it's time to do something

i'm actually looking forward to my ride

to the funeral of david "judd" harris.

this has been a terribly hectic week, or two.

with friends getting run over and nearly killed,

one cyclist getting run off the road, knocked out,

and left for dead by a "buzz and run"

while another cyclist is run over and killed,

not one single charge has been filed.

the ONLY response from the collective consciousness

of iowa law enforcement

has been a cold, smug, corporate reply touting

the state patrol's affiliation with ragbrai.

ragbrai, for christ's sake.

they just don't get it.

this phrase has been employed to refer to george w for countless reasons,

any number of u.s. senators and others

who grope and otherwise offend women,

and many many others over the years.

but the topic is the slaughter of you and me, our friends, family members,

people who are doing nothing other than riding bikes.

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?

i know there are many people who read this blog

[thanks to you all, by the way]

who read the des moines register.

why haven't you written letters?

why hasn't the des moines register taken

an official position on the deaths and torment of bicyclists?

why isn't the letters pages--not that insipid online comment shit--

FILLED with outrage and stories of abuse and neglect

aimed at cyclists and commited by motorists

and complacent law enforcement officials?

we've bitched ad nauseum on bikeiowa and elsewhere.

that's not enough.

WRITE LETTERS.

tell your stories of being nearly killed,

and of trying to get law enforcement to do ANYthing.

dave? d corn? do i need to list you all?

WRITE LETTERS.

and why hasn't the register itself championed this issue?

CHALLENGE THEM.

my gut feeling is that the gannett company doesn't see this as a sufficiently attractive issue.

so what about cityview?

juice?

aren't THEY always hurting for REAL topics?

why don't you flood THEM with letters?

THEY'LL cover it.

especially if you tell them that you went to them

because the register won't touch it.

it's time to stop bitching,

and to start DOING something.

call and send letters to the county attorney.

polk county attorney--criminal bureau

206 6th avenue, #200

des moines, iowa 50309

515.286.3737

dallas county attorney

207 n. 9th street, #a

adel, iowa 50003

515.993.5060

the des moines register

letters to the editor

p.o. box 957

des moines, iowa 50306

now write the damned letters.