When tragedy strikes, so do the pundits and politicians.
The I-35 westbound bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed, sending rush hour traffic tumbling into the river below. Rescue crews rapidly descended on the location only to be blocked by the media and onlookers stumbling over one another to get the best pictures of the carnage to upload to YouTube.…
Article comments
76 - Ray Ellis
I-35 falls under Federal funding, Jerry. You might want to read the news more closely.
77 - Heloise
Dear John, I thought the title was certainly funny. The only problem I see with it is that since you mention women and minorities in the title, you should have made that item bigger in your piece to greater effect. That even when minorities and women are missing in something this bad, they still get the short end.
However, women and minorities were not absent this collapse from what I saw. Not sure if it is in bad taste as the other bloggers suggest, just surprised I think.
PS: my piece you didn't like (pre-rewrite) just got promoted. I figured out the punchline should have been: a Dow jones! That's funny.
Anyway,
you got clobbered on this one, but I still dugg it.
Heloise
78 - Ray Ellis
When people die, how do you divvyitup, and come to the conclusion that "women and minorities get the short end"?
This isn't a statistical exercise, and it sure as hell isn't amusing.
79 - Al Barger
Re: Mr Rath's comment #1:
I'm a former staffer at The Onion, and I find this to be in horrible taste.
If I were Brother Bambenek, I would consider it a distinct accomplishment to write a satire that would offend even an employee of The Onion.
Oh -- and if you have to explain your jokes at the end of your story, it's not funny.
It is pretty funny and self-explanatory, and he didn't have to explain it in order for people to understand his point. Perhaps it was an unnecessarily defensive action to explain himself, but he was (correctly, it turns out) anticipating people carefully choosing not to get the point.
80 - John Bambenek
The women and minorities hardest his was a spin-off of the NYTimes spoof headline "World Ends: Women and Minorities Hardest Hit". Think Katrina. In the end, you were more likely to die if you were white than black, but that certainly isn't well known.
I put the note at the end for the exact reason Al mentions. Most people don't get satire, biting or otherwise. That and most people entertained quite a selective reading of this.
The only thing left is to wait for the funding bill to repair this bridge and all the pork that gets stuffed into that bill. Probably at least as much pork as there is money for the actual project.
I blame the Bush tax cuts, because it sure as hell isn't the fact that DC porks the hell out of every bill these days.
81 - Ray Ellis
One core fact remains. If you assume people will not get your point, then you know deep in your heart you never made your point.
Satire is satire. There is no sub-genre of "biting satire." That's a critical point after the fact.
If Johnathan Swift had found it necessary to explain "Gulliver's Travels" as a satire, I doubt it would be still read today.
82 - daryl d
Ray and others:
You are reacting as if someone killed your relative. Lighten up! Sometimes, the best way to heal the pain of a tradgedy is humor and as dark as the humor is in this, it works.
83 - Ray Ellis
As usual, Daryl, you assume too much. In point of fact, I have ties to Minneapolis going back for years.
I hardly think you're in a position to tell the world how to deal with tragedy. Some of us don't find death amusing. And "lightening up" is seldom, if ever the appropriate way of dealing with it.
You're betting on the wrong horse, Daryl.
84 - RJ
If Johnathan Swift had found it necessary to explain "Gulliver's Travels" as a satire, I doubt it would be still read today.
Ever hear of "A Modest Proposal" by the aforementioned Jonathan Swift? Pissed a lot of people off in its day, because they simply didn't get it (what with its encouragement of cannibalism and infanticide and all).
But it is still a classic piece of satire. Lighten up.
85 - Ray Ellis
You missed my point, RJ, which doesn't surprise me. Satirists don't add postscripts to explain how they were only kidding. And a good comic never goes back to explain his joke, unless it's in a self-deprecating way. And a good writer doesn't backtrack and say it wasn't a joke, it was satire, and proceed to nitpick the nuances between the two.
Right-wingers such as yourself and Bambenek (and the self-serving synchophant Daryl D., however, march in lockstep, and scream, "I didn't say that."
The fact remains people died, your liberal conspiracy never happened and most of the world grieves for the lives lost.
You guys are not serving your cause (whatever it is) by minimizing the tragedy. Calls for inspecting the nation's bridges is not a partisan battle.
Lighten up? Thanks, but as I said, people died. It's not a matter for political fodder, no matter how you try to spin it.
86 - RJ
"your liberal conspiracy never happened"
CNN was trying to blame Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty for the disaster last night...
87 - El Bicho
Actually this piece is funny because John's unaware that his rush to exploit the situation is no different from those he is chastising.
A good writer could very easily have created an event rather than using the obvious one right in from of him.
By the way, where did you get your copy of Modest Proposal? Mine doesn't have a disclaimer. Smarten up.
88 - RJ
"Satirists don't add postscripts to explain how they were only kidding. And a good comic never goes back to explain his joke, unless it's in a self-deprecating way. And a good writer doesn't backtrack and say it wasn't a joke, it was satire, and proceed to nitpick the nuances between the two."
John only did this in an effort to preemptively appease reactionaries like you. Sadly, his attempt appears not to have worked...
89 - Ray Ellis
Which proves my point incontrivertibly-- satire is not a preemptive art for. You can't satirize what hasn't happened. . . unless, of course, you're a right-wing reactionary.
90 - Ray Ellis
Pardon the typos.
Nonetheless, where does your "side" find anything to satirize in a tragedy which took live? I only see controversy in the blogosphere. I don't see any actual politicians--Republicans or Democrats-- so quick to lay blame. Maybe they have more important things to do-- like focusing on how to prevent this from happening again.
91 - Clavos
In 2006, the best year in more than a decade, 23 times as many people died every day in traffic fatalities as died in Minneapolis.
A sad event, yes, but I rather doubt that "most of the world" even heard about it, much less grieves it.
Calls for inspecting the nation's bridges are, as is the usual MO in this country, a classic case of a day late and a dollar short.
That bridge WAS inspected before; numerous times, and warnings were issued that it was deficient.
They were ignored.
Hundreds more nationwide have already been declared deficient as well.
The type of bridge it was, a truss span, is such a bad design bridges aren't even designed that way anymore. Why was that design used? It was cheaper to build.
But then, that's the USA. Richest Third World country on Earth.
Bah.
92 - Dr Dreadful
Bah?
Did those pilots not bite, then? :-(
93 - Clavos
Thanks, Doc, for the sympathetic emoticon.
The pilots didn't bite yet, but I would have been surprised if they had done so this quickly.
We've established a rapport; I have a better idea of what they want, and they'll likely bite one day soon. On some deals, it's taken up to two years to hook 'em.
No, the "bah" was just disgust at: A) The collapsing of the bridge and attendant loss of life, B) The quintessentially American overblown reaction to it, and C) The fact that a) an inferior design was used in the first place, and b) no one minded the warnings about its condition years ago.
Two things I don't like about Yanks:
1) Their smug self assurance that America is the best of everything (or should be).
2) Their tendency to overreact to everything.
/soapbox
94 - Matthew T. Sussman
Have we decided if this is funny yet? We need a unanimous decision before we can move forward.
95 - Christopher Rose
It, no; you, yes.
96 - Dr Dreadful
Matthew, it depends on which state you're in. In some states, a 10-2 vote is required; in others, a simple majority will suffice.
Personally, I think it's about as funny as a liquid sewage enema. But that's just me. I've no doubt that RJ, for example, is currently in the emergency room with a ruptured hernia from laughing too hard.
97 - sal m
john mccain blames congress.
98 - RJ
"I don't see any actual politicians--Republicans or Democrats-- so quick to lay blame."
Sigh...
99 - John Bambenek
When Karl Rove called me and told me to write this, he said Democrats were already in Blame Bush First mode. Who am I to believe? Some commenter on BlogCritics with a whiners' account, or Karl Rove, the most moral man in America?
100 - RJ
Oh, I see Sal beat me to it...
Anyway, let this be a lesson to you, John: Don't ever be correctly prescient about the disgusting ways in which political types will try to spin a national tragedy for their own partisan advantage. Because, for some reason, being right about that really pisses some people off.
:-/
101 - John Bambenek
Funny thing is, I did rip on GOP types too (Cheney, Coulter, Stevens, the entire GOP congress of last term).
You know the bill that will fund the repair of this bridge will be porked to hell. Even bridges that don't need repairs, or bridges that don't need to be built will be in there. And something else in West Virginia will be named after Robert Byrd.
102 - STM
Clav: "A sad event, yes, but I rather doubt that "most of the world" even heard about it, much less grieves it."
Mate, most of the rest of the world not only ehard about it, but has been watching it for days.
It's a big story. Could happen anywhere, really.
103 - Clavos
In Australia, the UK, and Europe, yes, mate; but that's not most of the rest of the world, now, is it?
Doubt too many people in the Sudan and most of Africa, China, or India, to name just a few places, are cognizant, much less concerned about it.
Even in the first world, most people pay no attention whatever to the news and world events. We news junkies tend to lose sight of that.
104 - Doug DeLong
#99 - "Karl Rove, the most moral man in America?"
Now THAT'S good satire!!
105 - daryl d
John:
Once again, oustanding work. All I have to say. For now.
106 - Minneapolis1
Satire, yes. Biting, not really. Why don't you leave us alone for a couple more days?
107 - Silver Surfer
Perhaps not bother you at all, ever, would be the preferred option
108 - John Bambenek
Doug, glad you liked it.
109 - The Fifth Dentist
Holy shit. What the hell did you intend with this? It's dreadful.
110 - sal m
chicago trib columnist blames bush and says somalis in the area are the hardest hit victims.
111 - Ray Ellis
You might want to re-read the article, Sal. The columnist didn't blame Bush at all. There was one quote from one Somali who implied the US was focusing more on war than on bridge building.
That's hardly the Tribune indicting the Bush Administration.