In an interview with The Huffington Post, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood praised city planners across America for encouraging commuter cycling, but worried that not enough drivers are willing to share the road. "I’m concerned that people that are driving cars have a level of respect for bikers, and that’s the reason that we have these bike lanes,” said LaHood. "Bikers have as much right to the streets as anybody driving a car and I am concerned about [their safety]." In response, Huff Post reporter Sam Stein told LaHood that his "heartfelt defense of bikers came off like the musings of a run-of-the-mill hipster," an observation that seems to be copied and pasted right out of the Gothamist comments section.
LaHood replied, "I don’t even know what that term means," and, in our fantasy version of the interview, walked out of the interview to a standing ovation. Stein, you may recall, is the guy who chapped the asses of the White House press pool when Obama called on him—a "new media" interloper!—during a press conference in 2009. Stein didn't throw a softball that night, so we're surprised to see him wasting LaHood's time with reductive cliches worthy of, well, the Gothamist comments section.
We suppose Stein's remark was intended to be tongue-in-cheek pull-quote bait (mission accomplished?) but we wonder how the bereaved relatives of Megan Charlop or Bob Bowen might react to his glib dismissal of anybody who wants safer streets. How many times do we need to point out that it's not just "hipsters" who want to commute by bike without getting run over? My, just look at these fucking hipsters, Mr. Stein. And Secretary LaHood, we salute your lucid response to his inane observation. To celebrate, we're off to silkscreen "I Don’t Even Know What That Term Means" on some vintage T-shirts!
