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Politicians are peddling in the news this week. First up is Barak Obama biking in Chicago. I can think of quite a few funny things to say about the picture (i.e. jeans on a bike in the summer, in Chicago!? - a polo shirt?) but I won’t steer entirely toward the humorous because after all, the possible future President is on a bike and is not falling off of it like our current President.
Then you have Hugo Chavez riding a bike making the news as well. I am not knowledgeable enough to offer a reasoned critique of Venezuelan politics and in general I really don’t trust the American media, but I have to admit that I kind of admire the elements of his “Maverick” style in the news. He took the opportunity of riding the bike, made in Iran, to poke fun at Bush - his seemingly favorite past time. In true Maverick style he is not rocking a helmet. 
Question of the day - would Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rock a fixie or freewheel?
Both Photos from AP
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Filed Under: culture
5 comments for this entry ↓
1 MarkR // Jun 10, 2008 at 4:57 am
the first thought that comes to my mind regarding these two is, “look socialists can ride bikes to.”
2 Johnny // Jun 10, 2008 at 6:07 am
Neither! Mr. Ahmadinejad would ride a big tricycle:)
3 Joshua // Jun 10, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Is it a surprise that the media would show a positive (though dorky) picture of its darlings, and give a negative image to someone who represents what they see as the ultimate evil (being conservativism, at least in name)?
Oh, and as far as falling goes, can anyone here say they’ve never fallen? At all? The majority of cyclists fall often on smooth roads, let alone rougher, country or dirt roads.
4 ron // Jun 11, 2008 at 4:42 am
“The majority of cyclists fall often on smooth roads, let alone rougher, country or dirt roads.”
What? Where did you get this figure from? I know TONS of people who ride, and none of them have fallen on smooth roads.
How is the latter image “negative”? I think it’s a better photo.
5 Joshua // Jul 2, 2008 at 10:17 am
Sorry, I didn’t mean to insinuate that you yourself fall often. Nor was I calling those “TONS of people” poor cyclists. My point was that most people that ride a bike would not be surprised to know that another cyclist had fallen on a smooth road, but when Bush fell while riding on a rougher road, the media attacked him for it.
I wasn’t referring to the second picture as a negative picture. Note that I wrote “…to someone who represents what they see as the ultimate evil (being conservatism, at least in name)?”
I was referring to the (oft-admitted) slant to many news outlets in the mainstream media (which is to the left, in case you haven’t noticed).
As MarkR communicated above, both of those politicians are on the left to far-left portion of the governmental spectrum, i.e. socialists.
In other words, a leftist would tend to portray a leftist in a positive way (”See, these guys can ride bikes just fine! Must be thanks to big gov’t!”) while portraying someone who is at least somewhat more conservative as stupid for doing a related thing (”Bush is a crappy person because he was honest and admitted to falling while on a ride!!! IMPEACH!”).
Really, did anybody say, “Hey, Bush rides a bike, maybe he’s not satan?” Not that I heard. Yet they say, “LOOK! OBAMA RIDES A BIKE! Who cares if it may have been for this one picture, he’s on a bike, hooray!”
I don’t think he should be mocked for riding a hybrid dressed like that (that’s BSNYC’s job), but then again, neither should Bush have been derided for having a spill on that ride years back.
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