I35W bridge collapse site: The new State fair

Thousands of people swarmed the 10th Ave Bridge to view the site of the wreckage of the I35W bridge. Given the size of the crowd, it is amazing how quiet it was. Cars drove by slowly as people walked on a path designed for pedestrians that ran parallel to the road. Everyone was fixated on the wreckage. The site of this accident is the new state fair.

A female passenger  in a convertible with Arizona license plates stood up in her car to make a video of the scene. People rode their bikes, they brought their families,

and one person even had some tshirts for sale.

I found this fellow pictured below climbing the fence to get a good view of the portion of the bridge that fell on a train car. His t shirt has different brands of beers  illustrated on it.

Appropriately, some were present to pay respect for the dead.

Besides mouring the dead, I wonder how many people are thinking about the consequences of the anti-government philosophy epitomized by Grover Norquist's quote now made infamous by Katrina and the I35W bridge collapse? Grover Norquist was an economic advisor to G.W. Bush and is currently the president of anti-tax lobbying group Americans for Tax Reform. He doesn't believe in government even though he earns his money from his government-related lobbying acitivies. His quote represents the philosophy of the Republican party: "Our goal is to shrink government to the size where we can drown it in a bathtub."  How many citizens are tired of laws being passed to line lobbyists' and their corporate client's pockets at the expense of America's citizens?  How about healthcare (47 million citizens without access), education (schools that are deficient are not given money), workers' safety (coal mine disasters), and consumer protection (from lead paint in toys and baby's bibs)? How about the nation's infrastructure?  Enough already of drowning government -- it's killing us and our nation.

Comments

[not my president]

Those photos document history!

[abbycat]

To me its terrifying and a nightmare. What would
possess people to go see it is beyond me. There are
probably bridges all over the country that could
go at any time. You only hope they don't but there is
no reassurance that they won't. The gawkers, how would
they feel if it was a family member who had died.
Do people lack empathy or sympathy? Its strange.

[Larry Craig's Bathroom]

Tourists flock to Minneapolis airport men's room
The site of Sen. Larry Craig's arrest has become a photo opportunity for travelers.

Idaho Statesman, 9/17

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — When you go to Minneapolis, you might put the Mall of America, the statue of Mary Tyler Moore or maybe even the zoo on your list of things to see.

Now tourists are asking about a new destination in the Twin Cities, says Karen Evans, information specialist at the information counter at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

A common request is, "Excuse me, can you please tell me where the Larry Craig bathroom is?"

Evans was just 15 minutes into her shift Friday afternoon and already had heard the request four times.

"It's become a tourist attraction," Evans said with a smile. "People are taking pictures."

Since news broke Aug. 27 of the arrest of Idaho Sen. Craig in an airport restroom here, the airport has been fielding requests for directions to the men's room in question, which is conveniently located just off the central food court and popular shopping area.

Abdalla Said, who works at a newsstand on the G concourse, said he's been getting requests daily for directions to the infamous bathroom.

"It's by the Lottery shop, right next to the shoeshine shop," he said without blinking. Gee Butler and Royal Zino work at the Royal Zino Shoeshine shop. Zino, the owner's grandson, said the shop has been in the same location for 45 years. Some of the shop's famous clients include James Brown and Muhammed Ali. And Sen. Craig?

Probably not, Zino said, although he thinks he might have been witness to the senator's June 11 arrest. "I might've actually been here. Me and my buddy were watching them doing a sting," he said.

And since the story became public, the restroom has become a photo-op, Butler said.

"People have been going inside, taking pictures of the stall, taking pictures outside the bathroom door — man, it's been crazy," he said.

Directly across the hall from the bathroom is Inmotion Entertainment, a DVD rental kiosk. Kelly, who declined to give her last name at her manager's request, works for Inmotion. "There've been a lot of people coming to see it," she said. "I've been asked several times to take photographs of people in front of the bathroom."

"It's a morbid fascination," said her manager, who declined to give his name.

Jon and Sally Westby of Minneapolis were flying to Guatemala on Friday. "We had to just stop and check out the bathroom," Sally said. "In fact, it's Jon's second time — he was here last week already."

"I checked it out," Jon said. "It's the second stall from the right."