This is horrible, and I hope you all go send Mike your best wishes.
Mike is a genuinely good guy, and I am sure he is going through sheer hell right now.
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.
Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.
Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.
Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.
A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires
No one could have predicted…
After roe, women are no longer free.
Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?
They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.
Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?
Let there be snark.
Not all heroes wear capes.
Second rate reporter says what?
When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.
“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”
Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.
Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?
“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”
The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.
I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.
Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.
Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.
White supremacy is terrorism.
“woke” is the new caravan.
ConservativelyLiberal
That is so sad to read John. I am a biker too, and my wife wants to get one for herself. I worry about that just for this reason, but she is insistent about it. I wish Mike the best, and I hope he makes it through this terrible time in his life.
Losing a brother or sister rider sucks, and watching out for the idiots on four wheels is a full time job. They never see us until it is too late, or so they say.
Sad…
chopper
yeah, i carry a spark plug in my pocket to deal with crazy cagers, but that only works in certain situations. i can’t count how many friends of mine have been put in hospital b/c someone made a left in front of them and ‘didn’t see them coming’. hell, half of them drive off too. bastards.
The Other Steve
Man, that Coldfury site appears to be a bunch of spoofers. Sheesh, they’re so over the top it’s not even half way believable.
That being said. I just started riding about two weeks ago. Got my motorcycle endorsement and bought a used 2003 Aprilia Scarabeo 150 motorscooter. I’m just using it for commuting to work… about 3-4 miles each way on side roads at no more than say 45 mph. This thing is more like an automatic cycle than a scooter. It’ll do 65-70 mph if need be, the Rotax engine in it has some power.
But being a totally cautious person… I’m buying the gear. I bought a pair of gloves with carbon fiber knuckles, and have a Hein Gericke jacket on order which should be coming today. I have an HJC 3/4 helmet now, but will probably get an Arai full face for next year, as well as a pair of decent boots, and even overpants.
In a few years, if I enjoy this enough, I’ll probably get something bigger like a BMW 1200RT and go cross country. We’ll see.
I’ve had numerous buddies who got into crashes, even at low speeds in the city. I don’t take chances. I hear stories like this and it just reaffirms my desire to be careful.
ThymeZone
Tragic story. I’ve seen a family member fatally injured in an accident right in front of me, so I can really relate.
As a former motorcyclist, I can only say, wear the gear (see TOS article above), and ride defensively at all times. And if you have dependents, get life insurance. Assume that every other vehicle on the road is going to do exactly the worst thing possible, and act accordingly.
Rex
My condolences go out to her family.
When this link came up in my RSS reader, I thought that Christina Hendricks, aka Saffron from Firefly, had passed away and John had butchered the spelling.
Andrei
A “geniunely good guy?”
You mean the same guy that wrote just four days ago:
While I’m sorry for his loss, I still have yet to understand why you keep claiming certain people are fine and all that. You said the same things about the RedState folks barely a year or two ago, but now you seem to be starting to see them for what they are.
I don’t know. I just don’t get it. Guess it will always be a mystery to me.
HelenaMontana
Naturally one is sorry the poor woman is dead. However, if this Mike person is the proprieter of the Cold Fury website, I have my doubts about his being such a wonderful person. I just saw the run of the mill far right hate-and-violence laden content. I don’t see where he’s such a great guy.
chopper
good idea. taking a scooter, even a modern one, across country is not an easy experience, trust me.
Cassidy
Highly inappropriate considering the topic. Your compassion is leaking again.
Tsulagi
Don’t know Mike, but I’ll take your word he’s a “good guy.” Haven’t read Cold Fury before so can’t speak to Mike’s archives, but his post last Friday reads like standard pavlovian “The Democrats are Always Worse!” bullshit.
That said, I wouldn’t wish the death of a spouse on my worst enemy. And like a few here, I can feel a little extra sympathy for a fellow rider, and maybe even just a touch more if like his wife he rides a Harley. RIP, Christiana.
A relic of my pre-daddy days is a 67 FLH Shovelhead with both kick and electric start shoved into a rigid frame. All you riceburners out there, kneel before the god, Harley. For the non-believers, tell me, how many other bikes could be 40 years old and still running strong?
The wife hates that bike with a passion. Thinks it’s irresponsible of me to ride now. Lays on the guilt. So to avoid/minimize bitching, often I wait until she’s taken the kids somewhere then I fire that sucker up. Yeah, I’m pussywhipped.
chopper
sorry, but just b/c someone very close to a person dies doesn’t mean that they’re suddenly a great guy if they obviously aren’t. if michael savage lost his wife (he’s married, right?), it wouldn’t make him a great guy either.
that being said, i feel bad for the guy no matter who he is. there are very few people on this earth that i wish that sort of pain on, and despite the horrible things he’s written, he doesn’t rise anywhere near that level.
Jimmmmm
I’m with Andrei and HelenaMontana. Cold Fury has hardly a shred of goodness or decency in it. It’s hardly a leap of faith to think the same of the site’s proprietor. I genuinely feel for Mike’s loss, but let’s not let grief serve as cover for his malevolence. (Yes, scolds, it is possible to keep these two apparently conflictory thoughts in mind at once. )
Maybe Mike will emerge from the ordeal with a healthier regard for the views and personal safety of those whose ideologies and personal philosophies don’t mesh with his. But till then, our unreserved and unconditional sympathies for Mike and Christiana’s surviving family.
Leader Desslok
Note to all who think you can know someone by what they write on the internet:
You can’t.
Mike wrote some pretty fucked up shit on his website. Guess what… I have been known to say mean things on the internets too. But I’m pretty sure I’m an OK guy. Maybe I was having a bad day. Maybe I was having a bad year. Maybe I was just really fucking bored.
Alot of people who are otherwise very pleasant flush all kinds of unpleasant shit down the tubes every minute of the day. Something about sitting in front of a computer does that to people. I suppose it’s like road rage. But if you met them… well, then I suppose you’d have to have some experience socializing with actual people. In person. Face to face.
But if you’ve been holed up in your mom’s basement for the last eight years, I suppose you wouldn’t realize why it’s not cool to trash a guy you don’t know who just lost his wife in a road accident on the grounds that he wrote bad stuff about democrats on the internet.
Jesus Fucking Christ.
Keep your head up Mike. May Christina rest in peace.
John Cole
I know he is a good guy because I spent hours chatting with him via AOL IM and spent time talking over yahoo chat.
I don’t read his site anymore, and I can not attest to whatever he may have written that honks you all off so much, but I do know that he is a good person-at least he was to me.
Regardless, not sure how what someone’s political opinions are entitles you to shit all over a thread remembering his wife, so piss the fuck off.
Cassidy
No, but a little decency on your part wouldn’t hurt. But as long as you got to say “gotcha”, all is right with the world.
chopper
what was indecent about what i said? i pointed out that losing someone doesn’t automatically make you a nice guy, and you agreed.
John Cole
Why did you even need to say it in the first god damned place? Of course someone dying doesn’t make them a nice person. Wanna throw some other gems of knowledge in there, too? What color is the sky? Is water wet?
The Other Steve
Come on people. The opinions over at coldfury are clearly satire. You shouldn’t draw conclusions about a person based on their writings, especially by taking satire seriously.
Sheesh
chopper
because it isn’t inappropriate to point out that no, the guy in fact isn’t a nice guy as others above me did. even though his wife died. cassidy said it was, due to the circumstances (her death), and it isn’t.
shit, in the tammy faye thread people pointed out that she herself was part of a system that bilked people out of money. you yourself semi-approvingly linked to pharyngula who said:
if you can link in such a way to those that speak ill of the dead i certainly can defend those who speak ill of the bereaved.
chopper
i don’t know coldfury, i don’t read it. if it is in fact satire, i would agree that those who rag on the dude shouldn’t.
however, i think its just as okay to speak ill of the bereaved if they deserve it as it is to speak ill of the dead if they too deserve it.
ConservativelyLiberal
I take it as a satire site too TOS, a pretty damn good one too. Maybe A. Whitney Brown ought to join up there… ;)
People, someone lost a spouse in a horrible accident. That is what John wrote about here. Nothing else is of consequence.
Nothing.
John Cole
Don’t make me delete all the comments and lock this god damned thread because some of you are so petulant, so bitter, and so fucking base that when a man’s wife dies and someone puts up a remembrance thread, all you can do is shit all over him because of his political statements.
Grow the fuck up. And if you can not figure out the difference between accurately stating the public record regarding Tammy Faye and this, I give up.
Pro-tip- Christiana Hendrix didn’t write anything offensive on Cold Fury.
Pro-tip #2- Writing things that upset you on a weblog is not a crime. Robbing hundreds of thousands of old people is.
chopper
so pharyngula saying that she “lived a wasted and deluded life” and “good riddance” that she died is accurately stating the public record on tammy faye? that sounds more like a personal slam on the dead to me, not a statement of fact.
either way, i’ll stop posting in this thread now as you’re obviously quite upset and i don’t want to see it locked.
Tax Analyst
Losing someone close to you sucks…I know and most of you most likely know it from personal experience. I didn’t know the blogger and never read the blog. John posted this thread topic as a condolence to someone he’s apparently known quite a while who lost the closest person in the world to them. I can get plenty angry about what someone says or said about me or what I believe to be true, but I personally prefer not to stroll over and piss on freshly tilled graves. It doesn’t make me feel any better, it doesn’t make my arguments look any more reasoned, logical, moral, incisive or prophetic. It just makes me look like someone who doesn’t understand the dynamics involved in the relationship of loss and of empathy. Hint: when you DO understand that relationship you will actually gain some measure of succor when a great loss befalls you and someone puts a hand on your shoulder to commiserate. If you don’t get it then that hand is just part of some disconnected stranger you don’t really know interferring with the present nightmare of your unrelenting grief.
Tsulagi
You’re right, John.
What I said in the first part of my comment earlier about Mike’s writing could and should have been put aside for another day.
Since Christiana rode a Sportster, I strongly suspect she loved to ride. It’s the perfect bike for a lady, one with impeccable taste and style. Likely she had some favorite places to ride. May Mike find her in those places whenever he wishes.
rachel
What a pity. So sad.
demimondian
Look, nobody, no matter what they’ve written, deserves to have a spouse or companion die. It’s horrible in all cases, but particularly when they die suddenly and violently in front of you.
I’m sorry, Mike.
Bryant
Nobody here knows me, but I used to blog a lot on politics, from the liberal side of the spectrum. I took the time to talk with Mike. I disagreed with him, didn’t like a lot of what he had to say, but he was also a guy who was willing to like me despite the fact that he had as much fondness for my opinions as I did for his.
Yeah, he’s a good guy.
Mike
I can’t believe I only just saw this, the third anniversary of…well, it. Thanks so much, John, for saying what you did. I do still remember our chats, and though we disagree on a lot, well, politics ain’t everything. Yeah, I’m over the top sometimes. It’s why I have a blog in the first place: to vent, to let off steam. Glad you get that. I’d still buy you a beer anytime, even if by the end of the night we’d wind up Indian leg-wrestling on the bar to settle our differences.
Okay, so maybe not Indian leg-wrestling. Still. I’m pretty sure you know what I mean, and I still consider you a friend, no matter what gets said in this narrow, confined, inadequate space that is the blogosphere. Thanks again, buddy. It’s much appreciated, and I hope you know that.
Okay, back to arguing, and getting nowhere with it. ;)
Mike
Oh, and Bryant, thanks to you too. I haven’t forgotten you either. Nor will I.