Posted on 02/12/2011 2:33:47 PM PST by Walter Scott Hudson
Mark Steyn sat in for Rush Limbaugh on Monday, and among other things, he mused about the Eminem/Chrysler Super Bowl ad (Steyn's audio is below).
The TV spot purports to celebrate everything that once made Detroit great -- and will make it great again, presumably if American taxpayers continue to throw money at (or is that down?) that urban hellhole.
(You paid $9 million for that commercial, by the way -- Chrysler was one of the bailout beneficiaries, remember? Oh, and I helped: they got some Canadian assistance as well. Being Canadian born and a U.S. resident, that makes Mark Steyn doubly entitled -- if you'll permit me to use a word Detroit residents are all too familiar with -- to his rant.)
Steyn joked grimly that Eminem and his director managed to find the only theater still standing in the Motor City -- the city's more majestic ones have been reduced to abandoned rubble, like so many of its homes and businesses, as famously captured on various websites with names like "The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit."
Detroit crumbled to dust, says Steyn, not because it was bombed by foreign enemies -- but because it was "run" by Democrats and unions for generations.
Steyn called Detroit: "The perfect emblem of America at the dawn of the 21st century" -- a ruined city that looks like "a banana republic after a coup" is now being held up as a model for the rest of the country to emulate.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsrealblog.com ...
If you go to www.steynonline.com and look at Mark’s mailbox, you will see some of the nasty responses that he got for speaking the truth.
Democrats have no shame.
BTTT!
Thank you for posting this.
Gotta love Steyn.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2670713/posts?page=26#26
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2670713/posts?page=30#30
Hamilton, Ontario, was one of the neatest, well-ordered cities I've ever seen. When I emerged from the tunnel on the American side (Detroit), I thought I'd surfaced into a 3rd world war zone. Th place was an absolute disaster area. I sincerely hoped I'd not have car trouble because this was no place to breakdown!
Since then, Detroit has really decayed to the point where 50 percent of the place needs to be bulldozed and returned to farm land. Or, it could be used for urban warfare live fire training for the Army and Marine Corps.
Windsor is Detroit’s Canadian counterpart. Hamilton is some distance north and east.
If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.
Thanks for the ping; post.
I did not see the Super Bowl or the Chrysler ad...but I did (just now) see Mark Steyn’s take on the ad and Detroit from pyx’s link on another thread via taildragger’s link on this thread...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSJ7IIX7E8A
HOORAY Mark Steyn!
Compared to today, Detroit was in great shape right after the ‘67 riots. In fact today...Detroit has never looked worse. I’ve lived in Detroit 4 different times (west, east, nw, nw)...the last being 37 years ago. I’ve had cars stolen (twice), cars broken into (twice), physically assaulted (at knifepoint where I had to fight to live). I could fill multiple memory cards taking pics of the devastation I see in the city today. Despite all that...99+ % of all of the thousands of interactions I’ve had with Detroiters have been non-threatening, non-confrontational, courteous, humorous, reflective, philosophical and positive. I’ve mostly been aware, alert and prepared for the unexpected (although in my younger years I was somewhat reckless...not thinking about potential danger).
As the fish rots at the head Kwame (and enablers) has been the low point in Detroit’s devolution.
Good luck Mayor Bing (possibly the best man who has ever been at the helm of the city)! Good luck Detroiters!
The one and only Mark Steyn. Words more true were never spoken / written.
Frank Beckmann, local talk radio host on same WJR really ripped into Stein the next day. Then, a couple days later, he had Stein on air and they discussed what Stein had said. Stein stood by everything and didn’t back down an inch. He handily won the discussion........
I've seen pics of Cuba from the 50s and 60s as compared to today and it almost makes you cry. What a beautiful place Cuber was. I imagine long-time Detroiters are equally saddened to see what has happened to their city.
A whole lot of that. :(
I really like Frank. I missed this interview. I’ll have to check to see if it’s available on the station website.
Nevertheless, the 3rd world war zone called Detroit was reminiscent of “Black Hawk Down” except there weren't Somali warlords and armed bands of rival militias patrolling the streets in shot-up pickup trucks. I can't even begin to imagine what Detroit must be like now.
They were probably there, but pimped out Caddies sort of blend in with the street scenes. And it hasn't changed.
There are a bunch of lovely Canadian cities between Port Huron/Sarnia and Niagara/Buffalo--I used to drive that route a few times each year, visiting relatives in western NY. Hamilton, London, and St Catherines come to mind. Even the industrial Canadian cities manage to be charming.
It's there, on another thread of this topic someone posted a link to it......that's where I heard it.
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