… a group of reporters standing in front of a Caterpillar D10 being driven by their favorite target of slander and malicious reporting? I call it an opportunity for hilarity.

One silly wench took it upon herself to describe being born down on by a 2 MPH tractor as having her “life flash before her eyes”. I say we buy her some concrete shoes for the next round.

I Have Had My Differences With Members of the Press. But it’s Nothing That Burying them Under Tons of Earth Won’t Solve

Does President Bush have it in for the press corps? Touring a Caterpillar factory in Peoria, Ill., the Commander in Chief got behind the wheel of a giant tractor and played chicken with a few wayward reporters.
[…]
White House aides tried to herd the reporters the right way without getting run over themselves. Even the Secret Service got involved, as one agent began yelling at reporters to get clear of the tractor. Watching the chaos below, Bush looked out the tractor’s window and laughed, steering the massive machine into the spot where most of the press corps had been positioned. The episode lasted about a minute, and Bush was still laughing when he pulled to a stop.

The article is hilarious, the comments even more so… that there are people so willing to take something this silly and twist it into a malicious act, just makes me shake my head and wonder how we’ve survived this long – and how we’ll manage tomorrow.

Here are a few of my favorites (various emphasis – mine):

• Just another example of shockingly bad judgement by this POTUS [and another example of a childish outburst from a reporter -JM]
• It was an incredibly stupid juvenile stunt for anyone, let alone a POTUS
• A D- is one big dozer and I sure wouldn’t let some dopey politician try to drive it.
• That tractor is a large piece of heavy machinery, and if people had to scatter, someone who was too slow or fell down could have been seriously hurt

Then there are the few who see it all for what it is… humorous, and certainly not worth bitching about:

• The top speed of a Caterpillar D-10 – in third gear – is 7.9 MPH. (First gear, 2.5 mph, second gear, 4.5 mph)[I think we can assume the President never left first gear -JM]. Don’t know how long it takes an experienced operator to cycle up; a few seconds, I’d imagine
• You’d have to lie down in front of the thing to get killed it goes so slow

The best comment of them all was the one linking to a video of the event… more of a reenactment, I think, but definitely appropriate!

Noooooooooooooooooooo!

Thanks to IMAO for pointing out this little treasure!