There was a great entry in yesterday's Seattle Times "Postman on Politics" blog that shows what many snooty Seattleites think about the choice of outdoor recreation for many Washingtonians.
In responding to an e-mail from someone asking [Seattle Democratic State Senator Adam] Kline why he was backing a bill that would crack down on loud off-road vehicles, the senator sent this e-mail:I guess Senator Kline won't be buying a cabin in Elk River anytime soon.Dear Mr. Helgeson,Kline told Times reporter Elliott Wilson that snowmobilers have ruined ski trips for him and his daughter, they make noise and pollute.
I signed on because I have been annoyed, endangered, and angered one too many times by people riding motorized dirt-bikes and other off-road vehicles that have no damn business anywhere. To me, this bill is narrow — it doesn't include those "personal watercraft," seemingly jet-powered little missiles whose only apparent purpose is to risk death and dismemberment for boaters and swimmers, for the amusement of spoiled drunk teenagers.
Yes, I am sure there is the occasional responsible person who rides one of these machines on land or water. And yes, like every human being I have been pleasantly surprised to find my stereotypes broken. But why, why, why, do folks insist on motorized "sports"? Those two words are an oxymoron.
There is nothing sporting — athletic, physically demanding — about riding any machine anywhere. And it's a damned annoyance to folks who see the outdoors as a place to go for quiet and solitude and self-exploration. I would be happy to ban the use of the internal combustion engine off-road, by anyone without a handicapped sticker, subject to a stiff fine. Maybe we could call this an anti-obesity measure.
Please circulate this to all motorized sports enthusiasts, so they can remember never to vote for me.
Adam KlineIf you're a handicapped person and that's the only way to get to see the beach, I got that.
Why can't they get onto their own two feet? ... Polluting for recreation. It's polluting. It's noise. It's physical danger....
I get the impression that a lot of them are 30 or 40-year-old teenagers.
...
It's a fuel-drugged rush. Fuel is their drug. I get my rush out of physical exertion.
2 comments:
"Please circulate this to all motorized sports enthusiasts, so they can remember never to vote for me.
Adam Kline"
You got it, buddy.
Liberals pollute too but I do not see any laws banning them!
Nice graphic- shows a kid hugging a mushroom cloud. I guess Seattlites have finally junked their decadent green-socialist ideals and embraced conservative values and clean nuclear energy. Just joking, but I can still dream.
Next time I am in Seattle and I see someone with that graphic on their car, I will say "I see you are Pro-Nuclear too!".
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