This just seems strange and offensive to me, using a child with a debilitating genetic condition as a pro-gun prop:
Rick Santorum unveiled some new details about his three-year-old daughter, Bella, while speaking at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in St. Louis on Friday.
“(My wife) Karen and I are life members of the NRA, and we wanted to announce today that…now Bella is a life member of the NRA, too,” Santorum said.
MikeBoyScout
Santorum!
The de facto front runner for the 2016 GOP nomination.
General Stuck
If Jesus had packed heat, they never would have nailed him to that cross.
dr. bloor
The average IQ for NRA members just went up.
Kathy in St. Louis
Why would Santorum’s use of his handicapped child to make a political point surprise? Politicians, Republicans in particular, have used this stuff for years. Sarah used Trigg as a prop, John Edwards got a lot of political mileage out of his dying wife (I know because it was one of the things that made me respect him before I found out what a hack he was.). However, I’ve got to say that Rick Santorum is a really shameless example of creepiness.
Betty Cracker
It’s beyond creepy, is what it is — contemptible, I’d call it. And now the prick doesn’t even have the excuse of running for president to pimp out his children to wingnut lobbying groups. What a loathsome tool.
Davis X. Machina
@Kathy in St. Louis: He reminds me of Andy Kaufman….
Betty Cracker
@General Stuck: Okay, that made me laugh loud enough to scare the dogs away…
karen marie
I had this same thought the other day when it was first reported. She’ll be one of the “lucky” few if she makes it to age ten. And she was in the hospital Easter weekend. Clearly, he’s decided to wring out what little value he feels she holds before it’s too late.
R Johnston
It’s strange, offensive, and utterly contemptible, sure, but that’s just Rick Santorum and the Republican party for you.
samara morgan
its the same as Palin and her downs baby.
what do you expect?
c u n d gulag
Too bad the poor kid can’t shoot the disease that’s killing her.
And of course, it never occurred to a d*ckhead like Rick to donate the money he gave to the NRA, to a charity for that disease instead.
No – there’s votes in 2016 fer usin’ them thar prop’s!
What a waste of Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Carbon, that lump of protoplasm Rick is…
Bill Jones
I wonder if he will get a refund when the little girl dies young?
ruemara
@R Johnston: What he said.
Villago Delenda Est
Well, you see, Doug, you’re a thinking, sensitive human being.
Rih Santorum doesn’t rate those adjectives.
samara morgan
you will all be glad to know i finished The Republican Brain, and I’m moving on to E.O. Wilsons The Social Conquest of Earth.
;)
bemused
Rick and Karen are sick and twisted. It’s mind boggling how unaware they are that this might possibly be extremely distasteful.
dr. bloor
@Betty Cracker:
The really good grifters are always thinking ahead to the next con.
beltane
Santorum would not be the first sleazy Republican to use a disabled child as a prop, nor will he be the last. The whole conservative mindset is based upon sadism and exploitation; Ricky is just following the dictates of his tribe here.
Once you accept the fact that conservatives are all a bunch of depraved sh*tstains, there is nothing they can say or do that will surprise you.
gogol's wife
This is so sick, it makes me sick.
Schlemizel
@dr. bloor:
The next big con is 2016 – he’s just running the long con till then
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
It’s creepy, contemptible and shameful. I did not think it possible that Rih Santorum could further offend me. I was wrong.
Chris
@General Stuck:
As I recall, Peter packed heat (a sword) and tried to use it when they came to take Jesus away, only Jesus told him to cut that shit out.
Tell them that story and watch their heads explode.
Teddy's Person
This is wrong and depressing on so many levels. Too, too many people in this country are morally bankrupt.
Cromagnon
He may be an NRA member but something tells me Rick couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn at 10 meters
gogol's wife
@Chris:
He cut off the guy’s ear, in fact. I’m sure this must be dramatized in Mel Gibson’s movie with spurting blood, but I haven’t seen it so can’t comment.
DougJ, Head of Infidelity
@General Stuck:
Win.
Trakker
The annual NRA convention is a cesspool of paranoia, barely concealed fury, and howling-at-the-moon patriotism. Inmates without an asylum.
Bella deserves better.
gaz
Strangely enough, I expected better of Santorum.
I mean, I know he’s a panty-sniffing creep and all, but for all of that he at least seemed to have a (albeit weird) sense of integrity. At least it seemed like it. I stand corrected.
opie jeanne
@samara morgan: What did you think of the book?
JPL
UGH
pat (the other one)
Too bad the 22 week fetus they named Gabriel didn’t live long enough to join.
What a creep.
MikeBoyScout
Well, I’m sure Mooselini will correct her omission and acquire a lifetime membership for Trig in the very near future.
FREEDOM!
scott (the other one)
Not only is it creepy and reprehensible, but he just claimed he had to drop out of the presidential race on account of her health. So she’s too sick for him to follow God’s command and run for president of our nation which needs him so badly, but she’s not too sick for him to go and suck up to the NRA.
Family values, I guess.
butler
It makes sense when you remember that guns are a religion these people. Its not much different than proclaiming that you’re raising your kid with “Good Christian Values”.
Both are creepy, but both will be lapped up by the audience in question, since its an affirmation that the audience is correct in their ideology.
swordofdoom
The creepy part of it to me, is the same as with the Mormons baptizing (and marrying) the dead: Decisions about affiliation are made for those completely incapable of making those decisions themselves.
opie jeanne
@butler: I clicked on a link yesterday and regretted it. It was a video set up by a “Christian Patriot” selling his book about the 37 things you MUST BUY NOW, so you have them when the barricades are manned or the next BIG DISASTER STRIKES, aimed at the most paranoid, conspiracy-theory nutcases. He talked about people being forced into FEMA “camps”, how to pack your stuff for running from the mobs, how to buy the stuff without attracting attention, which stuff to buy, why MRE’s are no good for this, and you need to do it NOW because the stores will not be restocked for weeks or even months, remember Katrina? AIEEEE!@@@!
The best part of it was the bit when he talked about his (and presumably our) neighbors considering him nuts and being Christian, he will not say “Told you so” when the disaster strikes.
Yeah, that’s exactly what Jesus would want you to do, pal.
Oh, and it was ALL Obama’s fault.
jnc
Remember that Santorum is the guy who dressed up a dead baby and brought it home for a few hours so the dead baby’s siblings could say goodbye.
He is bat-shit crazy.
Vixen Strangely
So he gets a lifetime membership for his one child who cannot give assent one way or the other, and has the least use for firearms, because there’s nothing nakedly cynical or signifying about that. Nothing at all. What disabled three-year old isn’t a big fan of things that go “Blam” really loudly? I ask you.
2016 is four years away–I assure you, this is not the floor for Mr. Santorum.
Low Umbrage Threshold
For Europeans, an easy stereotype of Americans is the ‘Cowboy’ — Pious (whose Puritan roots lead to Witch Burnings, Temperance, Tent Revivals, Censorship, and the Ralph Reed kind of christian); Simple (He has some “Readin'” and can sign his own name, but don’t ask him about Goethe, Swift or Flaubert); and Gun-Totin’. Hands down, Little Ricky scores high in all three categories.
And, does use of the terms “Life” and “Member” in connection with guns strike anybody as particularly Freudian?
dmsilev
Question in bad taste, following Mr. Santorum’s example:
So if your child has a debilitating genetic illness that gives her a drastically shortened lifespan, do you get a discount on the “life membership”? After all, odds are, she won’t be using it for all that many years…
Mojotron
the less cynical view is that he’s doing it to pander to gun voters; the more cynical view is that he’s doing it for the death & dismemberment insurance. Or possibly both, it’s not an either/or scenario.
gogol's wife
@dmsilev:
God forgive me, that thought crossed my mind too.
pseudonymous in nc
@pat (the other one):
Given that the NRA flourishes on the basis of its appeal to bullshit male potency, I’m surprised they’re not offering life memberships for spermatozoa.
Shari
@jnc:
Not even a dead baby. A dead fetus. 22 weeks. His wife had “induced” labor (aka abortion) due to a fatal abnormality in the fetus.
Anya
What a sick thing to do. That man has no humanity.
PurpleGirl
Have they bought life memberships for the other children?
muddy
@swordofdoom:
This. My family was Catholic, I had barely had my first communion when I was 6, when suddenly I was being confirmed. At the time my main concern was that when someone needed to borrow a veil, my mom gave her the nice one and I got the ratty spare. I had been admiring myself in the nice veil for weeks, and I was really bummed. I had no idea what confirmation was about, but was made to memorize the responses. I really don’t remember it except for the veil issue. I didn’t think about it until I was in high school, and people I knew were getting confirmed at that age. I said I did it at 6, and everyone was astounded.
So I asked my mom why it why it was laid on me so early, when I didn’t understand what it was. My theory was that she wanted to get me totally signed up before I could become a questioner. But she said it was because our bishop had just been named a cardinal, and he was leaving for Rome. She wanted him to do it because confirmation by a cardinal was so much superior to confirmation by a mere priest. It’s like being a Louis Vuitton bag or something I guess.
By that time I was a questioner anyway and had been an atheist since about 12. Oh well.
I was made to go to confession every week as a small child, but most weeks I didn’t have anything to confess, so I used to make things up so she wouldn’t get mad that I was too quick in there. Never occurred to me that I should then confess *that* the next week. Kids are funny.
GregB
Any chance the good folks at Anonymous can get the membership information from the NRA and let us know just how many of these mass murderers and cop killers were members of the NRA in good standing?
I bet the number would shock people.
Villago Delenda Est
@Shari:
Well, all his kids have the abnormality of having the idiot as a father.
dmsilev
Speaking of morally repellent Republicans (and yes, that is just a tad redundant), this wins the “nonsense of the day” award:
It’s not “fair” because what, it’s not fair to accurately point out what the GOP wants to do?
Bex
@opie jeanne: Same con as all the millenium scammers pulled.
Egg Berry
@PurpleGirl: That was my question too. Doesn’t he have 7 kids or something? Why bring the disabled one to the conversation.
What a pRick.
bemused
@dmsilev:
Of course, he means it’s not fair to point out that Romney said he’d defund PP.
kth
Syllogism: Bella Santorum is a member of the NRA, and she suffers deeply and will probably die tragically young. Ergo, the NRA isn’t composed (and especially run by) crazy people and monsters.
eemom
@muddy:
Jeez. What a sad and disturbing story. Have you forgiven your mom?
Marcellus Shale, Public Dick
special olympics is the tactical arm of the nra /bothsidesdoit.
MattF
So, in fact, Santorum is a colossal dick. Thereby demonstrating, incidentally, that Charlie Pierce has been merely stating a fact, although PoliFact may, somehow, disagree.
Tehanu
Rick Sanctimonius, the human stain. See, this is why I didn’t join in the chorus of delight when he dropped out of the race, because you can never write these assholes off — either they come back from the polically dead, or someone even worse shows up in their place. In Ricky’s case, of course, the “someone worse” is himself, as he reveals further and further layers of creepiness, fanaticism, and corruption. I thought nothing he did could disgust me more than the dead fetus bit, but this — God. That poor little girl.
Jamie
Is it any stranger than Mormons repeatedly inducting Anne Frank?
Serious question.
Ash Can
Santorum is flat-out disgusting, and his wife must be an awful mess psychologically. I fear for their kids. Thinking about being brought up in a household like that makes me queasy.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Shari: I thought there was an issue because her life would be endangered once the fetus died? But I’m unwilling to research it.
opie jeanne
@Bex: My favorite of those was the 2k water tank. There was a place I used to drive by in Crow Canyon (we lived in Castro Valley) that had them in the front yard with a big sign about needing them for when the clock struck midnight.
We laughed every time we saw the thing. Still not sure why they thought the water system would fail, because it wasn’t on a computer that cared what the date was.
karen marie
@beltane: But no one, until now (except for the comment I left in the first post here that reported this), has included that Bella has an extraordinarily short life expectancy. None of the “news” organizations included the “small detail” that she has Trisomy-18. Baffling, except that, oh, yeah, we’re not supposed to politicize the children of politicians! Gak.
Similar to the lack of reporting about Karen Santorum’s abortion whenever Santorum vows to outlaw the procedure.
justawriter
Wait, this has potential … Rich Santorum locked in a room with a disabled three year old and a pile of loaded weapons … throw in a couple of cameras and you have the next hit reality series on Fox.
khead
Youth Day at the range.
Kathy in St. Louis
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): That’s probably true, but some Bishop in Brazil excommunicated a woman and her doctor because they aborted the fetus in a 9 year old child impregnated by incest. They doctor thought it would endanger her life, so did the mother. The bishop, being all seeing and all knowing, thought they were trying to pull a fast one and excommunicated the adults. It caused quite an uproar. I don’t see a lot of difference between the two cases, so I keep wondering how old Rick and his wife rationalize this in light of the Catholic faith they wear so visibly on their sleeves.
karen marie
Too late to edit the original but …
Similar to the lack of reporting about
Karen Santorum’s abortionthe fact they would have aborted the fetus if Karen Santorum had not spontaneously aborted whenever Santorum vows to outlaw the procedure.@dmsilev: NRA is having a fire sale on “life membership.” Santorum reportedly paid $500 for Bella, but they’re actually selling them for $300, discounted from $1000.
Alison
God, these people are gross.
BTW, don’t know if this has been dropped into an OT already, but Up With Chris Hayes had video of Romney, from an event in January, talking about how SAHMs need “the dignity of work”. A-fucking-hem.
http://upwithchrishayes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/15/11209115-romney-welfare-parents-need-to-go-to-work?lite
I guess he thinks Ann was lazy and undignified all those years then?
piratedan
Now I’m just waiting for the R’s to have their Greg Stillson moment….
trollhattan
@karen marie:
Yep, an abortion followed by the fabulously ghoulish (and I’ve never used those two words together before–Rih made me do it) washing of their sin by bringing the fetus home to share with the kids.
He’s a vile, vile and profoundly creepy individual who, if he didn’t have politics, would probably be planning some gaudy mass-murder.
lamh35
There is just no way R-Money can get away from all his etch a sketch moments. Twitter all abuzz about Romney vid where he said fed guv ahold provide child are credit of stay at home moms so they can get out and get to know the “duty of work”! So wait R-money is saying that stay at home moms raising there children don’t know the what work is?
R-money is so not ready for the new digital campaign! I would say thanks to GOP hatred of science & technology, the Obama campaign is gonna clean their clocks on the digital front!
Commenting at Ballon Juice since 1937
@General Stuck: If the Apostles had concealed carry permits they wouldn’t have had to keep locking the door to the room where they were held up.
Mr Stagger Lee
@Jamie: And the Mormons supposedly baptised Hitler(which is ultimately creepy, how the hell does one of the LDS has the minerals to go up to his bishop and say “hey lets baptise the soul of Hitler?”). I wonder if they also did that to the victims of Jonestown?
dmsilev
@Alison: Yes yes, but see that was *January* Romney. *April* Romney is an entirely different person, whose beliefs have nothing to do with January Romney.
And lets not even think about August Romney. That guy’s a real pervert.
Amir Khalid
Um, why does the National Rifle Association let parents, never mind politicians, sign up their minor children for life membership? Why should children be NRA members at all? Isn’t the right to own and use guns in America restricted to adults?
Alison
@dmsilev: Actually, I think August Romney is the reserved name for his first great-grandchild.
Alison
@Amir Khalid: I have a strong feeling the NRA and its devotees would LOVE to get rid of that pesky “adults only” portion of our gun laws.
“A well-regulated toddler militia”. WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
gnomedad
@khead:
What’s the point of “firearm safety” for the young ‘uns without a 9/11 slide show?
Amir Khalid
@Alison:
For some reason, I’m thinking of bulletproof vests that say BEST MOM/DAD IN THE WORLD.
burnspbesq
@GregB:
“good folks at Anonymous”
Do you refer to all criminal syndicates that way? Somehow, it would surprise me to see you write ” those good folks at the U.S. conference of Catholic Bishops.”
Or are you only in favor of crime when it supports your political agenda?
Amir Khalid
@khead:
Youth Day. With kids encouraged to think of guns as something you have fun with. OMFG…
honus
@General Stuck: Actually, Peter pulled his heat when they came to arrest Jesus in the garden. He cut off the cop’s ear. Jesus healed the guy’s ear and told Peter to put his sword away, saying “he that lives by the sword dies by the sword.” So there is no support in Jesus’ example for a second amendment right of self defense.
Here endeth the lesson. Next week: When asked, Jesus expressly and clearly said “Pay your taxes”
scav
@Amir Khalid: Don’t forget the extensive Stand Your Ground training offered to tots with active imaginations and lots of video games with monsters.
MikeJ
@scav: Then I saw little Tiffany. I’m thinking, y’know, eight-year-old white girl, middle of the ghetto, bunch of monsters, this time of night with quantum physics books? She about to start some shit, Zed. She’s about eight years old, those books are WAY too advanced for her. If you ask me, I’d say she’s up to something. And to be honest, I’d appreciate it if you eased up off my back about it.
Villago Delenda Est
@burnspbesq:
“The good folks at Exxon/Mobile”
“The good folks at BP”
“The good folks at the Komen Foundation”
“The good folks at Blackwater/Xe/Whatever they’re calling themselves this week”
“The good folks at AT&T”
“The good folks at Halliburton”
“The good folks at the Republican National Committee”
“The good folks at Koch Industries”
“The good folks at Monsanto”
“The good folks at Genco Imports”
Yeah, seems to work well.
gnomedad
@honus:
I always wondered about that story. I mean, you come to bust this dude, his wingman cuts your ear off, the guy sticks it back on your head, and you just shrug and bust him anyway?
gocart mozart
What laws have anonymous broken?
eemom
@Villago Delenda Est:
and don’t forget Bradley Manning. He’s a good fella.
gaz
@burnspbesq:
You have no place to comment on criminal syndicates, burnsie.
You aid one that has more power, money, and reach than any other crime syndicate in the world. One that rapes kids.
You have ZERO moral standing on this ground. None. In fact, your bringing it up only serves to highlight the depths of your own immoral depravity.
scav
And Marcus Brigstocke seems at least secant as he hits at two points to this thread, Keep on at least until the Postal Union appears for the front-page obvious one. Burnsie’s verging onto beardy friends territory.
gaz
@gnomedad: Such is the story of one Jesus Christ. And why I’m a fan, myth or not. Pure, unadulterated genius.
gaz
@Alison:
Already done. See The Lord’s Resistance Army, RUF, et al.
trollhattan
@Amir Khalid:
You have much to learn about our people, Grasshopper. a.k.a. “If only.” Guns are far too important to keep them from kids. Like broccoli, they fill important nutritional needs and are part of a complete diet. Otherwise, how could things like this happen?
http://www.komonews.com/news/26254529.html
The occasional human “bycatch” is a small price to pay for our Freedom(tm).
Price Geoffrey
@Betty Cracker: Creepy, Indeed. But with Santorum, it’s always white-windowless-van-with-kittens-and-chocolate weird. Why does he seem so drawn to phallic and sexual imagery. It’s like visual representations of his most deeply held convictions and (self-)hatreds bubble right to the top of the frothy mix. When he said Blah, and caught himself from invoking racism outright, that was the only time I’ve detected a self-censoring ability from inside his head. I’d love to hear him say “Flashlight” a few times on mic.
eemom
@gaz:
I wish you, and others, would get off this demonization of Burnsy kick.
I hate the Catholic church. I agree that it’s an evil and criminal institution. But I can’t subscribe to this insanity that everyone who identifies as a Catholic is complicit in the crime.
I’ve (cyber) known Burnsy for years and he’s a good and decent man. And considering the depth of animosity towards the Church on this blog, it takes guts to speak up as he has done.
Honestly, this is no better than the shit that was leveled at folks associated with Penn State in the wake of the Sandusky scandal. Or Tim calling Soonergrunt a murderer for serving in Afghanistan.
JWL
Yeah. Hard to believe a feet-on-the-ground guy like Santorum (who once insisted his own children say farewell to a miscarried fetus) could act so weirdly.
Gravenstone
@opie jeanne: Out of curiosity, I followed that link on Facebook a couple weeks ago. I made it most of the way through his little spiel, just waiting for him to say something useful. Yes, it’s all the fault of the scary “other”, specifically liberals and Democrats (with strong allusions to Socs and Comms). Although he did hint at a couple of his necessary items (peanut butter and quinoa).
When I went back to FB to tell them not to display that ad for me again, I told them it was “the mindless ravings of a madman, utterly devoid of value or worth”. Wondering if they got even the glimmer of a message from that.
Amir Khalid
@trollhattan:
From that story:
But they weren’t supervised by an adult, which the law doesn’t seem to think is necessary. Sigh.
Tonal Crow
@General Stuck:
The only problem there is that if he hadn’t been nailed to the cross, he wouldn’t have been resurrected. And you know what that means. I’ve always been curious about why the “Jews killed Jesus! Pogroms now!” crowd never make this vital connection. Perhaps it’s because bigots generally seem to be slower-than-average on the uptake. Or perhaps those that make the connection realize that bigotry is stupid and drop it, or at least that particular form of it.
jnc
@Amir Khalid:
Yes, back in 2008, a 14 year old hunter accidentally shot someone.
There’s really no reason to require adult supervision of 14 years olds who hunt. Adult hunter accidentally kill people every year. Stupid doesn’t stop at 18.
In my neck of the woods, a bicyclist hit and killed a pedestrian a few weeks ago on Market Street in San Francisco.
Across the bay a 17 year old drove up onto the sidewalk and killed a father and his daughter who were riding bicycles on the sidewalk in Concord California.
Nutella
@Amir Khalid:
That might not have helped. A rule to live by here in the US is: Don’t go near the woods on the first day of deer season since every adult with access to a gun and large quantities of beer will be out shooting at anything that moves.
Ash Can
@eemom: But don’t you understand that all (strike)Muslims(/strike) Catholics are responsible for what their (strike)imams(/strike) bishops say and do?
Ben Cisco
@jnc:
What the hell kinda bicycle was s/he riding?
JD Rhoades
They use the kids as props so that when you criticize them for it, they can claim you’re being mean to disabled children.
Srsly. At least that’s what they do around here.
David Koch
Palin must be kickin herself for not thinkin of this first.
gaz
@eemom: Serving in the military is not the same as aiding the catholic institution.
And I could give fuck all about what you wish. Just sayin’
David Koch
@Ben Cisco:
It looked like this
gaz
@David Koch: heh
Anne Laurie
@Amir Khalid:
True fact: In Bowling for Columbine, his movie about Americans’ weird relationship with guns, Michael Moore said he was a lifetime NRA member — his dad bought him a membership when he was seven or eight. Apparently it’s a great cost savings over the annual membership fees, and it’s a thrilling gift for a small child who wants to grow up “just like Daddy”. (The Spousal Unit grew up in a family like that, and although he proved immune to the meme, his nephews all have “My First Buck” photo albums to commemorate that important step towards manhood. Also, ‘Second Week of Deer Camp‘.)
Thing is, beyond the usual political creepiness of using one’s private family moments as props, Bella Santorum is probably never going to be able to appreciate her father’s gift, much less make use of it. It just takes the ick factor up to 11. Even if Palin had announced she was buying a ‘lifetime membership’ for Trig — there’s a family tradition of ‘gun sports’, Trig could conceivably enjoy target shooting when he’s older & probably he’ll someday want a My-First-Buck photo if only because every other kid in his class has one. But Bella, according to her father’s own youtube videos, is pretty much chained to a hospital bed; she may never be capable of holding a gun, much less using it. In context, it’s like Rick was one of those sad individuals who cut into an eggplant and discover some markings they decide are an image of Jesus or calligraphy of God’s name — only Rick’s using that eggplant as “proof” that God has declared him more pious & worthy than the rest of us. If we thought he believed that, it would be disturbing, but since he seems to be doing it as part of his con game, it’s just sad and disgusting.
eemom
@gaz:
Thanks, but I don’t need any.
trollhattan
@jnc:
In the real world there is a reason for an actual adult and not a sixteen-year-old passing for an adult supervising a hunting child. A responsible person would have insisted on a one-hundred percent verification of the target before allowing said child to shoot, and in this incident the sixteen-year old did not do this, and a woman is dead. A goodly proportion of sixteen-year olds would likewise have not intervened; their cognitive abilities have not fully developed.
None of this has fuck all to do with a bicycle-pedestrian collision.
muddy
@eemom:
I don’t need to forgive her for that stuff, it was just silly. But there was a lot very much worse, and no I have not forgiven her. She’s gone now, and I have a terrific relationship with my own child (heh, child near 30), so I like to think I won in the end. I became the mom I wished I had.
jnc
@Ben Cisco:
No word on that yet. The only details I’ve heard is that it was a bike with gears and brakes – as opposed to a fixed gear or single speed. The doosh bag bicyclist uploaded data from this bike computer to the internets He was supposedly doing 35 mph at the time. He did a ride report afterwards in which he devoted about 500 words to the ride and then gave about 20 words at the end to the fact that he’d clocked a pedestrian .
(I rode to work every day down Market Street for 10 years, so I’m pretty pro-bike and all, but this guy is not exactly an ambassador for the activity.)
jnc
@Ben Cisco:
No word on that yet. The only details I’ve heard is that it was a bike with gears and brakes – as opposed to a fixed gear or single speed. The doosh bag bicyclist uploaded data from this bike computer to the internets He was supposedly doing 35 mph at the time. He did a ride report afterwards in which he devoted about 500 words to the ride and then gave about 20 words at the end to the fact that he’d clocked a pedestrian .
(I rode to work every day down Market Street for 10 years, so I’m pretty pro-bike and all, but this guy is not exactly an ambassador for the activity.)
jnc
@trollhattan:
You’re confusing “responsible person” with “adult.”
And you’re right, it doesn’t have anything to do with the bicycle-pedestrial collision except that they are both two things that were caused by idiots and that only a moran would use either incident as the basis for making laws or public policy.
trollhattan
@jnc:
Bicycle-pedestrian is 50:50 caused by the pedestrian:bicicylist.
Hunter:random victim is 100:0 caused by the hunter. Do. You. See. A. Difference?
mike in dc
The kind of people who attend an NRA convention eat that stuff up. The kind of people who don’t, not as much.
NRA is basically a syndicate/con for selling product, and advancing a conservative agenda. If all they cared about was protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners, they could have cut a deal on that a long time ago, wiping out all or most of the loopholes used by criminals and aspiring criminals to acquire guns(straw purchases, back-trunk resellers who buy in bulk, gun show and private sellers, etc.), with minimal inconvenience to their members.
Rogers
Pure Santorum.Didn’t occur to Rick and his handlers that the mental image of Bella brandishing a sidearm in daycare might be off-putting. I was going to make a crack about Sociopathy then realized it’s just another of Little Rickys shortcomings– EFFECTIVE sociopaths understand the utility of slapping a HappyFace over their slavering mugs. When Normals respond with EEEEK when he snarls he just looks baffled.
tones
so the kid has like a year to live so he gets her a “Lifetime” membership?
ugh.