Moron of the Week, #34

The Moron of the Week surely has to be Dan Maes, one of the Republican candidates for governor of Colorado, who, according to the Denver Post, equates cycling with internationalism and the loss of personal freedom.

That's right folks, Maes says that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper is taking the state capital down the road to servitude to a new world order dictated by foreign powers.

What he actually said was this, according to Christopher Osher of the Denver Post:

Bicycling and other green solutions aren't "just warm fuzzy ideas from the Mayor. These are very specific strategies that are dictated to us by this United Nations program that mayors have signed on to."

"This is bigger than it looks like on the surface, and it could threaten our personal freedoms."

Maes is a Tea Party favourite, writes Osher, and, apparently, a certified nut case. The worldwide threat to personal freedoms that Maes was referring to was the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, which has been attracted members from 1,200 communities worldwide, including 600 in the U.S. (the poor misguided fools).

Osher quoted Maes as saying that "Some would argue this document that the mayors have signed is contradictory to our own Constitution."

Osher writes that Maes is also opposed to the mayor's bike-share program, saying it puts environmentalism above the rights of the average citizen.

Not sure how running a bike share program infringes on the basic rights of all Americans. I mean, can't you put a gun rack on a bicycle?

Maes gets my vote, for Moron of the Week.

Comments

[Ryan]

I am willing to bet at the end of the year, he could win the "International moron of the year" award.

[jgoreham]

Good choice for moron of the week, but that crack about gun racks taints the whole post for me. Americans are basically the same as us Canadians and are generally not gun-toting maniacs. Maybe I just have no sense of humor, but I didn't think it was very funny.

[Bill]

Hmmm, maybe the gun rack quip was a cheap shot...

[Rob]

Actually Bill I think the gun rack comment was spot on... I interpreted it not as a shot against Americans collectively but at the general idiocy of people like Dan Maes.

[AlanM]

Naw, the gun rack quip was good. The "right to bear arms" is the quintessential example of individual rights and "freedoms" taken to the extreme. Everyone understands. The quip provides good juxtaposition for Maes' quotes.

I was thinking of saying "lighten up" to your detractors, except it then occurred to me that someone spouting this sort of nonsense has been elected by our sub-49th friends before, as president no less! Scary place sometimes!

[Geis]

Gun racks have been put on bicycles for a long time.

http://www.cyclelicio.us/2008/11/gun-racks-for-bicycles.html

[David]

Canada has it's share of anti-cycling politicians as well. Watch this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nySs1cEq5rs

[Chris Beynon]

Can the Robert Kirsic be next week's moron of the week?... http://thestar.blogs.com/yourcitymycity/2010/08/toronto-needs-to-revisit-cycling-licences.html

[MJS]

AlanM said: "The 'right to bear arms' is the quintessential example of individual rights and "freedoms" taken to the extreme."

What about freedom of speech? Or the right to a jury trial? Right to counsel? Self incrimination? Those are pretty extreme too, considering that most other countries don't have those protections to the same degree as America does (even in the EU and Canada.)

Why pick on gun rights instead of the others, or make quips about gun racks?

I ride a bike because it's healthy, cheap, and fun.

I carry a firearm because I'm much more vulnerable to attack by criminals when I ride a bike (particularly when commuting home at night.

I don't see the two ideas in conflict, but maybe you and Maes do (from opposite sides).

I want you to keep your hands off my firearms, and I want Maes to keep his hands off my bicycle. And maybe if y'all quit sniping at each other we can all get along.

[Rob]

MJS wrote: "Why pick on gun rights instead of the others, or make quips about gun racks?"

I don't know maybe cuz people are stupid with them and they kill people??? Just keep that craziness south of the 49th if you don't mind.

[MJS]

Rob,

Criminals kill people. Idiots kill people. Blaming the implement used is what might be termed "crazy".

BTW, the most populous parts of Canada are below the 49th. So Nunavut is off limits, but Toronto and Montreal aren't? ;)

[Ellen Hunt]

It's "The Right to Bare Arms" goldurnit!!

(Seriously. I saw that in a DHS book. Not kidding.)