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As many have pointed out before, if every lawbreaker were to be prohibited from the roads, there wouldn't be very many cars/drivers allowed. It's pretty simple to see how many drivers exceed the speed limit on the Beltway (non-rush hour), on the GW Parkway or the Rock Creek Parkway, every day. Many drivers don't stop at STOP signs.

Many drivers push through crowded crosswalks, when the pedestrians are already in the crosswalk and they have a WALK signal. Some drivers run red lights. Many more speed up on yellow lights. They don't always make the intersection before the light turns red. Many drivers do not obey "No turn on red" signs. And on and on.

One way to express your displeasure with Chris Core is to boycott any product he endorses. In the next year or two I am replacing the windows in my house. I wouldn't think of using Thompson Creek. Chris Core is their spokesman. (If he knows as much about windows as he does about bicycling, they must be crap anyway.) When I do replace the windows, I will be sure to let Thompson Creek know why I didn't use them.

Personally I don't think Chris Core is such a bad guy. Certainly not public enemy #1 :).

I've been a fan of talk radio since I was very young. I listened to Chris Core on WMAL for many years. Back before talk radio went political Chris Core had a very pleasant and non-offensive show.

Then Rush Limbaugh happened and WMAL went hard right. That included making all their local talent hew the ideological line. Their morning show got completely wrecked.

Core's show also started taking on the same positions. Often times I felt he was just adopting a persona his bosses had mandated. It seemed to me that his heart was never really in it.

Of course, there is not much respite at WTOP as far as cycling is concerned. WTOP IS drive time radio so the subjects they broadcast have to appeal to their motoring audience.

The letter Chris Core wrote, while wrong on several points as to what is legal, still fairly represents a viewpoint many motorists have regarding cyclists.

99% of the motorists don't cycle. So they are often clueless with regard to cyclist behavior. Their expectation of how traffic will conform is shaped by dealing with a world where the motor vehicle has dominated.


Has anyone asked Chris to sign WABA's pledge to ride responsibly?

how many times does one need to read almost the exact same comments and commentary before realizing that social change and individual behavioral change comes AFTER social structure has been erected that controls dictate behavior, and ONLY for the generation that comes AFTER the present one?...

show me one historical example where this isnt true?...

John, if you have "a historic" house, it probably doesn't make sense to "replace" your windows, but repair them. Traditional new windows like the Thompson windows tend to fail in about 15 years, therefore never pay back their original investment. (Not that you are likely to stay in your house that long.)

Repairing windows + the addition of indoor or outdoor storm windows is probably the way to go.

http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/weatherization/windows/

satan -- it's a bit more complicated but you're on the right track. Basically, "culture" is constructed. Most laws and regulations and norms (over)favor automobility. Part of the vociferous response against bicycling has to do with people defending what they see as their perogatives.

Today's Times has a piece about Dutch biking, which is an example of constructing a different way for mobility, and instead of privileging automobility, they are prioritizing biking (and transit).

The problem is that people like Chris Core see automobility as "natural law" rather than as a particular system that has been constructed, for particular reasons, and reflects beliefs from a particular point in time, and are not actually some sort of universal truth or way of being.

@JeffB

That Chris Core espouses a philosophy he doesn't believe in (if true) makes him worse, not better. Being a sell-out is not a virtue.


That Chris Core espouses a philosophy he doesn't believe in (if true) makes him worse, not better.

I had the same thought. I'm reminded of the way people used to talk about Strom Thurmond: "He's not really a racist, he just says those things to get elected." As if somehow that made it OK.

Hard to follow whether the last few comments are about cycling or right-wing politics. If the former: Is it really a character flaw to advocate that everybody obey the traffic laws while at the same time breaking said law yourself when convenient in a world where everybody does so?

On politics: I never had the feeling that Chris Core was unduly towing the right-wing line. And when you consider who replaced him, it's pretty clear WMAL let him go because he was not part of the lunatic fringe. His views have always reminded me more of a "Reagan Democrat" or right-leaning independent.

I think that his greatest limitation is that he seems to do little or no research. Or if he does research, he has decided that his opinions will str[ill reflect the ordinary perspectives of those who do no research. So one needs to view him more as a one-man focus group than as a serious commentator.

It would be convenient if commentators would listen to the experts and then help to educate those who share their biases. Chris Core listens to the biases and reminds the "experts" about how far they have to go in selling their message.

Chris Core doesn't do any research. His opinion pieces are based on his own prejudices and feelings. I don't give a flying fig if he swings left or right -- he is not an objective reporter, and he was not hired to be one. His spots are pretty much on par with the "not a sermon, just a thought" ads that WTOP airs.

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