Banter Bites

A Presidential Motorhead?

Anyone can be a car guy, even a woman.

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Red had no idea why President Biden was driving at all, let alone a weird looking truck, but she knew who would … her sister, who has loved cars since childhood.

The first thing that grabbed Red's attention was that strange paint job that looked like bad wallpaper from the 1960s. But, at least, she felt like she was in good company when Black said,

I heard some of the White House press corps had questioned the camouflaged test vehicle, not realizing that it is standard to keep parts of a new car's design "secret" before they make their public debut. But in the journalists' defense, they are used to covering politics and the president, not cars and trucks.

And before Red could even say anything about whether presidents are forbidden from driving or it's just presidential protocol, Black sent her an article explaining why presidents (and former presidents) aren't allowed to drive, but told her to watch the associated video of Jay Leno with former President George W. Bush through to the end … as it proves President Biden is a car guy. Of course, Black was more than happy to send more car videos, including the "sneak peek" of Jay Leno and then Vice-President Biden at a Secret Service Training Facility and one where Biden and Julia Louis Dreyfus are both VPs (one real and one a sitcom character), that shows his great sense of humor (and a wonderful cameo appearance by Michelle Obama)!

The various images of then Vice President Biden with his Corvette brought back memories for both of us. Black always dreamed of owning a Corvette one day (she still never has, although she has owned Porsches and Ferraris – both street versions and race cars), and Red remembers her constantly talking about them. So, it made sense that once a car guy – always a car guy.

But what about President Biden driving this specific vehicle? Well, he was speaking at the Ford plant in Detroit that's producing the all-electric F-150 Lightning on May 19 (the day before the truck was officially introduced), and according to Ford CEO, Jim Farley, in the Detroit Free Press article about the factory tour and surprise joyride,

At the end of his speech, he kinda turned to everyone, he goes, 'You know I'm a car guy. And I want to drive this truck.' Everyone politely laughed. Because presidents don't drive vehicles.

But then he did. The rest, as they say, is history. But the clip of him on the test drive shows not only what the truck can do, but what a true car guy President Biden is, as his first words after driving it were,

This sucker's quick.

If you’re looking for a reason not to mow, there’s logic behind letting it grow …

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: As is often the case, Red hadn’t heard of the latest trend, “No Mow May,” which is all about lawn maintenance (or the lack of it) until Black started sending her articles about it.

Keep Reading ...Show less
It’s hard to imagine one holiday celebrates … spring, women’s fertility, workers, and labor rights. But it shouldn’t surprise you that even though it dates back thousands of years, we each “dance around” different aspects of May Day.

If you’ve never thought about May Day, don’t worry, most of us haven’t.

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Red appreciates that some holidays have historical significance, some have ancient traditions, and some are opportunities for one of Black’s unexpected, but often amusing and clever, comments, but May Day checks all those boxes.

Keep Reading ...Show less

Spring’s supposed to be full of optimism as it represents a new beginning, with longer days, the trees and flowers blooming, the birds chirping, and a general feeling of rejuvenation. So, whose idea was it to rudely interrupt it with Tax Day? And the fact it’s April 18 this year instead of April 15 (when we ran the article below in 2021, we got two extra days) hardly makes it any less, well, … taxing.

This quote is perfect, except that we don't know who said it, "People who complain about taxes can be divided into two classes: men and women."

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: It's probably a safe bet (yes, the IRS even has specific rules on how to handle gambling income and losses) that no one looks forward to Tax Day, but it would be easy to make assumptions that how people approach this potentially stressful day would be impacted by how much, or how little, money they make …

Keep Reading ...Show less