My Morning Commute

[PotomacCyclist]

My voting location was 100% cyclist. I can guarantee this. Primarily because I was the only voter there. The only other people within 100 feet were the volunteers and maintenance people vacuuming the carpet.

[Geoff]

@mstone 81876 wrote:

I hope you let him know at the time…the best way to improve behavior is to de-normalize it, and people need social cues for that to happen.

Part of the value of this forum (for me) is establishing norms for various situations. I have changed some of my behavior based on discussions here.

On the other hand, getting other people to change is ticklish. I’ve growled at people for blocking the trail… and sometimes they growl right back and completely miss the point. Sometimes people have growled at me, and sometimes I thought they were being prigs. We all see ourselves on the side of the angels.

[dasgeh]

Four of us (2 voters) rolled up on bikes around 9am at St. Agnes. There were a handful of other voters there while we were there, so it sounds like we hit the rush!

Seriously, vote. Remind your Arlingtonian friends to vote. This election is very important, and certain candidates have been pulling some tricky tricks.

[DismalScientist]

@dasgeh 81902 wrote:

certain candidates have been pulling some tricky tricks.

Other than Howze supporters using irrelevant ad hominem attacks suggesting Vihstadt’s (unlikely) support of conservative social positions that are completely irrelevant to this election, I have no idea what you are talking about.

[dasgeh]

How about a big-time Republican (and tea party candidate) donor pretending to be an independent? Or anti-streetcar residents sending out AST info as if it’s nonbiased? Or saying that this election is only about the street car and will decide the street car once and for all?

[DismalScientist]

An actual tea party candidate… I could only wish. That allegation is made up of whole cloth.
Vihstadt is not hiding his political roots. That being a Republican means immediate condemnation and an inability to run as an independent is a sorry commentary on the body politic in Arlington.
Since the AST was founded to oppose the streetcar, I would expect that it would support a candidate that opposes the streetcar and would view that issue as the main issue.
How does any of this constitute political trickery?

[Tim Kelley]

popcorn.gif

[ShawnoftheDread]

@DismalScientist 81912 wrote:

How does any of this constitute political trickery?

Well obviously the Koch Brothers are involved. Or maybe Richard Mellon Scaife is making a nefarious comeback.

[dasgeh]

@DismalScientist 81912 wrote:

An actual tea party candidate… I could only wish. That allegation is made up of whole cloth.
Vihstadt is not hiding his political roots. That being a Republican means immediate condemnation and an inability to run as an independent is a sorry commentary on the body politic in Arlington.
Since the AST was founded to oppose the streetcar, I would expect that it would support a candidate that opposes the streetcar and would view that issue as the main issue.
How does any of this constitute political trickery?

Vihstadt has donated significant chunks of change to tea party candidates and Republicans. So why isn’t he running as a Republican? Seems to me that running as an “Independent” is trickery.

My issue is with AST supporters pretending AST is a non-biased source of information about the election. As you say, it’s not. Trickery.

[mstone]

@Geoff 81901 wrote:

Part of the value of this forum (for me) is establishing norms for various situations. I have changed some of my behavior based on discussions here.

On the other hand, getting other people to change is ticklish. I’ve growled at people for blocking the trail… and sometimes they growl right back and completely miss the point. Sometimes people have growled at me, and sometimes I thought they were being prigs. We all see ourselves on the side of the angels.

All you can do is try. People these days tend to not want to speak up, the problem is that you end up with a race to the bottom: a guy who keeps getting buzzed dangerously with nobody objecting is much more likely to decide that is normal behavior and start doing it himself. See speeding, and yielding to pedestrians, for examples of where this ends up once the bad behavior is established as normal. If it’s bad enough to bitch about it on the internet, it may be worth trying to improve in real life.

Edit to add: and it may not have been clear, but the benefit doesn’t necessarily go the miscreant, but to all of the other social animals who may witness the event and need a way to categorize it in their body of learned behaviors. Say nothing, and it goes on the books as socially acceptable. Say something, and it goes on the books as potentially putting one out of the pack. Humans don’t always assess things on a purely rational basis.

[mstone]

@DismalScientist 81912 wrote:

That being a Republican means immediate condemnation and an inability to run as an independent is a sorry commentary on the body politic in Arlington.

Or the Republican party. Just sayin’.

[rcannon100]

Election results

I would say it is clear that “he’s a republican” was not a sufficient answer to undisciplined spending. Democrat Arlington has voted in a Republican (and we all knew he was a republican; no one was tricked).

[ShawnoftheDread]

@rcannon100 81960 wrote:

Election results

I would say it is clear that “he’s a republic” was not a sufficient answer to undisciplined spending. Democrat Arlington has voted in a Republican.

Step 1: elect Vihstadt

Step 2: ?

Step 3: Tea Party runs Arlington and we all have to drive SUVs.

(Oh, and Profit!)

[runbike]

@ShawnoftheDread 81965 wrote:

Step 1: elect Vihstadt

Step 2: ?

Step 3: Tea Party runs Arlington and we all have to drive SUVs.

(Oh, and Profit!)

So you’re saying the underpants gnomes are behind this election result?

[Steve]

This morning commute was great. I rode a bit with some guy riding into town who complimented the disc trucker, which always makes me happy. Had a nice tailwind heading south. And it was beautiful out.

I still hate all the TV cameras set up along the Tidal Basin. In particular someone today had put the plastic speed bumps over their wires, which are awful. But I guess what can you do.

[Author]

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