So Orlando is naming a road after President Obama, and this has the folks at Reason so mad that they are… calling the mayor fat:
Buddy Dyer, the city’s porcine mayor (who should definitely not be confused with Budd Dwyer), decided that millions should be spent on the Obama Parkway so that Orlando can keep families intact…
Stay classy, Reason.
(via)
Redshirt
Why would they name a street after a President? DICTATORSHIP!
Now, can we discuss you renaming your bus terminal the Ronaldus Magnus Reagan Holy Transfer Station? Thanks!
me
What the hell does this mean? Other then people who think Buddy Dyer should shoot himself on camera, who would confuse the two?
Chyron HR
Well, you know, somebody has to strike a blow against Mayorofascism.
Bulworth
Who the eff is Budd Dwyer? I hate it when I’m not aware of all Internets traditions.
Eric U.
@me: I just heard “nice shot” this morning driving to work. Strange coincidences.
I can’t imagine the point of that reference, did the people at Reason have to check to make sure that the headless corpse of Bud Dwyer wasn’t running Orlando?
trollhattan
You know who else they named a street after….
Hunter Gathers
Shorter Reason : Blackity, blackity, black, black, black.
cleek
what kind of a complaint is this ? is this douchebag implying that cities don’t need roads ? that roads shouldn’t cost millions of dollars ? that families shouldn’t be kept intact? that traffic relief is not a valid concern for the mayor’s office ?
or, in his rush to make sure everyone knows he hates Obama, did he simply forget to make sense ?
“Reason”. as if.
fucen tarmal
r budd dwyer predates internet traditions. 1987 he shot himself in the mouth on the noon news, at a presser he called the day before sentencing in a bribery scandal. thus he preserved pension for life and goodies for the wife…
QuaintIrene
And fuzzily implying that naming the road after Obama is what’s costing millions of dollars.
Now, if it was Reagan….
El Cid
Re
Wait — the mayor is Al Gore? Because, Al Gore is fat. And has a big house.
Zifnab
@cleek: Roads should only be paid for by fiscally responsible Republicans, not wrecklessly spending Democrats. If Democrats get their names on roads, we’ll be forced to continue worshiping them long after they’ve been impeached.
Bulworth
Maybe the reasonable folks at Reason reason that the mayor of Orlando paid Obama a shakedown slushfund fee to name the road after him? Also, too.
Comrade Tank Hueco
@Bulworth:
Just google it. But be forewarned.
El Cid
@QuaintIrene: It’s a god-damned shame that every street, every airport, every bill, every coin, every bridge isn’t named after Ronald Reagan, given that He created this very nation, and also freedom, and also capitalism, and stopped single-handedly the USSR which was going to kill us because it was so weak and a failure.
Tappen
@QuaintIrene:
If it was named for Reagan, then the Parkway would have the ability to cut taxes.
Brian J
Exactly what goes into changing the name of a major road that it ends up costing millions of dollars?
cleek
just for fun, google “Obama parkway” MLK…
you might be shocked to discover that the results are all wingnut blogs/forums. you might be further shocked to discover that all of the linked blogs/forums are full of racists.
beltane
Whenever I hear of a politician being referred to as “porcine”, I automatically think it’s a Republican. Do the folks at Reason also refer to Haley Barbour, Rush Limbaugh, and Katherine Lopez as porcine?
Tappen
@Brian J:
Lawsuits against the road claiming the concrete was fabricated in Kenya.
fucen tarmal
i think its cool that obama is getting a road named after him and all, but it would also be cool if they had named it the penny hardaway after the former point guard of the orlando magic. then only shaq would be pissed.
but seriously how cool would it be to say you were taking the “hardaway”
LT
Judging by that photo he’s not even fat. A bit roundheaded, maybe, but not fat. The writer of that story, on the other hand, has Tiny Penis James Bond Syndrome.
Donald G
Obama and Reagan have a long way to go until they can match Robert Seabird … er, Robert C. Byrd … having his name emblazoned on everything in a state.
cleek
@fucen tarmal:
much cooler than saying you’re taking the “Peakway”, which is the loop road they’re building around my little town of Apex. peak / apex, get it ? harhar…
we call it the “freakway”, instead.
Alex S.
It’s slowly trickling into their minds… Obama will become a part of American history, but they want no part of this.
QuaintIrene
@cleek:
I did Google. The entire parkway is only 800 feet long!
For f@ck’s sake, even Michelle Malkin must be finding it hard to work up a froth about that.
Oh, wait, what am I saying?
DJM
GOPers, being the most bejowled cross section of America, shouldn’t be calling anyone fat.
Kerry Reid
So if “porcine” is bad, then “slim” must be good. And since Obama is the skinniest president we’ve had in a long time (even skinnier than Papa Bush, I think), he must be the greatest president in decades. I mean, it stands to “Reason.” (Get it? Get it? Okay, I’m sorry…)
handy
@QuaintIrene:
It’s not about the size of the road it’s about the
black guy in the Oval OfficePRINCIPLES!!!!!!russell
No, Al Gore is fat and has (had) a beard.
Michael Moore is fat and wears a hat.
The Mayor of Orlando is just fat, maybe. And he hangs around with a talking mouse.
El Cid
@beltane:
I would suggest “swinish”.
freelancer
Next thing you know, the President will have his own LIBRARY!
The horror, the horror.
Redshirt
@El Cid: The Swine Industry has a problem with that term. They would prefer if you used the phrase “H1N1”.
Violet
@beltane:
Heavens no. That would be fattist.
Redshirt
@freelancer: How arrogant that Obama would demand his own library. Isn’t the Library of Congress enough for him? Does his arrogance know no bounds?!
bemused
@QuaintIrene:
Too funny. Nobody would pay much attention to an 800 ft strip of road if the wingnut junior high school class didn’t get their panties all in a twist.
El Cid
@russell:
There’s pretty much a children’s book right there.
tech98
Because naming things after presidents is frowned upon by authoritarian rightards —
http://www.reaganlegacyproject.com/
You should see the corpse-fellating that goes on at the Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara, every belch lavishly covered by the pathetic local paper. Anchor baby Michelle Maglalangagangadingdong Malkin brought her me-hate-you-long-time mendacious ragefest one-troll show last week.
fucen tarmal
@cleek:
we have an “andy warhol” bridge, before they named them, they were known as “the three sisters”, which amuses me, anyway, though it says nothing about rachel carson, it is kind of a shot at roberto clemente.
Mnemosyne
@Brian J:
I’m guessing the complaint is that the businesses along that road will be forced — FORCED BY THE GUBBMINT! — to change their stationery, business cards, Yellow Pages listing, etc. It’s the whine we hear every time they add a new area code in Southern California about how all of the businesses are going to go belly-up because of the vast expense of notifying their customers of the change.
nanute
@Tappen: If this parkway is anything like the rest of the parkways in Orlando, there will be a toll (tax) attached to it. Even Ronny couldn’t fix that.
justinslot
Without looking at the link or any of the comments I am going to guess that is either Moynihan or Cavanaugh making that comment.
EDIT: Yes! Moynihan! My “guess the Reasonoid” skills remain sharp, despite not having read H&R in months.
PaulW
Hold on. Wasn’t there a rule that you couldn’t name stuff after people while they were still alive?!
Mnemosyne
@PaulW:
You’re thinking of postage stamps. The US Postal Service has to wait something like 5 years post-mortem to put someone on a stamp.
David Hunt
@PaulW:
They changed that rule. It is now that things can’t be named after Democrats while they are alive or dead and CAN be nameds after Republicans while they are alive or dead. The rough number of people that can things can be named after actually went down with the rule change, so it must be fair. Right?
El Cid
@tech98:
That’s good.
slugger
Although I am a bono fide arugula eating, bicycle riding proponent of taxes, environmentalism and soccer, I would strongly support a law forbidding naming anything after a person until 25 years after their death. Not having to look at any living politician’s face on my money and stamps has always been one of the nicest things about living in the US. Also, I would forbid any depiction of the President in airports or government offices that was larger than five centimeters. Yes, I also like the metric system!
Bob L
I believe at this time we are required by internet law to post this; you know who else had streets named after him? ADOLF HITLER!!!
fucen tarmal
@beltane:
i believe you are referring to the chatterlings
Mike E
@Bulworth: It’s a GOP comedy tradition — it ain’t funny until somebody has to “grab their ankles” or is seriously maimed, or gets killed.
I was in Philly when Budd committed public suicide and sure enough, where I worked, the office
repubasshole gleefully was recreating the event until our boss had to tell him to knock it the fuck off. Funny. /notme
You know who else shot himself? Hitler.
Mnemosyne
@slugger:
I still resent that we’re stuck with the Richard J. Reardon Central Library when by rights it should have been the Ray Bradbury Central Library. But Riordan has political backers and fundraisers and Bradbury doesn’t.
Oh well, maybe we can campaign to have it changed to its rightful name once they’re both dead.
arguingwithsignposts
@fucen tarmal:
Not to defend Budd Dwyer, but it’s possible the wife was an innocent victim too. I suspect seeing your husband off himself on the local news wasn’t one of the “goodies” she bargained for.
LindaH
@El Cid:
Even worse, he might be Michael Moore, who is, of course fat
arguingwithsignposts
@Bob L:
Also, whose throat did Obama ram his huge package down to get that road named after him, hmmm?
Jamie
I’m still a fan of the movement to name everything after St. Ronald. It will make giving directions so much easier.
“Go about a mile on down Ronald Reagan Parkway, take the exit left onto Reagan Way, and after about two miles, left again at the Reagan Stadium. There, continue down to Ronald Reagan Circle, and park in the Reagan Memorial Parkateria. We’ll have lunch at the Ronald McReagan’s – cheap! only a coupla Reagans for the New Day Value Meal. Just don’t tip the panhandlers.”
See how easy life could be?
nanute
@Jamie: I think you are on to something. If all the streets were named after Ronnie, I know a lot of people that would stop driving.
Ed Marshall
This may be the onset of an illness, but it made some sort of sense to me. Maybe it’s just because I live in Illinois, but when I started reading about “relief roads” I start thinking of Dupage county where the Republican machine used road construction and kickbacks from the companies to damn near pave over everything in the county.
JenJen
Who wants to bet they supported the truly porcine new Governor of New Jersey?
Just sayin’ is all.
fucen tarmal
@arguingwithsignposts:
i have deeper opinions than that on the issue.
i was speaking of why he chose that moment and that method to commit suicide.
i met the guy, though i was too young to have an adult sense of who he was. i know people who were very close to the guy. he was as “square” as they come. saving the pension and benefits to him was his duty to his family. it was obviously a desperate act, and he didn’t weigh the costs to them psychologically, from the notoriety that ensued. from the people i know who knew him, his involvement in the kickback was presented as, this is what we are doing, this will be your role, rather than someone who masterminded it. i truly believe he was a relatively honest guy who wasn’t devious enough to not get caught. in his position he had a role to play, he was left out to dry because he didn’t know how to “operate”.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jamie #56: We do that in Atlanta all the time, only we say “Peachtree” instead of “Reagan.” But otherwise, that is eaxctly how it works.