From the Boston Herald(A Liberal rag if there ever was one):
"It's a death race: Nothing heroic about Earnhardt tragedy
by Gerry Callahan
Tuesday, February 20, 2001
Dale Earnhardt, who drove into a wall Sunday afternoon and died at age 49, is survived by his third wife, Teresa, and his four children, Kerry, Kelly, Dale Jr., and Taylor, who is only 12 years old. Somewhere down south, the youngest Earnhardt is mourning the loss of her dad today and hearing the same twisted logic that the auto racing zealots whip out each time one of their heroes drives into a wall and dies.
Oh well. At least he died doing what he loved to do.
That she lost her father is a horrible tragedy for a 12-year-old girl. That poor Taylor Earnhardt must bear her burden while surrounded by these delusional racing people makes it even more excruciating.
They indoctrinate them young in auto racing circles, so Taylor probably already has learned the lines and tried in her own mind to attach some glory and meaning to her dad's death. But it would be a great victory for common sense and clear thinking if she stood up in the crowd and shouted: Doing what he loved? What about me? What about mom? What about life? Isn't dying still dying, even if it comes with some grand adrenalin rush? What is wrong with you people?
It doesn't matter if it's a legend like Earnhardt or a kid like Adam Petty, who drove into a wall in New Hampshire last May 12 and died at 19. It could even be some poor slob who never made a buck or got his face on the side of a Big Gulp at 7-Eleven. If he was driving in circles on some dirt track in North Gout, N.H., and hit a wall, well, dammit, at least he died doing what he loved to do. How gallant.
Maybe it just makes people feel good to envision Petty or Earnhardt as some kind of modern-day Slim Pickens, riding valiantly on the back of the bomb, saving our democracy from . . . from what? From boredom at home on a Sunday afternoon? From golf on ABC maybe? From what? What makes this anything more than a senseless, stupid death of a father and husband?
Of course, no such questions will be asked because the daredevils who drive fast cars in circles have been assigned a measure of romance and credibility that somehow doesn't apply to rock climbers and hang gliders and other X-Game crazies who occasionally die doing what they love to do.
The car crowd has raced out of the deep south and into the mainstream, and gained a level of respect from the same sports media that think the XFL is an affront to common decency because guys write silly things on their backs. They're on Page 1 of the New York Times, doggone it!
Minor league football is treated like it's some kind of televised prison rape, but NASCAR, the sport that has lost four drivers in the last year, is a stylish network presentation. How's that work, exactly?
As they attempted to explain the tragedy yesterday, many racing fans said it was like losing Michael Jordan or Pedro Martinez during a championship game. Sure it is. If Pedro jumped in a car on the mound and drove 180 mph into the Wall in the middle of a playoff game. All sports include an element of risk, but none, at least none on network TV, feature the very real prospect of instant death, even death of its greatest competitor, just like that.
``It's just the way this sport is,'' said Todd Parrot, the crew chief for Dale Jarrett. ``That's the chances you take. It's unfortunate it happened to him. It just doesn't seem right. You don't think things like that will happen to drivers of his caliber.''
Things like that, apparently, are only supposed to happen to lesser drivers, younger drivers perhaps. People like Petty or Kenny Irwin, who also lost his life in Loudon last summer. It is not supposed to happen to Earnhardt, even though he was blocking the path of another driver when he was bumped and turned into the wall.
It is an unfair cliche to say that most auto racing fans lack teeth, but it is perfectly accurate to say they lack common sense. The letters and e-mails to follow will serve as proof. Maybe it's the fumes or the noise that saps these people of all perspective and sends their priorities spinning out of control like Tony Stewart's car Sunday afternoon.
But you can bet on this: They're coming, all the same sorry explanations, the excuses, the cliches that serve as a temporary sedative until the next guy drives into a wall, leaving a wife and family behind.
We can hear them now . . . Old Ironhead Earnhardt. He made his own choice. He lived his life to the fullest. He held nothing back.
He died doing what he loved to do.
What a load of crap.
What a cruel thing to do to a 12-year-old girl."
The above article is another example of why Liberals haven't a clue. And why they should never be placed in positions of power. This moron obviously doesn't have the slightest idea about living life to the fullest. What a drag it must be to go through life with this guy's attitude.
And these are the same people who call the likes of Eminem "artists". Amazing.
Cabby
