, there was a public service announcement asking motorists to "keep an eye open for motorcyclists," like they are being abused by us car and truck drivers. I remember telling the TV, "I'll look out for them as soon as they start obeying traffic laws." I'm still waiting, so in my eyes, they are fair game. Our police officers do a good job, I just hope they pay a little extra attention to the wheelie-popping idiots that are making the roadways dangerous for all of us.

2. Carole Keeton Rylander Strayhorn. I think that's her name. Anyway, she's the state comptroller who is also one of the candidates for governor. She's been comptroller under Rick Perry for a while. Up until last year, there was nary a word spoken about Perry from Strayhorn, much less the daily Perry bashing that's going on currently. Why? She was a Republican. Someone convinced her to run for governor, but she knew she would not stand a chance at getting the Republican nomination as long as Perry wanted to stay in office. So what does she do? She runs as an Independent and daily tells anyone who wants to listen what a bad job Perry is doing, and that we Texans are all doomed because our governor is running the state into the ground. Well, CKRS, why didn't we hear about how bad a job Perry was doing before you decided to run? Strayhorn wants more power, more money, more prestige, so she's willing to not only abandon the Republicans, but rip the governor on an hourly basis - a governor she seemed to work well with until election time came around. I'm not the biggest Perry supporter in the state, and I wouldn't waste a vote on Kinky Friedman. But I'd vote for a jar of mayonnaise before I'd vote for Rylander Keeton Carole Strayhorn. She is the epitome of doing whatever it takes to get into office. The mud has been slung for months now, and it will continue until Election Day. That's what's wrong with politicians. They make big promises, bash their opposition, and if they are lucky enough to win they seldom live up to their self-generated hype. If she loses? I guess she gets to keep her day job and go back to calling Governor Perry "sir."

3. American Idol. Let me get this straight. This show, that airs open auditions to determine the best singer in the country, is the most watched show in the nation? Ratings statistics alone dictate this will not be a popular opinion, but I honestly do not know what the draw of this show is. I have happened upon it several times while flipping (hard not to see it, since it seems to be on practically every night), and I could not believe how bad these "singers" were. I think there's more singing talent in church choirs around the country than what's on stage during the show. I don't have much to say about the judges. The British guy is rude, Paula Abdul thinks she's still relevant, and Mr. Jackson, a former studio musician, should have stayed one. I find it ironic that it is these three that determine what's good and what isn't, when their own resumes before the show were mediocre at best. And then there's all the stories about how 911 calls can't get through because there were so many American Idol calls the phone system blew up, or something like that. There's no accounting for taste. It just seems a shame that quality shows like Arrested Development get axed while reality shows and their rip-offs rule the television scene. In my eyes, it is another example of how this country is getting dumber. TV used to be great in any form, but now we don't want to have to "think" or "follow a story," we just want to say if a singer, bachelor, survivor, or cow intestine eater is "good" or "bad." Soon the TV will just be flashing different colors, and the American public will eat it up. "Red is good." "Orange is bad." "Green is good." "I like purple. Do you like purple?"