Tractor: Day 3, The Crisis Continues
Sure, we're sliding into a war with global implications, but Tractor-Man has captured the heart of this city. Literally.
Tractor-Man has become a local celebrity. As you remember, Dwight Ware Watson of Whitakers, NC, drove a John Deere tractor into a pond on the National Mall here Monday just before noon. Since then, Watson -- lovably known as Tractor-Man -- has been chatting with Park Police on his cellular phone, granting multiple interviews to the Washington Post, and simply having a great time out there in the three feet of water.
Although the first day and a half of T-Man's coverage was limited largely to the traffic implications of his little soaking sojourn, today, Watson's birds came home to roost.
The Washington Post had a cover story on Watson's demands (respect, and more subsidies to tobacco farmers), three related stories (here, here, and here), a news graphic showing exactly where Watson is on the Mall, and a Metro column by the largely forgettable Marc Fisher. There is also an editorial (creatively titled "The Man On the Mall), and an 8:20 am wire story updating Watson's progress this morning.
So you don't need to wade through that: Watson has said he will surrender peacefully tomorrow if the police give him some respect. What that means I have no idea. I do know that regardless of how he surrenders, he will spend the lion's share of his remaining adult life in a federal prison for making terroristic threats, if he isn't committed to a mental institution.
Also, the Post helpfully asks this question: if a lone nutbag tobacco farmer can paralyze DC for three days, what could a terrorist, say, with a plan do to us. Shudder to think.
Finally, there are two pictures I've lifted from the Post, which you can see there, too. The first is a stunning shot from the Washington Monument. My wife and I theorized that Watson could drive the tractor over to this island and live like Tom Hanks in Castaway, except for the snipers constantly trained on him.
The second image is an undated photo taken in Rocky Mount, NC, in which Watson demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that, contrary to the statement of a neighbor (Liquidly Listed here), Watson is a certified crazy guy, and didn't get pushed to the edge just the other day. Anybody who drives around town in this one-hundred percent vehicle of the unhinged was basically just killing time waiting until the day he could drive a tractor into a pond and get on the news.
Sure, we're sliding into a war with global implications, but Tractor-Man has captured the heart of this city. Literally.
Tractor-Man has become a local celebrity. As you remember, Dwight Ware Watson of Whitakers, NC, drove a John Deere tractor into a pond on the National Mall here Monday just before noon. Since then, Watson -- lovably known as Tractor-Man -- has been chatting with Park Police on his cellular phone, granting multiple interviews to the Washington Post, and simply having a great time out there in the three feet of water.
Although the first day and a half of T-Man's coverage was limited largely to the traffic implications of his little soaking sojourn, today, Watson's birds came home to roost.
The Washington Post had a cover story on Watson's demands (respect, and more subsidies to tobacco farmers), three related stories (here, here, and here), a news graphic showing exactly where Watson is on the Mall, and a Metro column by the largely forgettable Marc Fisher. There is also an editorial (creatively titled "The Man On the Mall), and an 8:20 am wire story updating Watson's progress this morning.
So you don't need to wade through that: Watson has said he will surrender peacefully tomorrow if the police give him some respect. What that means I have no idea. I do know that regardless of how he surrenders, he will spend the lion's share of his remaining adult life in a federal prison for making terroristic threats, if he isn't committed to a mental institution.
Also, the Post helpfully asks this question: if a lone nutbag tobacco farmer can paralyze DC for three days, what could a terrorist, say, with a plan do to us. Shudder to think.
Finally, there are two pictures I've lifted from the Post, which you can see there, too. The first is a stunning shot from the Washington Monument. My wife and I theorized that Watson could drive the tractor over to this island and live like Tom Hanks in Castaway, except for the snipers constantly trained on him.
The second image is an undated photo taken in Rocky Mount, NC, in which Watson demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that, contrary to the statement of a neighbor (Liquidly Listed here), Watson is a certified crazy guy, and didn't get pushed to the edge just the other day. Anybody who drives around town in this one-hundred percent vehicle of the unhinged was basically just killing time waiting until the day he could drive a tractor into a pond and get on the news.
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