Great to be back as your guest blogger for the weekend, Animals, while Brother Kilgore continues his road trip.
Some of you may know me as AlterNet‘s Washington correspondent, though these days, a more accurate title might be something that describes covering the most annoying presidential election ever — even if it is a critically important one. But more on that later.
Here on Capitol Hill, I’m enjoying what will undoubtedly be a brief moment of quiet before a legion of Harleys descends upon my sleepy neighborhood for the annual gathering of Rolling Thunder, the annual motorcycle-centric Memorial Day weekend commemoration of war-fighters whose status remains “missing in action” or “prisoner of war”.
Okay, I’m about to commit a blasphemy here, but what’s the deal with the absence of mufflers on Harleys, and why is this a point of pride? I mean, jeez, if the Harley is, as its riders contend, a bike superior to the ubiquitous (and much quieter) Japanese bikes, then why can’t Harley Davidson make it a mission to create a muffler superior to those on the machines made by far-eastern rivals? Just askin’.
I guess that’s sort of like asking Megadeth to play with more nuance.
