To help raise a reported $1 million for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, President Obama dropped in to LAX, hit up the Beverly Hills Hotel, and then drove to producer John Wells’s Hancock Park home in Los Angeles, where he was met by director JJ Abrams, Nancy Pelosi, Judd Apatow, Taye Diggs, and Idina Menzel. And in doing so? He caused a traffic nightmare, tying up major boulevards, which in turn clogged cross-streets, and left drivers stranded in parking lot traffic for hours on end. The Huffington Post‘s headline: “Does President Obama Owe Los Angeles An Apology?” And there are calls for an investigation.
jammed
Liberal Los Angelenos Find Something Obama-Related to Complain About: He’s Bad For Traffic
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Mark Alexander
Oh PLEASE. The same thing used to happen in Phoenix when Bush would drop into town. Get over yourselves, people!
Hans
Pshh… Try living inside the Capitol Beltway for a week. Get over it.
protection for all
It’s government security SOP for freeways and streets to be closed off and cleared during visits from Presidents. Maybe they need to give residents 24 hour notice, or would that also be giving would-be assassins and bombers enough time to make plans? The lesser of two evils, in the long run, is inconvenient traffic.
TommyOC
East Coast folks don’t have an appreciation for a transit network lacking a widespread public option. If LA’s streets are clogged, your options on how to get from Point A (wherever you are) to Point B (wherever you’re going) just disappeared – particularly if Point B is outside of the city’s downtown area.
Those who don’t live here simply can’t appreciate that fact.
David
LA’s traffic can’t handle one malfunctioning traffic light, let alone multiple street closures. Ever been near Westwood when they do a movie premier? Hours of complete gridlock.
Billy
Why didn’t he just take a helicopter? Hello no streets blocked off!
Henry Holland
This Angeleno has PLENTY of Obama-related stuff to complain about other than fucking up traffic on 6th Street: Donnie McClurkin, DOMA, ENDA, DADT, never-ending wars in oil rich countries, being a whore for Wall Street, expanding the security state etc.
L.
Strange. Whenever a president visits NYC, gridlock is much less of a problem. I wonder why that is?
The fact that NYC has an actual, working public transport system, maybe? (I’m wildly guessing here, of course.)
alex
Based on reports I read from the LA Times, the problems encountered shouldn’t be blamed on our President. Rather, it sounds like the LAPD (and other departments involved in shutting down the streets) went beyond what usually happens. The LA Times reported that people weren’t allowed to cross the street on foot, for example.
We all know that Queerty loves to bash our President; but, it’s asinine to think that Obama schedules his own motorcade routes.
Of course, it’s also possible there was a credible threat to President Obama and the actions of the LAPD were justifiable.
Jane
@TommyOC:
NYC =/= The East Coast. There may be some cities here and there with working public transit that isn’t affected by the vagaries of traffic, but most of us live with the “sit in traffic or abandon your car and walk 30 miles” options.