A video of D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton has gone viral this week of what is being deemed the worse parking job in recent memory. The video shows the non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives taking a rather novel view of the diagonal parking lines of the spot on Capitol Hill.
What appears to be a young intern or aide tries unsuccessfully to guide Norton into the spot. She then returns in what looks like it might be reattempted but she then leaves the car.
Notably, this week Norton is pushing the Secret Service for better training of employees and has argued that these government employees “do not receive the necessary training to prepare them for current and new missions, unacceptable incidents occur.”
What is clear is that the delegate is far better at politics than spatial problems.
Oh, it’s above the law not to align her car correctly? Is it above the law to be a 77 year old driver, did she kill anyone?
Got it now? I doubt, it as it throws water on the fires of outrage over an elderly woman Democratic Congresswoman who got into a fender bender in a parking lot.
The point–which, again, should be obvious–is that she couldn’t be bothered to take the trouble to align her car w/ the parking space. The angle she left her car in makes it more difficult for the other cars to get out, and for new arrivals to get in. That’s made clear by the fact that she couldn’t get into her spot w/o causing damage.
Got it, now?
As for her age, are you saying that we ought to give special dispensation for 77-yo women in evaluating their behavior? Sounds like special pleading to me.
Looking at the picture, it does not appear that she caused any damage, but she did box the red vehicle in so that it is near impossible to get out. I think I could probably do it, but I would have to drive forward, a bit and turn while doing it so as to clear the rear end from her car. At the worst, she has bad manners.
There was no “above the law attitude”. Her staff left a note and a business card on the truck. Is it now illegal to have a fender bender in a parking lot by a 77 year old woman?
I fail to see how one parks is germane to ones job in Congress. Maybe you could tell us all how that one works.
Always happy to help. You see, it’s a very simple, everyday, perfectly understandable (to non-ideologues) example of the entitled, above-the-law attitude of congresspersons.
Have a nice day.
Chip, I see that you have no problem using non sequitur to a far higher degree than most folks here. On the tape one hears the comment she should not be in Congress since she did a bad job of parking that day. I fail to see how one parks is germane to ones job in Congress. Maybe you could tell us all how that one works. Then others say there was damage to the other car, which is not evident on that video, but those persons are so stupid that they cannot see that the damage to HER car would be FAR worse than the red car since the bumper of that car would have gouged a good part of the side of hers. Then if one accepts your non sequitur that ones driving IS relevant to ones performance in office, it is entirely reasonable to compare her driving to others in similar offices. I simply use YOUR criterion and apply it to others, yet you cry foul when it hits YOUR party’s officeholders. That is rank hypocrisy and partisanship, not reason or logic.
“Norton’s office disputes that anything untoward transpired.
“After the Congresswoman parked her car, we assessed the cars on either side to see if there was any damage. We could not find any,” a Norton aide assured HOH. “But we left a note with a business card so the congresswoman could be contacted in case we missed any.”
According to Team Norton, the congressional staffer who owns the truck that was boxed in by the septuagenarian pol reached out to her office about the videotaped scrape.
“The Congresswoman heard from the owner of the only car she was close enough to damage. The owner reported no damage,” a Norton spokesman said via email.”
Ms. Norton appeared to damage the red vehicle – she walked off with no regard for her responsibility to the other driver.
Either senility or entitlement.
The other car is probably that of another member of Congress and she may well have told the owner once she got inside. If not she won’t get away with anything.
I guess Congresswomen Norton’s parking mishaps trumps the anti gay legislation news in various states. I wonder how Congressman Louie Gohmert parks his car? Straight as an asparagus, I bet.
This is simply funny, but others are so stupid and partisan that they forget to apply the rules to their side. Remember that what she did is NOT A CRIME. Yet W Bush and Cheney DID commit CRIMES with not one, but TWO DUIs. Under Canadian law they should not be allowed into that country, yet they routinely get a pass. Cheney then compounds his past crimes with shooting a fellow hunter after having had a liquid alcohol lunch. I think those two should have been barred from holding office, yet the GOP thought that those two convicted criminals were just fine.
Politics aside, who parks like that? I don’t care if the driver was a communist, nobody should park like a complete maniac.
Let’s be thankful she is a non-voting member of Congress.
Dementia.
“But Professor …You’re in danger of losing your already phony “Democrat” label ”
Ah, the threat of defenestration for daring to show our rulers as merely humans prone to error, rather than Heroes of the Revolution.
Soon will come the claims that “vile bigotry and racism on these posts is pervasive” and then “You could try Storm Front.”
It is to be expected that someone will view her idiotic and illegal driving and wonder how she can function in Congress, and it is only natural to jump from this to her party.
Is there no comment from the left about this other than Whay aren’t you talking about what I want to talk about!?
I like Ms. Holmes but even I see two jackasses in that video. Why the hell didn’t the aide step in?
Disgusting behavior.
But Professor, your choice reflects on you. This is Daily Mail stuff. You’re in danger of losing your already phony “Democrat” label and will just be another hack partisan. Lotsa interesting law being passed in Kansas and Indiana but you choose to post about this?
Nick is probably writing your apology already.
JT has to feed the jackals with something. There will be two prizes, one for the first comment that ties this directly to Obama and one for the most creative or one that has not been used before, countless times. OK, I win them both.
Oh good grief. With things members of Congress are doing for corporations, I can only ask : why is this even a thing?
See, privilege does exist.
Nope, my feeling is that this is probably the baseline for the minds running the country at this point. Kind of ties things together when you think about it.
Like her parking skills, her politics is quite skewed!
My 95 year-old mom doesn’t drive anymore (thank God) but she still has a very sharp mind. Wait a minute…she’s a democrat…never mind.