Semi Truths

The Washington Post, as well as other news outlets, reported today that the Secret Service asked the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to shut down the HOV (that’s High Occupancy Vehicle, for those reading outside of VA) lanes on I-395 from 1:00 to 7:00 PM on Wednesday so that “President” Bush could drive to a presumably urgent fund-rasier in Mt. Vernon for Republican Senator George Allen.

If you’ve ever driven on that stretch of road anytime between, say, 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM, you know that it is already a slowly-moving parking lot. The HOV lanes are the only relief as that is where the commuter buses travel, as well as the cars with three or more drivers. Shutting down those lanes would have been — what’s the word that Bush recently used to describe pulling out of Iraq? — oh yeah … a disaster!

My favorite part of the story: the VDOT turned them down. They are now my heroes.

Actually, I secretly wish they hadn’t. I personally would have loved to see all those red brake lights and tens of thousands of fuming motorists hearing that they’re stuck so Bush could attend a $200 a plate fundraiser for the putative Republican presidential candidate whom many describe as “Bush without the brains”. (Okay, I made that last part up; I’m sure the dinner was much more than $200 a plate…)

As always, Waldo and his band of loyal readers have an interesting discussion going on regarding the VA primaries. I sympathize with Waldo’s frustration, but I also agree with the point that a well-fought primary campaign only makes the candidate a better campaigner and better prepared for the real fight. If you think things are nasty now, wait until our guy goes up against George Allen…(shudder).

You can see a pretty good “debate” video of Harris Miller and Jim Webb here.