So it seems some guy in London was getting his daily run, had his head down, and ran full steam into the British Prime Minister, whose Secret Service analogs were blissfully unaware that he was oncoming until the collision took place. Josh Marshal, at TPM, observed as follows:
After what were likely some tense moments, the security folks and the police realized that the guy just wasn't looking where he was going and (new word?) “de-arrested” him and allowed him to go on his way.
I'd like to think that our Secret Service has a better handle on people running at the full speed at the direction of the President when he's out in public, though recent events probably challenge that conceit. On the other hand, I get the sense that even with an innocent explanation, our system might not have allowed this guy to see the light of day for longer than a few hours.
Well, Josh you might like to think that the Secret Service has this sort of thing covered, but history says it just ain't so. We Hartfordites of a certain age remember. You see, back in 1965 or so there was this guy who was driving his car East on Talcott Street toward Market. The light at the intersection was green, so he tooled right through, and smacked directly into a car in which Lyndon Johnson, President of these United States, was riding. I tend to agree with Josh, if something like that happened in the good old USA today, the Secret Service would probably open fire first and ask questions later, if they asked them at all. But in those bygone days, even with memories of the JFK assassination fresh in our minds, there was still a semblance of respect for due process, so the hapless guy not only got to live to drive another day, but was fully exonerated, and, if my memory on this is accurate, got a bundle for his ruined car from someone with more money than brains.
If you don't believe me, you could look it up, but don't try either Google or DuckDuckGo, both of which let me down on this one. So, some of the details above may be inaccurate, specifically, the street names. I'm pretty sure I picked the right ones, but…
Anyway, the real reason I am writing this post on such an inconsequential subject is that I have now officially entered head in the sand mode, otherwise known as fetal position mode, re: the upcoming election. Things aren't looking good for the Dems nationally, primarily, in my opinion, because they tend to operate from a defensive crouch (Dan Malloy excepted; give him credit for that). What can you say about a country where the politicians in one party compete with each other to prove how insane they are, while the politicians in the other try to hide their sanity under a bushel? And after admitting there's nothing you can say about that, what can you say about a country like that where the party with the intramural crazy competition is the odds on favorite to win the election? Is there another planet in the universe that contains a country like that? Maybe Dr. Who can save us at the last second, but if he doesn't help, I think we're goners.
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