In responding to Tim’s recent rant concerning the abuse of Iraqi POW’s at the hands of their American guards, I mentioned that I have not been proud to be an American for some time, and for a lot of reasons I could not put into words. Well folks, I have come up with one reason, and I am going to put it into words right now.
As most regulars here know by now, I am a bicycling enthusiast. I firmly believe that the bicycle is one of the most noble inventions of all time, and that cyclists do indeed have a place on the road.
And yes, I am one of the rare ones who knows the rules of the road. This is to say, I stop for the red lights. (Racers and everyone else take notice: there is no defense for not doing this. It’s another entire topic, and I won’t address it today.)
The law regarding bicycle use on public roads in every state is very explicit, and easy to understand by anyone of nominal intelligence. Some however, disagree. Of note is Boston Herald columnist and talk radio guy, Howie Carr. Now, I’ve heard and read all of Carr’s impotent diatribes against cyclists before, both in his column, and on his program. (I actually enjoy his jabs at local politicians. He’s quite funny when he goes this route. On two occasions, he has printed the “secret” telephone number of branch offices of the state’s Registry of Motor Vehicles, in response to their never answering the phones which are listed in public directories.) He whines out the anti bicycle crap every year at about this time, with the warm weather finally getting here, and with May being bike month. On his program which aired April 16th, he wailed on this yet again, but he made a statement he has not made before. He said “I don’t care what the Law says, bikes don’t belong on the road, that’s all there is to it”. He then told cyclists to “get on the sidewalk, where you belong”. He rambled on for awhile, then moved on to other topics. But this, I don’t care what the law says,,, that’s most interesting. Well Mr. Carr, on the outside chance you are reading this, I would suggest you be most careful with that statement and logic, and how you use them. Why? To use one of your favorite on-air expressions, I’m going to hold you to it, that’s why. For example It would be too easy for me to say that you do not have any right to voice your opinion. I could say “I don’t care what the law, or the constitution says, you don’t have that right. You don’t, that’s all there is to it”. Doesn’t it suck, having your own logic used against you? Yep, sometimes, that old first amendment can really stick it in and break it off. But the fact is, Howie Carr does indeed to have the freedom to state his opinion. I have the freedom to disagree with it. It’s downright beautiful, the way that works, just the way the framers of the constitution intended. In the meantime, the law (chapter 85, section 11B of the general laws of the commonwealth of MA) is on the books. It’s been there for a long time, decades before Howie Carr was born, and it is not offered, as a choice. No, I will not ride on the sidewalk. (illegal, in a zoned business district, and for damn good reason.) “That’s all there is to it”.
Now, I’ll point out something. Although Howie Carr has spewed his diatribe against bicyclists for years, he has not, to the best of my own knowledge, ever suggested or encouraged his listeners to commit acts of violence against bicyclists. I’d like to think he is smart enough to know better, or else he has realized that us bicyclists have lawyers too. No, that dishonor goes to some so-called “shock jocks” in some other radio markets, at stations owned by Clear Channel communications, Inc. I’ll start with some nasties I learned of last fall. According the League of American Bicyclists, one of these low I.Q. waste bags on station G105 in the Raleigh, N.C. area told his listeners to throw empty Yoo Hoo bottles at bicyclists. Other radio morons in Houston, and Cleveland wanted their listeners to call up and talk about their methods of how to harass bicyclists and to share their tales of having run bicyclists off the road. And of course, comments were made regarding cyclists masculinity. Part of the standard recipe, I guess. To these so-called shock jocks, I say this: You are a bunch of cowards, hiding behind a microphone.
And you’ve got the gall to call yourselves “patriots”? I think not. Let’s see now, using violence and intimidation to scare people while you hide somewhere behind a microphone, in a secured studio? That’s not just cowardice. I feel that fits the definition of a terrorist.
There is some good news in this: Thanks to the tireless efforts of the League, Clear Channel management did take some action. The Raleigh shock jock program was cancelled for two days, and several major sponsors, including a large Chevy Dealership, pulled their ads. There’s a bit of irony there. (big companies such as clear channel communications clearly understand the language of money.) Other actions were taken by Clear Channel executives as well, including a “termination at the market level”, I’m told. However, all is not well. Besides Carr’s broadcast on April 16h, There was another talk show episode, which aired on April 23rd, on WNNX-FM in Atlanta. (Note: WNNX, Atlanta, and WRKO, Boston, are not owned or managed by clear channel.) One of the on-air personalities rambled on about how much fun it was to “nudge bicyclists bicyclists right off the road into a tree.” Apparently he told his listeners how much fun it was to “…. Smoke a little weed, get behind the wheel…wheee!”
Now, let’s understand something here. I know why these shock jocks do what they do. They must pull in listeners to score ratings points. There is a saying in the commercial radio business: “You’re only as good as your last show”. Given the present state of American Culture, the shock jocks must appeal to, shall we say a “certain demographic”, and that means provocative subject matter, or hot political topics, laced with bathroom humor, sexually degrading comments, rapid fire gags, and infantile stunts. Given the fact that there is at least one shock jock in every major American city, I’d say the formula works. But this? Using the airwaves to tell people that they should drive while under the influence of illegal drugs and “nudge cyclists into trees”? This is clearly crossing the line. This is clearly not what freedom of speech is all about. In this particular case, a complaint has been filed with the Federal Communications Commission, according this website:
I don’t think anything Howie Carr or Rush Windbag has ever done on the air even comes close to this.
Time to close up this rant for now. I’ll say this. The League of American Bicyclists is one hundred and twenty four years old. It began when people actually rode around on hi-wheelers.
Bicycling in this country has certainly had it’s ups and downs during this time. When I first began riding seriously, back in the 1970’s, the mood from motorists was not nearly as ugly or as violent as it is today. Oh sure, there have always been the nimrods who honk, or yell obscenities. It’s part of our “culture”. But, over the past several years, I’ve detected something more, and it seems to be getting worse, not better. I know cyclists who have switched to off-road riding only, out of fear from people in cars. A few others have gone through the required process of getting a permit to carry Mace. One cyclist I know, who is in his fifties, started taking Krav Maga classes, after being routinely threatened on his morning commute. As I’ve mentioned in a column, cyclists do share some of the blame for this situation, with this business of ignoring red lights and safety laws. That is something which needs to be addressed. I would like to know why the mood in this country is so ugly today. Surely, the WWF cannot be having that much influence.
There is something here below the surface, sort of like a volcano holding back a massive eruption.
Are we headed for something massive or what?
One more thing. Time always wins, there’s no way it can lose. Barring any “accidents” of my own mortality, I still plan to be riding twenty years from now. Howie Carr, and all you “shock jocks”, I don’t know where you’ll be at that point, but your radio programs will surely have passed into the the land fill of history. Amen.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.