Sorry, the Clue Bus Left 5 Minutes Ago

So, my daily stoopid driving incident went thusly: I'm heading for the Smart Tag lane at Spring Hill[1]. I go through the toll booth at 40-45mph, per usual, and speed up because I need to cross all the lanes of traffic to get on the Beltway to Richmond, which is on the far right. This is a usual morning task for me, and it's no big deal because my car is pretty powerful, and better yet, it's a manual. Unfortunately, the car in front of me decides to slow down after going through the toll booths. I barely had time to say "what the fuck" and realize that there were cars on both sides of me before he came to a dead halt right there in the pentultimate left lane of the toll road. I slam on my brakes, since this is far from normal or reasonable behavior. I did not hit him, thank &diety. He goes about 5mph over to the absolute left lane and causes someone else to have to stop suddenly and unexpectedly. I pull past these losers and they are gaping at me! If there had been a shoulder there, I may have pulled over and lectured them on their stupidity. Instead, I decided to try and worm my way over from a halt, which, frankly, is enough work.

I'm pretty sure I know what happenned. They were wearing suits and driving a Taurus. This is the kind of place that is chock full of visiting businessmen at any given time. I think they didn't know what a Smart Tag was, and since they tripped the alarm,[2] I bet they were all freaked out about not having paid the toll. To be perfectly honest, they deserved to be punished for not having any fucking common sense. I mean, a ticket for not paying a toll is a lot cheaper than a ticket for improper lane usage or whatever they give you for stopping in a traffic lane on an interstate highway[3] and causing a major pile-up. The almost caused a three-car collision[4]. If you're stupid enough that you are oblivious to the warnings that precede the toll for 1.5 miles that that lane is Smart Tag only, your best option is to blow off the toll, keep going and not fuck up anyone else's day or car or whatever. I mean, there are letters 5 ft high saying that this lane is Smart Tag only. If you don't know what a Smart Tag is MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T BE IN THAT LANE.

I've complained before that my workplace is too noisy. I used to use music to regulate the noise level and ignore all the activity, but lately, I've been streaming public radio. I'm listening to an archived Talk of the Nation right now and I want to swat these people. I listened to the progressive journalist round table last week, so I thought I should listen to the conservative round table just for balance. This idiot woman, I think it's Heather MacDonald, said two things that just enraged me.

First, that Clinton has gotten a free ride in the press. WHAT? In what world did this happen? I remember constant attacks, even AFTER he was investigated to within an inch of his life and nothing turned up. So fucking what if he got a blow job from an intern. So fucking what if he's something of a ladies man? That's Hillary's problem, not mine, and Monica came on to him. She's an adult. He's an adult. I think lots of worse things have probably happenned in the oval office. And according to the doctrine of HIS religion (he's a Southern Baptist), he didn't have sex with that woman. So there.

I mean, he got so fucked by the press (if not by Monica ;) ) that Gore doesn't feel that he can even campaign with him! You wait and see. History will show Clinton to have been a very successful president. It's not that I really love the guy, I don't. I think he's a windbag, but he's a very smart windbag and he's doing a good job even though he's saddled with a Republican congress.

Second, that the stunning drop in the crime rate is because of the increase in police enforcement. Yeah, just try and prove that one. There's less crime because the economy is good and there are fewer people at the fringes. There's less crime because more poor people are put in jail every day, and they are the ones that tend to hit the police blotter. Turning the U.S. into a police state is a really bad idea. Notice that I didn't say "would be" a bad idea.