Steve Gigl at Helloooo Chapter Two! alerts his readers to the following story from the AP, reprinted in the Star Tribune with the following headline:
Driver hit while talking on radio call-in show in SUV
Steve Gigl adds:
Does “in SUV” tacked on the end there supply any useful information? To say it differently: do you lose anything by just reporting “Driver hit while talking on radio call-in show?”
No, it doesn’t, but note that it does associate four “evils” of the Left in one story:
* driving, instead of using public transportation
* SUVs, the new epitome of conspicuous consumption
* using cell phones while driving
* talk radio
When this came across the wire, the news desk at the Strib must have tripped over themselves rushing this to print with the superfluous mention of the SUV. Only when you read the article do you read that she had pulled over to the side of the road to make her call, and was in fact struck from behind. What you won’t read is that being in the SUV probably saved her life or kept her from more serious injury (she was hospitalized in stable condition, which indicates that the accident was more than a fender-bender).