UPDATED: The New York Times has confirmed at 5pm ET Friday the NY Marathon will not take place on Sunday DETAILS
Common sense died today in a truly obnoxious fashion thanks to of non-other-than your least favorite mayor, Michael Bloomberg.
While Bloomberg's city, and the entire Tri-State area, is hurting from the aftermath of one of the biggest storms the country has ever seen, he's decided to move forward with the New York City Marathon. Yes, despite the millions of New Yorkers without power, homes completely destroyed, the climbing death toll, and countless other issues (like a major gas shortage), Mayor Bloomberg will be diverting countless resources to the marathon.
In utter disbelief, Glenn explained how much of a slap in the face this is to those suffering around the city.
"If you've never been to New York or you've not lived in New York, you don't know what it takes to run, for instance, the Macy's Day Parade. The Macy's Day Parade, they take down light poles. The cost of doing anything in New York is astounding. To do the New York City Marathon," Glenn explained, "you have to have city trucks and city workers out putting barricades on all of the streets, and they start doing that days in advance."
The marathon brings in tens of thousands of people from all over the world -- it is an international event. There are huge tents, giant signs, water stations, food stations, clocks, generators -- it's enormous. So while downtown Manhattan is transportation-less, possibly still without power; while the people of Staten Island are trying to rebuild what's left of their homes; while the citizens of Coney Island fight off looters, Mayor Bloomberg will divert NYPD, water, generators, city workers and more to the Marathon.
"You have people in Staten Island who are crying out for food," Glenn said. "You have the mayor saying we have to put cops on all of the bridges and all of the tunnels for checkpoints because everybody who comes in has to have three people in their car or they can't come in. So he's putting checkpoints at all of the bridges and tunnels because traffic is so bad because of the hurricane, and yet he's blocking the streets this weekend to run the New York City Marathon."
When Glenn lived in New York City, he could see Coney Island from his apartment. The people there are crying out for water, food, electricity and safety. There are looters, now labeled "wolf packs," that have citizens so scared that they won't even leave their homes. While the citizens of New York are doing what they can to survive, their nightmare of a mayor is more worried about how many ounces of soda they ingest at one time and that all of the people coming in town to run his precious marathon have their hotels rooms. So all of the people who have hotel rooms right now and don't have a house to go to will be kicked out of their hotel because somebody's coming in to run the race.
Glenn had a better idea for the runners:
"What do you say you have the people grab the water from the tables that you're setting up and you have those runners who are the best in all the world run up 70 flights of stairs to the elderly people that live up at the top who cannot take an elevator down and may not have water," Glenn suggested. "Has anybody checked on them? No. Because you live in New York and you don't know your neighbors."
Earlier in the show Glenn shared some of the devastating stories that are now being reported in the wake of the horrible storm -- stories that will make any humane individual question Mayor Bloomberg's sanity for moving forward with the race this weekend, just days after Hurricane Sandy ripped through the region.
The starting line for the race is being prepped on Staten Island -- one of the hardest hit areas in New York. While the rest of the island is left to deal with the aftershocks of the hurricane, the notion of diverting even one police officer, one responder, one asset away from this carnage is beyond irrational.
"On Nelson Avenue, not far, an elderly couple was found dead, pinned beneath a 41‑foot power cruiser that had been lifted up by the storm. Lifted up in the harbor a mile away and dumped on this elderly couple," Glenn told listeners. "But don't worry about that. We've got to set up the starting line for the New York City marathon."
In another story, two days ago, right at the starting line, police found the bodies of two young boys, ages 2 and 4. They were swept away in their mother's arms after her SUV had been taken over by waves. They had nowhere to go -- there was nothing the mother could do. The waves overwhelmed the SUV and swept the children out to the sea.
"They found the bodies two days ago, where they are now setting up water tables and clocks and they'll have the start gun," Glenn said.
In a basement on Beach Avenue, the mayor of the town, age 51, was found in the basement of his home arm-in-arm with his 20-year-old son. Both were dead.
This is not a partisan issue, Glenn explained, this is an issue of sanity and common sense. America is wide awake, and it's the out-of-touch politicians who are in desperate need of a wakeup call.
"I am so sick and tired of these politicians telling us who we are, telling us how to live," Glenn said. "Take your 16‑ounce soda, Mayor Bloomberg, and shove it up your ass. You're telling me that I don't have the common sense to stop drinking, if I wanted 18 ounces of soda, I'm just reckless? And you are setting up the New York City marathon two days after this stuff? Are you out of your mind? Take your soda and shove it up your ass. Mayor Bloomberg and progressives like him, both Republican and Democrat, are damn near insane. They are out of control."
Sandy and Benghazi are a wake-up call to the way progressivism has changed the country and the attitude of many Americans toward government. Big government is not a solution to a crisis, it is a mechanism that hides or uses a crisis to gain more power and control. The president told the leaders of the communities in the Tri-State area to overlook the red tape, not to take no for an answer -- but what happens when it's the community leaders who are saying no? Does he follow-up? Does he ask Mayor Bloomberg about his priorities of the marathon versus the people left dark in the destruction on Staten Island?
No. He takes his endorsement and leaves.
Glenn explained that this is why America must once again look to it's neighbors, churches, and religious organizations for help when they need it. Your neighbor won't put a race above your personal well-being. A government official won't pray with your or help you cope with personal loss after a storm like Sandy.
"Let Sandy and Benghazi be a wake‑up call," Glenn told listeners. "You have damn near been fundamentally transformed. This is your last call, America. This is it. You don't think it makes a difference? It does make a difference. It does. There is no difference between the way the president is handling Sandy and how the president handled Benghazi. He went out and campaigned. He did his little show and he went out and campaigned."
"Benghazi, he left Americans to die. He left Bloomberg to run the New York City marathon."
