Local radio talk show host John Justice of 104.1 The Truth spent much of his broadcast Thursday morning slamming Living Streets Alliance and the push to modify the bicycle parking code.
Justice read from the draft code which was finalized on Monday evening and you can download here. It appears that he wasn’t entirely clear on the code and how it works, but quickly launched into saying the Living Streets Alliance is pushing a “progressive agenda” and attempting to “take people’s cars away from them.”
Listen to the show below.
Living Streets Alliance founder Emily Yetman said she had heard about the show, but hadn’t actually listened to it and didn’t think it was worth her time to discuss.
You can listen to the entire podcast here or listen to an edited version (in two parts due to its size) that I created that starts with the bike parking debate.
Part 1:
[audio:http://www.bicycletucson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/bikeparkingaudio1.mp3|titles=bikeparkingaudio1]Part 2:
[audio:http://www.bicycletucson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/bikeparkingaudio2.mp3|titles=bikeparkingaudio2]Download the proposed changes from Monday’s meeting and see the new rules for yourself.
Oh noes, he’s uncovered LSA’s secret plot to destroy America!
Nice! LSA is on the map.
We all know any publicity is good publicity.
Justice is brought to you by the same people that did the hash job on bicycling a few months ago ( showing the guy hanging off a truck and implying that it represented everyone ). Not much new here. Don’t listen to him or to KGUN’s biased reporting.
I had no idea that was the case until I started looking for the podcast. Makes sense, though.
Here is the link to the post about KGUN: http://tucsonvelo.com/blog/kgun9-responds-to-criticism-about-its-reporting/3222
What kind of a childhood leads to this pathology? The shrillness of it and the grating whining, the scorn heaped on people trying to improve their neighborhoods, good Lord. It’s incomprehensible.
“You see this, you’ve got to begin to look at the bigger picture and understand — its all so seductive, subversive, they suck people into this junk, and how do they do it? Cyclovia. That’s how they do it.”
Honestly, this is the kind of thing you would hear from a radio announcer on The Simpsons.
Martha here. I grew up in a right-wing household, and I know this type of person very well. Here’s a brief summary:
1. They’re very angry people. Mostly about how things used to be back in The Good Old Days, and how things have really gone downhill since then.
2. They’re fond of using name-calling to belittle their opponents, be they real or perceived.
3. They’re fond of symbols like the American flag and the use of words like patriotism, liberty, freedom, and truth.
ironically, living streets’s subversive agenda is to make neighborhood streets more like they *used to be*, i.e. safe and compact, places where you can walk across the street to get your mail without getting run down by 40mph car traffic. Places where you can get to know your neighbors. I mean, it’s sort of a profoundly conservative vision of getting back to “the Good Old Days.”
Funny thing about the broadcast is that he blames LSA for their “movement” and Cyclovia but yet he does not realize that it was other organizations that implemented Cyclovia before LSA. Doesn’t he realize that bike parking has been in place from the City for a while and these are “changes” not initial implementation. He needs to do is homework better before moving is mouth…
Right, because the good old days = lots and lots of cars.
There’s an audience for it. Simple as that. That means Journal Broadcast Group sales reps can visit businesses and sell advertising. That means JBG employees and Wall Street get paid. (1)
Red Star appreciates the irony of the quote:
“You see this, you’ve got to begin to look at the bigger picture and understand — its all so seductive, subversive, they suck people into this junk, and how do they do it? Cyclovia. That’s how they do it.”
It’s telling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1)
http://www.journalbroadcastgroup.com/VisionandValues/tabid/1604/Default.aspx
Me again. I hate to bring this up, but here’s a warning:
Since there seems to be an attempt to fan the anti-bicycling flames on local talk radio, I would urge those who participate in events like Cyclovia to be very careful.
And I’m speaking from personal experience. Last year, when Cyclovia went through my area, one of my neighbors took it upon herself to make a nearby intersection a festive place. She brought a set of hula hoops from home, and she invited Cyclovia participants to stop and take ’em for a test twirl.
Seems like a delightful thing to do, right?
Well, one of my neighbors didn’t think so. He gave this lady a mouthful of foul language and kicked her hula hoops. The reason for this outburst? He was angry because he’d been told to park his car a block away so that the Cyclovia riders could come through.
Having to walk a block to get his car was just too much. My neighbor (and several witnesses) saw this guy stomp down the street to his car, get in it, and drive away recklessly.
The police were called.
I don’t know what the outcome of the police call was, but here’s my advice:
If you find yourself in a similar situation to my hula-hooping neighbor, call 911. Make a police report. And be prepared to press charges and have them prosecuted. If there’s anything that bullies can’t handle, it’s when bullied people push back. It takes the wind right out of their sails.
It’s a style meant to emotionally rile. Was Rush the first to stumble across it for radio? But, he’s describing himself…the rest is ‘content’ to fill the space between commercials. The broadcast media is essentially blown.
I am a strong conservative. I am also a dedicated cyclist like many other conservatives. I have known many Democrats who thought bicycles are toys that just clog the streets and run stop signs.
Cycling is neither liberal nor conservative. In some circumstances, funding cycling infrastructure can be a problem for conservatives, but that is not always true. My position is that money spent on cylcing infrastructure usually has a payback.
As for John Justice, I listened to him once and couldn’t take it. I listen to conservatives who do their homework and base their arguments on facts rather than stereotypes and conjectures.
My personal position on bicycle parking is that business owners should value all customers and provide bike parking right next to the entrance of their establishment. I’d prefer that they have a storefront window that gives a view of the racks from the inside of the business so the bike owners and store clerks can see the bikes. In my dream world I’d also like to have a roof over the racks! If I had a business where folks needed to visit me I’d provide that kind of parking for bikes, it doesn’t take up much space.
However, the difference between me and some of you is that I don’t think business owners should be forced by law to provide parking for bikes. In fact, they shouldn’t be forced to provide parking for cars either. This is an area that the market would take care of. Who would frequent a place that they couldn’t get to conveniently? A business without parking wouldn’t survive unless they were doing many other things better than anyone else. Tucson is a big town and gives us a lot of choices about who we’ll give our money to. Don’t do business with folks who don’t like your lifestyle and values. Write the owner a respectful letter explaining why he isn’t getting your money. Also, don’t forget to write letters to those owners who are doing things the way you like.
With that said, there will always be a number of businesses that don’t have a bike rack. Surely that is annoying, but should it be a crime?
Or Morton Downey?
Talk show hosts like this are entertainers, not journalists. He obviously doesn’t do any research, doesn’t know that the city currently requires bike parking within 50 feet of store entrances, and he’s just trying to boost ratings with his nonsense. It would be interesting to know who the advertisers are for his show, and for his station in general. I doubt the station management gives a gnat’s eyelash whether they upset cyclists. I think they might care if we publicized the companies which advertise on the station, and contact them to let them know we are unhappy with the programs they are associated with.
I think it’s best just to ignore knuckleheads like this. The people that listen to him (or other similarly fact-challenged radio entertainers), listen because he tells them what they already “know” or want to hear. They are not interested in actual information, so engaging them about a subject (which they have already made up their minds about), only serves to reinforce their misconceptions.
I’m with 3wheeler that this is not truly a political topic. I’m a conservative, too, but I love my bicycle and I love the infrastructure that Tucson has in place and planned for my preferred mode of transportation. John Justice just has a different mind set…one that I had not that many years ago. If we approach it properly, we can win people over rather than stiffening our opposition.