NEWS IN THE AGE OF BLOGGING….Man, it’s hard to keep up. Glenn Reynolds, reporting on the San Francisco anti-war march, writes this about one of the protester’s signs: “Note the pacifistic theme of wishing Bush would choke on a pretzel.”
So I click on the link and get the picture on the right. Huh? Is this like Reagan and jelly beans? And what’s this about choking?
No problem though, just go to Google and enter “bush pretzel” and up pops this CNN story from January 14, 2002:
Bush lost consciousness for a brief time in the White House on Sunday evening while eating a pretzel and watching a professional football game on television. He fell from his couch and has a scrape and large bruise on his left cheekbone, plus a bruise on his lower lip, to show for his troubles. His glasses cut the side of his face.
….[Air Force physician Richard] Tubb told reporters Bush reported a pretzel “did not go down right” and the doctor said it was possible a pretzel had lodged against a nerve and momentarily caused a decrease in the president’s heart rate, causing him to faint.
Baltimore won the playoff game 20-3.
Morals of the story: (1) I should pay more attention to events like this that provide cultural reference points, (2) protesters have long memories, and (3) Pejman is right: Glenn needs to crack a smile now and again. Maybe he should read Atrios more often?
