'Citizens of NASCAR, We Come In Peace!'

Bridging the gulf between Bobos in Paradise and Bitter Clingers in the hinterlands, you’re doing it wrong:

Boldly going where no member of their party has ever gone before, key Democratic Party leaders embarked today on an historic fact-finding mission to NASCAR.

The NASCAR visit, the first ever undertaken by Democratic officials, took place only after party leaders devoted several months of research to determine precisely what NASCAR was.

“Once we learned that NASCAR involved cars and racing, and apparently had millions of fans, we looked at each other and said, ‘We must learn more,'” said DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe.

— “Democrats Embark on Fact-Finding Mission to NASCAR,” humorist Andy Borowitz, Newsweek, December 13, 2004.

“Fucking Nascar retards.”

— Eric Alterman, on the JournoList, November 7th, 2008.

President Barack Obama will honor NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and the 11 other Chase drivers from last year in a White House ceremony on Wednesday – but nearly half of the 2010 playoff contenders won’t be there.

NASCAR said Thursday that five drivers – Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart – will not be attending the White House visit due to “schedule conflicts.”

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They must be very busy people. Regardless of one’s political views, the president is still the president – and an opportunity to speak with the leader of the free world is a rare and special one.

You’d think whatever photo shoots or sponsor appearances these drivers have lined up on Wednesday afternoon – if that’s indeed the reason – could be rescheduled. After all, this is the President of the United States we’re talking about here.

For a sport that prides itself on patriotism, having so many drivers turn down the president’s invitation simply seems strange.

— “Five NASCAR Drivers Decline President Obama’s White House Invitation,” Jeff Gluck, SB Nation, September 1, 2011.

As Pajamas’ own Rick Moran writes at the American Thinker, “I don’t recall hearing that argument during the Bush years when dozens of lefties from every walk of life dissed Bush by either turning down invitations, or by showing up and ‘speaking truth to power.’ Politics is politics and what’s good for one side, is good for the other.”

Update: Not the Onion: “Aides Urged to Get Shots Before NASCAR Visit.”