quick rants

Three things I feel a need to address:

• To the guy in the black Impala who blared at me through his window while I rode south on MacArthur Boulevard this morning: shut the #@$% up! He yelled at me to “stay in the f—ing bike lane.” There are two problems with that: the bike lane is littered with glass right now, and I was going 22 miles per hour. A quick check of the Montgomery County regulations shows that the speed limit on the multi-use path on the southbound side of MacArthur is 15 miles per hour. This is the case because it is a bi-directional, multi-use trail. I could encounter other cyclists, joggers, walkers, or even folks on horseback, and the rule is there to try and keep the maximum closing speed for any two users 30 mph. As it was, my fellow cyclist and I were observing all rules and regulations for road use, and were riding between 20 and 25 mph on a 35 mph road. This user simply wanted to bomb along at 50 mph with “a little room for error.” The thing is: going 50 on this stretch of MacArthur will save most drivers less than one minute of commute time – hardly worth the effort this driver exerted to yell at me.
• To the folks who cheered, whooped and hollered at the Blue Angels’ fly-over at President Ford’s burial in Grand Rapids: the cheers were inappropriate. The pilots were doing a missing man formation, a sign of reverence toward a fallen soldier or commander. It is meant as a solemn, silent sign of respect – not a stunt show. Yo, spectators: the fact that the honor guard was standing at attention while “Taps” was being played – all while the jets flew overhead – should’ve been a clear sign that cheers were not appropriate. Is it any wonder that other countries see us as hicks without manners?
• To Cindy Sheehan, who took it upon herself to disrupt a press conference on domestic issues being held by the incoming Democratic House leadership: your 15 minutes are over. In continuing to monkey wrench, protest ad infinitum, and otherwise try and steal the spotlight at completely inopportune times, you do a disservice to the cause you claim to support. You are – to borrow from The Bard – “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Please, Cindy: pass on the torch, or at least take a more mature tactic to heart. Butting in on the incoming house leadership during a news conference which had nothing to do with the U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is simply foolish – shame on you, Cindy. And shame on the liberal blognuts who continue to deify Ms. Sheehan and her misguided actions.