MOTOR TREND … folks on my side of the tracks like to call it “East Davis Motors” … I’m speaking, of course, of the informal used car lot that springs up along E. Eighth or sometimes Pole Line, where would-be sellers simply park their vehicles in high traffic areas with a “FOR SALE” sign prominently displayed in the back window …

Unfortunately, some of these vehicles create a visual hazard for drivers, blocking the view of oncoming traffic for those trying to enter the E. Eighth corridor … one especially large “For Sale” pick-up truck on E. Eighth — between Hunt and K — has been there for some time now and has created a distinct hazard that wouldn’t be there if the owner simply parked it in the middle of the block instead of at the corner … such hazards do keep the neighborhood interesting, though …

QUICK BEFORE IT’S GONE … there are an awful lot of gorgeous blooms around town right now, but none prettier than the purple explosion at the corner of Tulane and L in East Davis …

PRESIDENTIAL PANDERING … after apparently becoming a convert to the Tea Party, President Obama wondered out loud this week how an “unelected group of people” could overturn the health care law that was passed by “a democratically elected Congress.” … and before you accuse me of listening only to Fox News (oxymoron mine), trust me, those are the president’s words …

Which apparently means he’s also against the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which overturned school segregation laws passed by democratically elected legislatures in Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia and Delaware … writing of the plaintiffs in Brown, Chief Justice Earl Warren noted “they had been denied admission to schools attended by white children under laws requiring or permitting segregation according to race.” …

Other so-called “landmark” Supreme Court decisions the president apparently disputes include Roe v. Wade and Lawrence v. Texas, both of which overturned laws passed by democratically elected legislatures in Texas … it also puts the president squarely at odds with any attempts to have the high court overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, which was passed by — to use the president’s own words — “a democratically elected Congress” and signed into law by President Clinton … indeed, these are strange and interesting times in which we live … clearly, The End is near …

EQUAL TIME … not to be outdone by the president, candidate Rick Santorum decided to do a little California bashing to appeal to those who are willing to believe just about any kind of myth about our cherished Golden State …

Santorum’s target was my very own alma mater, which was included in the candidate’s declaration that our state’s university system is an example of “how bad it’s gotten in this country.” … how bad would that be, Rick? … “Seven or eight of the California system of universities” don’t offer courses in American history, he noted …

Those of us who were forced to take American history before graduating from one of those “California system” universities immediately recognized that Santorum was simply making this stuff up … but hey, never let facts get in the way of a well-delivered line that plays well east of the Mississippi …

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected]

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