Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

In after Baud. Damn.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

No Kings: Americans standing in the way of bad history saying “Oh, Fuck No!”

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Come on, man.

Second rate reporter says what?

We still have time to mess this up!

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

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Doing It Live in Connecticut

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I made it to ABC’s pad successfully, and I am stealing a moment while she hoses off the children to surf the web. I had a pretty uneventful ride up (the first time I came here the Subaru went tits up halfway there and then on the way home I drove through a snowstorm at 20 miles and hour), so by comparison, anything is uneventful.

I did get pulled over, though, and that is the first time I have been pulled over since 1995. I was on 119 right near the East 22 exit, and the highway splits off in three directions and drops from 70 to 45 in about 300 ft while downhill, and I was breaking to get to 45, but you can’t just slam on your brakes on a highway, so I was still speeding and got pulled over.

Fortunately, I have the whole whiteness thing going so I got off with just a warning (he didn’t even tell me how fast I was going), but I was still kind of irritated I was pulled over for such shitty design. At any rate, I treated the cop like I treat all police when I interact with them, which is that they are pretty well trained to shoot me and inadequately trained in everything else. Pulled over far off to the right so I was almost in the culvert so he would feel safe with enough room, turned my hazards on, turned off the car, rolled down the front and back window (since the back window is tinted), put the keys in sight on the dashboard, and just kept my hands on the steering wheel and let him do all the talking. Took about five minutes and I was off.

Again, whiteness is good. I also think having a clean car really helps. They can see everything in the vehicle and don’t have to worry about guns hidden anywhere.

Thoroughly enjoyed the vehicle, and amusingly enough given that I was pulled over for the first time since the 90’s, I find myself driving slower. The Subaru had all that HP and just wanted to go 80-85, but the Honda has a really nice sweet spot from 65-75. The ride was smooth, I got 30 miles to the gallon, and I really enjoyed the seven point speaker system.

Speaking of the stereo, I had the iphone loaded with music and found myself listening to a weird assortment of music (that I am going to post here in part because I know half of them probably piss off DougJ).

In order:

Bjork- Telegram (I played Isobel twice)
Big Audio Dynamite- This is Big Audio Dynamite
CCR- 20 Greatest Hits (skipped a couple that I’ve heard too much- Proud Mary, etc.)
The Cult- Electric. I may have played King Contrary Man three times back to back to back because, well, this is why:

Needed a transition after the Cult so I slowed things down a bit with a couple from Led Zeppelin- Physical Graffiti
OMD- Crush (stopped after track five, Crush, because I think the album goes to shit from there)
Rolling Stones- Emotional Rescue
Rolling Stones:]- Sticky Fingers
Smiths Hatful of Hollow
Squeeze- Singles: 45 and Under
Maceo Parker and the Kingsman- Doing Their Own Thing

Just finished the rest of the ride with the J.B’s Anthology- Funky Good time.

Lot of stuff I have not listened to in a while. It was a fun drive.

Reader Interactions

99Comments

  1. 1.

    Zoey2020

    King of the highway! Plus, you survived because of reasons that most of us never have to think about, never mind deal with. Enjoy your weekend with ABC.

  2. 2.

    piratedan

    that Squeeze album is one of my favorites, I always rattle the windows when Another Nail In My Heart comes up.

  4. 4.

    JohnO

    Emotional Rescue? Out of the Stones’ catalogue you go with Emotional Rescue? *gag*

    Glad you enjoyed the wheels.

    I’m with you on dealing with The Man. Two hands on the wheel, yes sir/no sir; it is by a mile best to adopt a “please don’t shoot me” attitude with the fuzz. Ain’t nobody whiter than me, either.

    You’re a good man, JC.

  5. 5.

    Steve in the ATL

    @piratedan:

    that Squeeze album is one of my favorites, I always rattle the windows when Another Nail In My Heart comes up.

    My favorite Squeeze song, though the pedant in me is bothered that the song is named Another Nail In My Heart but the lyric is “Another Nail For My Heart”

  10. 10.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    Speed traps suck. I drive so slow it drives my wife nuts, and I got pulled over once for going 33 miles an hour. That was in 1996, the only time I ever got pulled over for speeding. It was a school zone, but it was early in the morning going west with the sun rising behind me and shining so brightly on the school zone flashers that I couldn’t tell they were blinking. Sure enough, a police woman pulled me over and I had no clue why she was even doing it. It was clearly a racket, and I contested the ticket, but they made me pay it anyway. $91. I’m still bitter about that.

  11. 11.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): I hear if you enter the state of Maryland always go at the speed limit, ditto if you enter Arizona from California. Alsi US 101 into Oregon’s coast. BTW what do you think of Brad Pitt’s War Machine on Netflix? I seen better, especially considering he basically redoing his role from Inglorious Bastards Without the Bear Jew.

  12. 12.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    I used to live for years in rural eastern Connecticut. Where are you? East or west of the river?

    ETA: Now I’m going to listen to Bjork.

  13. 13.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Spanky: I got pulled over for speeding when I was in grad school in Seattle. When the State Trooper saw my California Driver’s License he smiled and gave me a warning. Probably helped that the car was a rental.

  14. 14.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Lot of stuff I have not listened to in a while. It was a fun drive.

    Several years ago, you were all excited about Beethoven symphonies. Whatever happened to that?

  15. 15.

    ruemara

    Squeeze. Cult, BAD, Smiths. Sounds like my playlist.
    I’m dying to go on a road trip. I’d love to see some the sites and areas up here, but, so far, no takers.

    If I could take a moment to bleg, my cuz, ROTC, EMT and all around sweetheart, needs some assistance in her dream of taking vet courses to be a well trained animal welfare officer. She needs to come up with $2.25k annnnnd, so far it’s not going to well. Help a gal out?

  16. 16.

    Amaranthine RBG

    Pulled over far off to the right so I was almost in the culvert so he would feel safe with enough room, turned my hazards on, turned off the car, rolled down the front and back window (since the back window is tinted), put the keys in sight on the dashboard, and just kept my hands on the steering wheel and let him do all the talking.

    I can’t help but think that far fewer people would be shot by the police if all Americans comported themselves with such passive subjugation.

  17. 17.

    Rosalita

    Welcome to the nutmeg state John, glad you had a safe trip – what part of CT?

  19. 19.

    brendancalling

    Funny, a buddy of mine was just mentioning the Cult’s previous album, “Love”, which is equally amazing. Get apizza!

  20. 20.

    Another Scott

    @ruemara: I kicked in a little.

    It’s horrible that people have to ask for donations to get an education. :-( Here’s hoping she’s able to make it happen!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  21. 21.

    Mike in NC

    Memorial Day weekend means the cops will be manning the speed traps here in our little beach town until Labor Day. Fortunately we’ve lived here long enough to know where they are.

  24. 24.

    MomSense

    One of my kids once got pulled over with an expired registration, no shoes, and NO PANTS. He pulled a Cole.

  26. 26.

    pat

    In Minnesota you can drive 10 mph over the speed limit and if you are driving I35 north of the Cities you can drive in the left lane as fast as necessary to keep up with the traffic. Have clocked 85+ there. The hazards are the old farts going the speed limit in the right lane. Everyone has to squeeze into the left lane to get around them. That’s why when you get in the left lane you never go back……

  28. 28.

    msdc

    Emotional Rescue is so underrated. The Stones trying and failing to sound like a punk act are more interesting than most punk acts.

  30. 30.

    efgoldman

    @dr. bloor:

    I didn’t think it was actually possible to be white and get pulled over in CT.

    People I know, like an uncle who was an on the road salesman, used to budget for a certain number of speeding tickets for every trip they took into/thru CT. Not so much since they took the tolls off I-95.

  31. 31.

    msdc

    @Mr Stagger Lee: Nah, you’re fine in Maryland – we all drive crazy. It’s Delaware you’ve got to watch out for (no sales tax, gotta make up for it somehow) and anywhere south of us on I-95.

  32. 32.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Good job on the car. 4K miles is close enough to new, which I was recommending for someone who really doesn’t like having cars break down.

    I’ve started window shopping, will need a car for the first time in around 5 years starting in July. I’m thinking about a Golf Sportwagen but I’m also thinking about an Audi Q3 if I can find a certified used one with 10k or 15k miles.

  33. 33.

    pat

    Got stopped once in Wisconsin when the limit was still 65. Taking my cat Susy home from the vets at Madison, got a bit over 10mi over the limit. Nice fellow, came to the passenger side where Susy was riding in her pet taxi. When I explained that I was on my way home from the vet, he said I was a better cat owner than he was and gave me a warning.

    Probably didn’t hurt that I was (still am) an old white lady. Ha.

  34. 34.

    The Pale Scot

    Hope this is meant to be an open thread:

    The death of Greg Allman is really impacting me, like I’m a bug on a tree being coated with what I finally notice is a layer of sap, only to realize the sap has been flowing for quite a while now. Time is cutting off avenues of exploration/escape one by one and I’ve been fiddling with meaningless minutia. It’s a Dr Who episode where lighted hallways turn dark when you take your eyes off them.

  36. 36.

    phein55

    Big BAD fan, love Megatop Phoenix, especially when driving through LA or Chicago.

    A couple of my age-cohort friends (60+) were gigging me for not giving the later Stones albums a chance, so I’ll have to give them a listen, especially this most recent blues album.

  38. 38.

    J R in WV

    The last time I was issued a speeding ticket, the limit on the 4-lane limited access highways was still 55 mph ! So a long time ago.

    I’ve been pulled over a couple of times since then, got one warning ticket for speeding, one “show and go” ticket for not having an inspection sticker on a new to me truck out of Colorado. I got the sticker, showed the receipt to the magistrate, ticket was vacated, no charge. A really nice trooper. Couldn’t believe he pulled me over on the most dangerous congested freeway in the state!

    Glad you got up north OK, John, have a nice weekend!

  39. 39.

    NotMax

    Mention of Connecticut always brings up hazy memories of enjoyable visits to Old Sturbridge Village.

  41. 41.

    dr. bloor

    @efgoldman: I do RI to NYC and back weekly. Off-peak, left lane is frequently cruising 70-80 in 55 zones and 80-85 in 65. I can’t figure out how people actually get pulled over.

  42. 42.

    ronrab

    Bemused it barely rates an eye roll that drivers have to adopt this kind of ultra-paranoid behavior just to avoid a potential shooting by a cop. Not a condemnation of Cole; a condemnation of the attitude among police that makes this necessary.

  43. 43.

    NotMax

    Only because no one else has mentioned it.

    and I was breaking to get to 45

    Braking.

  45. 45.

    eclare

    Reporting from Memphis, shit is fucked up and bullshit. Have been told to expect one week with no power.

  49. 49.

    Jeffro

    @BruceFromOhio: @ruemara: @brendancalling:

    CULT! C F F C

    Go see them live soon if you can – they sound better than ever and the new album (and the last one) really kick ass! (But don’t worry – 75% of their set is LOVE and ELECTRIC songs)

    /fanboy since ’85

  50. 50.

    Dand

    I managed to get a 10Euro ticket in Germany for failure to signal a couple weeks ago. I really struggle to keep from falling over laughing.

  52. 52.

    Suzanne

    There’s a spot on the west side of Sky Harbor Airport where you go from 65 mph speed limit (which, because Phoenix, means everyone is going at least 75) down to 35 nearly right away on the ramp as you leave the highway and enter the airport. And there’s a police substation right at the bottom of the ramp. I got caught on that about two years ago. It sucked. Now I use my cruise control through that stretch, religiously.

  53. 53.

    ruemara

    @Jeffro: I missed them when they played in SF.

    Is it ok that I’m fairly worried about my little cuz joining the military when her knee heals up. I just worry about her, the wee issue of rape by your supposed brothers in arms, DONALD FUCKING TRUMP, trenchfoot. Just a touch anxious. help her go to vet school and fall in love with puppy rescues.

  54. 54.

    Felonius Monk

    West Virginia plates in CT. Cop probably thought he was gonna shut down the Oxy Express. :)

    Have a good time, John. Enjoy.

  57. 57.

    Mark

    I haven’t had a moving violation nor have I been pulled over since January of 1976.
    Knock on wood.

  58. 58.

    Jeffro

    @FlipYrWhig:

    I saw them in ’88. They opened for… Metallica.

    That’s an intriguing pairing – a Venn diagram of those fanbases would be two circles touching at a single tangent point! lol

    A couple years ago they had Against Me! as their opening act…those were some good shows.

  61. 61.

    MomSense

    @ruemara:

    He was driving home from his girlfriend’s house late on a summer night. Told the officer he was hot. I don’t know how the hell he got away with that.

  63. 63.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    @eclare: I did that after the Nashville tornado in 1998. It sucks mightily.

    Good luck getting the lights back.

  64. 64.

    Mnemosyne

    Uh, I’m not the only one who was worried by this headline, right? I sometimes wonder if John realizes there’s such a thing as too much information. ?

  65. 65.

    ET

    Squeeze album is awesome. Don’t think there is a clunker on it. But then I am an 80’s girl.

  69. 69.

    Mnemosyne

    @ruemara:

    Next time I see you, remind me to tell you about the time my BFF accidentally flashed a cop. We still think that was one of the factors in our not getting a ticket.

  71. 71.

    Another Scott

    Another one for Adam: Lots of connections between Rep. David Brat an Erik Prince, Russia, and other weird goings on:

    […]

    Prince is connected with the Bannon wing of Trump’s inner circle, as is another administration member implicated in the Trump-Russia collusion: Attorney-General Jeff Sessions, Trump’s earliest supporter in the Senate. Prince has been featured in numerous Breitbart articles and radio interviews, including this one from September 2016 where, tellingly, he proposes that the US should join with Russia to defeat “Islamic fascism.”

    But Prince’s connections to Trump and the Alt-Right hardly stop there. Prince is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the son of the late Edgar Prince and Elsa Prince Broekhuizen. Both parents have been members of the secretive Council for National Policy (CNP) and Elsa Prince Broekhuizen has been on its Board of Governors. Betsy DeVos’s husband, Richard DeVos, is a past CNP president. The membership of the CNP has included Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Dave Bossie (President of Citizens United until he joined the Trump Team) and others of the most extremist leaders of the American Right (go HERE for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s chilling analysis and for the 2014 CNP membership directory – the only one available).

    Virginia Connections

    Of particular interest to Virginians is the connection of my own congressman, Dave Brat (VA-7), to the Bannon wing of the Trump Administration. While there is no indication that Brat is directly involved in the Trump-Russia scandal, his ties with the Bannon, Sessions, and CNP circles are sufficiently close that he may have some insider knowledge of it. Here are some of the connections (see Act One (“The Brat Pack”) of Episode 615 of “This American Life” (“The Beginning of Now”) for more details):

    […]

    I hope Mueller’s taking good notes…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  72. 72.

    Honus

    Sticky Fingers. From about a 60 year perspective, maybe the best rock album ever made. Then again, there’s Morrison Hotel.

  73. 73.

    Schlemazel

    @pat:
    I am stunned that you got off! I once got tagged for doing 10 over in WI & the cop had to pull me out of a line of Wisconsin plates going the same speed in order to get me. If you have MN or Il plates don’t believe you are OK simply because all the locals are speeding.

  74. 74.

    Steve in the ATL

    @eclare: my FB feed showed a lot of big trees down in midtown, some with cars underneath them. Some folks with power, lots without.

  77. 77.

    Steeplejack

    @dr. bloor:

    I can’t figure out how people actually get pulled over.

    Based on my experience on I-95 between Washington and Philadelphia, there is no rhyme or reason. Everybody’s speeding—you have to to survive—and it’s like a cheetah pulling down a gazelle. You just keep running with the herd and give thanks you weren’t that gazelle.

  78. 78.

    efgoldman

    @Steve in the ATL: Well, I should have checked with the social secretary before I sort of made a commitment for Friday. She has the big year-end ceremony with her Girl Scout chorus. Sorry.
    But don’t let that stop you. email Anne Laurie if you’d like to organize something.

  80. 80.

    FlyingToaster

    @dr. bloor: David Letterman had a fairly insane number of traffic tickets when he lived in Connecticut.
    @Spanky: Try Massachusetts plates, bucko. We’re known as “Massholes” for a reason.

    Connecticut is the only place I ever actually stop and figure out how to work my cruise control. I have 0 interest in getting a ticket from them, no matter how nice their roads are.

  81. 81.

    lurker dean

    don’t know if it would’ve helped in this particular situation, but have you tried the “waze” gps app? it’s pretty good giving advance notice of where police are so you can slow down well beforehand.

  82. 82.

    Jeffro

    @Another Scott:

    I hope Mueller’s taking good notes…

    And if Dave Brat goes bye-bye as a side effect to all this, good notes or no, Virginia will be so much the better for it…

  83. 83.

    efgoldman

    @FlyingToaster:

    no matter how nice their roads are.

    And they’re not, particularly, any more. I-95 is a mess, between traffic and construction every damned where, I-84 is an OK East-West alternate route, except for the parts that are under permanent construction. The Waterbury-Danbury stretch is like that (Hartford to the MA line is great)

  84. 84.

    Felonius Monk

    @Steeplejack:

    Based on my experience on I-95 between Washington and Philadelphia, there is no rhyme or reason.

    I agree. Especially the 80 mph parking lot know as the Jersey Turnpike.

    ETA; Make that NYC to Washington.

  85. 85.

    magurakurin

    @Felonius Monk:

    West Virginia plates in CT. Cop probably thought he was gonna shut down the Oxy Express. :)

    He was heading north…Oxy comes from Purdue Pharma in Connecticut…

  86. 86.

    Lyrebird

    @Felonius Monk: Actually, for all that the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Pkwy can be a little scary, those are the places I have been most gratified to see people pulled over after watching them scream on past driving like reckless jerks. If you’re doing under 80mph, you’re more likely to be run over than ticketed, but if you’re weaving between lanes like crazy or genuinely being a menace, you might well get pulled over.

    All my info is several years old, though. Not so many road trips with a little perpetual motion machine (read: young child) to take care of.

    Generally, though, imnsho I-95 *and* CT are best avoided unless that’s the only way to see your sweetie!

  87. 87.

    Swannie

    Some people don’t like interacting with their moral and intellectual inferiors.

    Cops don’t have a choice.

  88. 88.

    FlyingToaster

    @efgoldman: I get off 84 at Hartford when I’m headed down towards New Haven. Wilbur Cross? to Rt. 5 south. Unless I have a vanload, whereupon I’ll take the HOV on 91 south. Both of those roads, and in general the surface roads in Meriden/Wallingford/Quinnipiac/Orange/Milford tend to be excellent.

    I haven’t taken 95 as far as RI in at least 20 years; the last couple of times (’94-5) was driving to New London to catch the ferry to LI.

  89. 89.

    Ruckus

    @J R in WV:
    Got pulled over on my motorcycle about 2 weeks before the limit was lowered to 55. Another motorcyclist behind me. We were cutting across the freeway because the right lane was moving. Going through traffic at about 85. Motorcycle cop comes down the ramp and pulls us both over. Other guy walks up to me and says, “This is your lucky day.” Just then the cop walks up and asks us both for license and reg. The other guy says, “I don’t have either,” as I hand mine to the cop. He hands them back to me and says “Have a nice day.” I did.
    Got stopped on the same motorcycle within 30 seconds by two cops, on two different freeways, one day and didn’t get a ticket from either.

  90. 90.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Honus:

    Then again, there’s Morrison Hotel.

    I stopped by there and took some pics last December. It’s not looking very good, though I’ve heard they’re going to restore it for a Doors museum.

  91. 91.

    The Lodger

    @Mr Stagger Lee: Also Shelby County, TN (Memphis) going west through Tennessee. It’s at the bottom of an enormous hill and the sheriff is just waiting for you there. Conveniently (ahem) they let you plead guilty and write a check on the spot.

  94. 94.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    @eclare: A friend lit her place during a recent outage with those solar lawn lights. I’m tempted to get some for emergencies…

  95. 95.

    Gemina13

    Physical Graffiti is one of the best Led Zeppelin albums, in my opinion, and “Kashmir” is on my driving playlist. And I would play the Cult while driving all day, every day.

  97. 97.

    maurinsky

    @FlyingToaster:

    I can’t use cruise control in CT (where I live) because there are too many people driving too many other speeds to make it possible.

    I can tell you that 9 times out of 10, when someone is pulled over, it is a person of color.

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