August 10, 2019

If you're going to plaster your car with bumper stickers, you'd better drive properly, or it's like you're arguing for the other side.

This car veered across a solid white line and cut sharply in front of us as the street diverged and he suddenly needed to be in our lane:

fullsizeoutput_3104

Note the taped over left tail-light, indicating he'd cut somebody else off even more sharply on some prior occasion. He proceeded to drive for blocks straddling the white line like that. When he finally committed to a lane, I took 2 pictures of him as we passed on the left. I won't put those pictures up. He was a very old guy, and I don't think he even noticed me photographing him, so the intended message that we didn't appreciate his driving never reached him.

The stickers include "Recall Walker," the blue fist shaped like the map of Wisconsin (oft seen during the anti-Walker protests), and various pro-union things.

90 comments:

rcocean said...

And that driver was....Joe Biden.

And now you know the rest of the story.

Good day!

Yancey Ward said...

Ing.......er FrankiM was drunk again.

Michael K said...

Plenty of multi-stickered cars in Tucson. I think they are correlated with universities and leftist bubbles, but I repeat myself.

rcocean said...

BTW, I've only been cut off deliberately a few times. Every time it was by old people. The Last was by two Lesbians in an old volvo. I say Lesbian, because they had an LBQT sticker on the bumper and they both had super short hair. But they could have been Episcopalian Priests.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Leftists are jerks. It's a thing.

Sharc 65 said...

Typical lefty. *Most* of the cars festooned with these virtue-signaling stickers drive without a care in the world about *other* drivers. So like you, we all tend to just give them a wide berth. They rarely have occasion to learn any lessons about self-awareness.

Once written, twice... said...

So, Ann, you really think his bumper stickers have something to do with his bad driving? You don’t think there are an equal number of bad drivers out there with conservative bumper stickers?

Ann, just acknowledge that you now identify as a Republican and as a conservative. Your continuing to claim to be “cruelly neutral” just makes you look like a phony.

stonethrower said...

Red Flag law for drivers' licenses.

Sharc 65 said...

I've never taken a picture of these morons, but I almost always glance to see if they resemble my mental image of them. Every time.

Sharc 65 said...

"Your continuing to claim to be 'cruelly neutral' just makes you look like a phony."

That's actually the thing about cruel neutrality. It doesn't always cut your way.

Sharc 65 said...

Conservatives don't put bumper stickers on their cars. It just guarantees lefty vandalism. Just like I don't wear a MAGA hat. I would, but I still need to provide for my family.

Yancey Ward said...

I got run of the road here in Oak Ridge by a similarly stickered SUV- "Coexist", "I'm With Her", "Obama/Biden", "Kerry/Edwards" etc. Not sure what age the driver was- I had just enough time to get onto the shoulder before the driver merged directly into me. Fortunately, the speed was low (30 mph), otherwise I would have surely damaged the car.

madAsHell said...

Bumper stickers are a manifestation of cognitive dissonance.

"Thy rod, and thy bumper sticker they comfort me."

whitney said...

When I see a cars with that many liberal bumper stickers on them I always look in the windows and they are trashed and filthy 99% of the time. I have a feeling that's how the inside of their mind looks also

john said...

Poor aim too. None of the bumper stickers are actually on the bumper.

hiawatha biscayne said...

anything over two bumperstickers automatically equals nuts.

chuck said...

Driving left, the signs were a warning.

madAsHell said...

Coexist is a license to straddle lanes.

Big Mike said...

You don’t think there are an equal number of bad drivers out there with conservative bumper stickers?

No. There aren’t. In my experience lefties are uniquely thoughtless self-centered twits who care nothing about anyone who isn’t them.

Hagar said...

I once read about another study that concluded it was the number of stickers on the car, not the content, that best indicated the level of aggressiveness in the driver.

Temujin said...

He's a lefty. He was doing it for the common good.

alan markus said...

I'm guessing 2nd guy to the right.

Solidarity Sing-Along....

bagoh20 said...

"Conservatives don't put bumper stickers on their cars. It just guarantees lefty vandalism. Just like I don't wear a MAGA hat. I would, but I still need to provide for my family."

Things like this really show the difference between Right and Left. The vandalism on anyone who expresses conservative ideas, the assaults, the attempts to get people fired, the readiness to shut people up, the doxing, the harassment at restaurants, at people homes, even attacking their children, the unhinged hatred, and the filth left behind when they congregate.

All this stuff overwhelming comes from the left. There is nothing comparable from the Right. The one-sided nature of all this terrible behavior should be enough to dissuade normal people from wanting to be associated with leftism at all, and should warn them of the dangers of giving them power. They don't respect much, not freedom, not diversity, not fairness, and not you.

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, he just wanted to see whether you’d heed his demand to DODGE!

Anonymous said...

Dodge Caravan, eh? They boycotting Subaru these days or something?

Used to always be a Subaru or a Volvo.

I associate a car besplattered with virtue-stickers in other parts of the country with a certain female demographic, but I guess in the Upper Midwest it's a geezer thing, too.

Danno said...

Minnesota and Wisconsin have loads of cars like that, driven by libtards who think their shit doesn't stink. Did he lose his COEXIST sticker? Oh my.

h said...

I saw a bumper sticker today that made me chuckle: "Any Responsible Adult 2020".

Michael K said...

You don’t think there are an equal number of bad drivers out there with conservative bumper stickers?

The only Trump sticker I saw in LA in 2016 was on a Tesla. Like garlic and vampires.

You are certainly welcome to post all the photos you have of them.

I do see pickup trucks with NRA stickers but always on the back window.

Marc in Eugene said...

Tried to see the 2nd guy at the right at the Solidarity Sing-Along via alan markus's link but:

"451: Unavailable due to legal reasons

We recognize you are attempting to access this website from a country belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA) including the EU which enforces the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and therefore access cannot be granted at this time. For any issues, contact hostmaster@madison.com or call 800-362-8333."

Why does Madison.com violate the GDPR? I thought Madison was reliably Left/prog/pro-EU.

Michael K said...

"Any Responsible Adult 2020".<

I saw one like that on a car in a French restaurant on Bastille Day.

Undoubtedly U of A faculty,.

Marc in Eugene said...

Here in Eugene one sees 500 leftist etc bumper-stickers for every MAGA one and it is indeed the number per car that gives away the driver's sanity or lack thereof.

Jupiter said...

I was driving on the Beltway the other day, here in Eugene, behind a pickup with a huge sticker over the rear window that read "Cowboy Girl". My kind of lady. So I pulled up a little closer to read the smaller sign on the tailgate. It said, "If you're going to ride my ass, at least pull my hair."

My kind of lady.

Anonymous said...

rcocean: I say Lesbian, because they had an LBQT sticker on the bumper and they both had super short hair. But they could have been Episcopalian Priests.

The "but" in the second sentence isn't necessary.

LordSomber said...

Counting examples of moral licensing is a daily sport in progressive college towns.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-licensing

And, apropos: [captcha: select all images with crosswalks]

Wilbur said...


Bagoh20 said: "The vandalism on anyone who expresses conservative ideas, the assaults, the attempts to get people fired, the readiness to shut people up, the doxing, the harassment at restaurants, at people homes, even attacking their children, the unhinged hatred, and the filth left behind when they congregate."

It's just another small example - the bumper stickers, not the driving - of the Left's adoption of The Personal Is Political. I've said it for years; it's the most societally destructive tool in their box.

gilbar said...

In college, i had a roommate who's car had a bumper sticker that said something like:
"It's Always Beer Thirty!"

I'd have to borrow it frequently, 'cause my 1968 Buick Electra 225 tended to be out of oil
I HATED driving his car; but, it DID make you obey the traffic laws

n.n said...

It's a humorous realization of COEXIST, which is notable for denying... missing several statistically significant letters.

alan markus said...

Tried to see the 2nd guy at the right at the Solidarity Sing-Along via alan markus's link but:


Trying a photo from Facebook to see if that works.

Guy on the Right

GingerBeer said...

I had a client, an older white woman, who'd bought a new VW Beetle in 2008. She was the type of Lefty who'd quiz you on your politics the way a Catholic might ask what Parrish you were from. I wasn't surprised to see she had an "Obama/Biden '08" bumper sticker on her new car. What really surprised me was that she also had a brand new "Kerry/Edwards" one too. A few years later she replaced that "Bug" with a new one in a different color. And as if they'd been factory-installed, she had brand new "Obama/Biden'08" and "Kerry/Edwards" bumper stickers on the new Beetle. They were even in the same positions. I remember thinking she must have had cases of them in her closet.

Fen said...

I keep saying that Virtue Signaling is like the old Catholic Indulgence - accept the quest and all FUTURE sins you want to commit are auto-forgiven.

The more someone Virtue Signals, the more likely they have bodies buried in their basement.

RK said...

Drivers fall into two categories: normal and Hillary voters.

traditionalguy said...

One of the original Madison Revolutionaries.

Jim at said...

While both sides have their share of bumper stickers, I see far, faaaar more leftist cars plastered with them.

Get stuck on the side of the road and I see that crap? I keep driving.

Jim at said...

So, Ann, you really think his bumper stickers have something to do with his bad driving?

No. It has to do with him being an asshole. His bad driving is part of the package.

RichardJohnson said...

From my experience, the worst drivers in the country are found in the Boston area- let us say from Route 128 on in. Which is why, when I am in the Boston area, I use the T (subway system) as much as possible.
In addition- I forget where this was on the Mass Pike- somewhere between Sturbridge (I-84) and Route 128- someone on the Mass Pike passed me on the right shoulder when there was ample speed and room to pass on the left. Only time I have ever experienced that.

Boston area is overwhelmingly Democrat-voting.

On the other hand, the one time I drove in overwhelmingly Democrat Los Angeles, I was impressed by the courtesy of the drivers on the freeways.

There are good and bad drivers everywhere. But those who plaster their cars with bumperstickers are overwhelmingly Democrat. Pubs don't want to get their cars keyed.

A friend of mine is a yellow dog Democrat who plasters his car with bumper stickers of varying vintages. He is legally blind- something to do with width of vision- but has not had an accident. He avoids left hand turns, which would be dangerous for someone with his vision.

Poster "once written.." informs us that he posts from Comodoro Rivadavia- oil field Argentine style. Drivers in Buenos Aires, by US standards, drive in unsafe manners- such as undulating lanes of traffic that regularly cross the dotted white lines.

rcocean said...

"Conservatives don't put bumper stickers on their cars. It just guarantees lefty vandalism."

I don't have bumper stickers. What's the point? Conservatives aren't into meaningless virtue signaling.

Michael K said...

Drivers in Buenos Aires, by US standards, drive in unsafe manners- such as undulating lanes of traffic that regularly cross the dotted white lines.



That's nothing. Drivers in Italy, where lots of Argentines' grandparents came from, drive on the sidewalk.

minnesota farm guy said...
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minnesota farm guy said...

I have always wanted to install a .50 caliber machine gun under the hood of my car for just this kind of situation!

minnesota farm guy said...

@Richard Johnson There is such a thing as "Boston Driving": rude, crude and dangerous. As you probably found out it is based on the premise that if you don't drive that way you'll never get where you want to go. Unless you grew up doing it, it takes several years of practice to become aggressive enough to be a good "Boston driver". My wife, who grew up in Maine, refuses to drive in and around Boston. Getting behind a MN or WI driver out here can raise a retired Boston driver's blood pressure to the boiling point. I don't know how they get anywhere on time!

Old and slow said...

I have one bumper sticker on my clapped out Ford 1 ton work van, it reads:

Haikus confuse me
Too often they make no sense
Hand me the pliers

My Toyota Prius has no stickers. . .

Phil 314 said...

Looks like he was veering left

Or should I say lefterer.

Fernandinande said...

I failed to sell any "I'm not drunk, it's just epilepsy" bumper stickers.

And upon checking, I also failed to sell any of the following:

"Honk if Your Horn is Broken"

"SEX OFFENDER"

"My Other Car Has a License Plate"

"My Baby Came Out Ugly" (in comic font!), with a Planned Parenthood logo.

Phil 314 said...

"Conservatives don't put bumper stickers on their cars."

An opposing viewpoint

Overdone bumper stickerism is a non-partisan affliction in my experience.

Big Mike said...

@Richard Johnson, I used to have to fly up to Boston regularly for my job. I think DC-area drivers are worse, but the people in Massachusetts brag about how bad they drive, which is a bit scary all by itself. I was always glad to turn in my rental car at the airport on my way home.

Mr. Forward said...

Potential Trump voter. Obviously a union electrician. Those guys are skilled, well paid and like to work. The unemployment rate has dropped in half since he put those stickers on. He’s straddling the center line because he’s still undecided.
“Rise Up” is a MADISON organization that helps disabled people stay in their homes.
“War is not the Answer”. “Resist, organize, vote.” Universal sentiments that worked for Trump.

Two more years of Peace and Prosperity and this guy will be driving a new truck with a MAGA sticker.

Phil 314 said...

A fine bumper sticker retort to this driver (and available on the Althouse Amazon portal!)

Fernandinande said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fernandinande said...

Also
"I'm wimpy so please don't hurt me
(and I have a gun)"

"DAMM
Drunks Against Mad Mothers" with martini glasses.

MountainMan said...

Plenty of those over in Asheville.

Marcus Bressler said...

That guy who sent pipe "bombs" to Trump critics certainly had his van plastered with stickers and such.

THEOLDMAN

I don't put bumper stickers on my car. I do, however, pimp it up with two "26.2" oval stickers on the rear window. A friend asked me what the 26.2 represented. I told him that it was the average age of my girlfriends. (Cue the "Ewww")

RichardJohnson said...

minnesota farm guy:
@Richard Johnson There is such a thing as "Boston Driving": rude, crude and dangerous. As you probably found out it is based on the premise that if you don't drive that way you'll never get where you want to go.

At times, the behavior of some Boston drivers goes beyond being in a hurry into gratuitous nastiness. One Saturday night, I was a pedestrian on Comm Ave in Back Bay- a time when there are lots of pedestrians. I waited for a red light to legally step into a striped crosswalk to cross a side street intersecting Comm Ave. A car at the red light on the side street moved forward a few feet into the striped crosswalk, and laughed when I jumped out of the way. Some joke, Masshole. One time- also at night- I was at a stop light in the inner suburbs- probably Malden, as my sister lived in Saugus. My car had Florida plates. A driver asked me how to get to downtown Boston. I informed him. He laughed & maybe said some more. I concluded the interaction was his way of saying, "You aren't from here, jerk."

Ironically, some of my ancestors were in the Massachusetts Bay Colony by the 1630s. They turned Quaker and left Massachusetts for Pennsylvania shortly after its founding. From Massachusetts, but got out as soon as they could. I can understand that. Especially so from my interactions with my sister-in-law from Massachusetts- though the rest of her Mass family is fine by me.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

less Virtue Signals -- more turn signals

gspencer said...

"The stickers include "Recall Walker," the blue fist shaped like the map of Wisconsin . . . and various pro-union things."

We know enough to conclude,
He's a Democrat, buys into all the ongoing insanity
He's all for unilateral nuclear disarmament by the USA
Open borders, natch
Full-bore abortion, for any reason, for no reason
Welfare for all, guaranteed income for life
He's lost his Gore-Lieberman bumper sticker and can't find a replacement on the web
Believes Christianity is the cause of all, repeat, all of the world's problem
Is really high on Islam but admits to not knowing much about it but
He knows that Israel is a real troublemaker and the Jews control the banks and the media

Add as you see fit,

Narr said...

I see overstickering ( > 2 ) of all persuasions but probably much more left-leaning than right- and I'm in the Midsouth. The practice makes it easy for me to avoid the vehicles and the drivers as much as possible--the way a lapel full of buttons and badges does.

One lefty friend covered the entire back end of his Volvo (yep!) wagon (yep!!) with Gore-Lieberman stickers in 2000, and they are probably still there.

Narr
Mine says "Driver Carries No Cash"

Sebastian said...

"He was a very old guy, and I don't think he even noticed me photographing him, so the intended message that we didn't appreciate his driving never reached him."

Like, 76?

Howard said...

Nobody beats Santa Cruz for bumper sticker. When I left last year, you would still see "I Believe You, Anita" stickers on mid 70's volva's

donald said...

I gotta a Costa, a pine Box Dwellers and a psychedelic pit bull in the back window of my truck.

I’m kinda hip in my own mind.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Sharc 65 said: "Conservatives don't put bumper stickers on their cars. It just guarantees lefty vandalism. Just like I don't wear a MAGA hat. I would, but I still need to provide for my family."

Oh I don't know. Nobody's messed with my car even though it has an NRA sticker and another one for my shooting club. Window stickers though, FWIW.

It's a Subaru, BTW. I love messing with people's assumptions.

Separately but related, this week I a saw a car that had Obama/Biden and Hillary bumper stickers on it. It was a poignant moment, but I recovered quickly.

Marcus Carman said...

Anyone dumb enough to ruin a perfectly good car by plastering bumper stickers all over the back end of it can't be much of a driver. I would steer clear of them.

minnesota farm guy said...

@ Richard Johnson I don't think I adequately described the mind set of the "Boston driver". Your examples give pretty good idea of the attitude which is essentially as competitive as any professional sport. One must, through the positioning of his automobile, express to his competitor that he is willing to die before he lets the opponent beat him through an intersection! Being a Puritan descendant myself I blame it all on the Irish ...or maybe the Italians!

Michael K said...

When I left last year, you would still see "I Believe You, Anita" stickers on mid 70's volva's

Anybody seen Althouse's new car ?

Dust Bunny Queen said...

As a Conservative person, I never put bumper stickers on my car. In California you might as well put a target on your vehicle that says "Key Me!"

I prefer to not plaster my opinions on my vehicles. Plus....a lot of stickers like this guy....makes you look like a lunatic.

I have a trial attorney friend who, when picking out jurors....two of the questions he always asked is "Do you have bumper stickers on your vehicles" and "What do they say"

The answers were telling as to whether they would be dismissed or not. A good way to get into the mind of someone without having to ask a lot of questions.

The Godfather said...

I had a liberal friend who did white water rafting. That meant that he had to park his car at the isolated, unsecured up-river put-in site and leave it there most of the day. He said he was worried his car might be broken-into or trashed. So he put a bumper sticker on the car that said "Life Time Member NRA". Never had any problem.

Of course I think he told this story to justify the NRA bumper sticker to his liberal friends.

effinayright said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
effinayright said...

I once saw an old clunker with every sort of tiny movie action figure (like the ones they put in McDonalds Kid's Meals) glued on it, front back, sides and top.

I wondered a lot about the personality of the owner.

SeanF said...

"He proceeded to drive for blocks straddling the white line like that."

My daughter and I were coming back from a baseball game one night, and got stuck behind a slow-moving car on a narrow two-lane residential road. She suggested I pass them, and I said, "I'm not going to drive against oncoming traffic late at night. This road widens in a few blocks and I'll have a second lane to pass in then."

We got to where the road widened, and the driver drifted over until they were straddling the line and then proceeded to drive like that, blocking both lanes. At that point I honked at them, they moved all the way over into one lane, and I passed them.

Don't remember if it had any bumper stickers or not.

Jeff Brokaw said...

Any car with lots of bumper stickers is always arguing for the other side. No bad driving needed!

D&D said...

My new favorite bumper sticker. Saw it on a sports car on the most leftist of Madison streets.

https://www.amazon.com/Repellent-Bumper-Exhaust-Sticker-Window/dp/B073ZZ4PQP/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_263_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QP9ZMGP4T8ER7TV1C7JS

Jersey Fled said...

Next time you see a lefty sticker applied neat and straight, let me know. I don't think I ever saw one.

Michael K said...

I like this one.

There actually was a car jacker a month or two ago that had to give up and run,.

Jersey Fled said...

My experience with people who put Coexist stickers on their car is that they are equally uninformed about all religions.

That and they usually have an NEA sticker on their car.

Leland said...

Don't do like this person with a Beto sticker.

n.n said...

COEXIST is missing several statistically significant letters, including: A, L, P, M... N, Q, R, U, V, W, Y, and Z. Now I know my ABCs. Won't you sing along with me.

Drago said...

The most appropriate "COEXIST" bumper stickers are those where the crescent is looming large over the cringing and blood splattered remaining letters.

Static Ping said...

I believe there was a study years ago. Cars with lots of bumper stickers tend to have owners who are very argumentative. And it did not matter if they were political or not; lots of stickers of vacation spots and favored restaurants and radio stations were just as indicative.
So, yes, the car was figuratively screaming at you. That was the point.

Fen said...

Makes sense. They can nag you while they drive, from another car.

Lurker21 said...

Photo says a lot about what happened to labor unions.

It's not George Meany's AFL-CIO anymore.

tim in vermont said...

I don’t get the bumper sticker on Priuses. A Prius IS a bumper sticker.

biranmacky said...

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