Michael Hastings ‘Was Hauling Irish Ass’

Posted on | June 20, 2013 | 57 Comments

LAPD traffic investigators found the motor of the late-model Mercedes-Benz C250 coupe involved in the accident about 100 feet away from the car . . .
[T]he expert estimation of Harry B. Ryon, a former LAPD officer who now runs his own private accident investigation firm in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The engine’s location is evidence that the driver “was hauling Irish ass and lost control,” Ryon told us . . .

Here’s the video that shows Hasting’s sports coupe — a silver blur — zooming through a red light four blocks away from the crash scene:

As a journalist who’s done a bit of high-speed driving myself — I routinely hit triple digits on two-lane highways while traversing NY-23 during the 2009 Doug Hoffman campaign — I feel a certain sympathy with Michael Hastings, despite the fact he was more liberal than your average Occupy Wall Street protest organizer. I mean, Rachel Maddow devoted five minutes to praising him Tuesday night.

Ask yourself: Has Rachel Maddow ever said anything nice about anybody you actually like? No, she hates everybody you admire, and loves everybody you hate, and as for you yourself — if you’ve ever voted Republican — she hates you with every cell of her being.

With their customary civility, conservatives either maintained a respectable silence or joined in the praise of Hastings after his fatal accident in Los Angeles, as if it would be somehow discourteous to mention what a radical ideologue Hastings so proudly was. But he himself never bothered to hide his political enthusiasms, as I learned while researching my 2,000-word article at ViralRead:

As a political reporter, Hastings was openly contemptuous of objectivity, a liberal who shared the anti-war, anti-Republican sentiments widespread in his generation of journalists. In a GQ article recounting his work covering the 2008 presidential campaign for Newsweek, he called former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani a dangerous “maniac”:

On one of my first days, I watched Rudy deliver his stump speech in Peterborough, New Hampshire. As you might imagine, it was a little focused on the “terrorist war against us.” His solution was to “go on the offense” — meaning more aggressive torture techniques, recklessly increasing the size of our military forces, fighting an unending war in Iraq, and possibly bombing the shit out of Iran. …
I quickly realized Rudy was a maniac. I had a recurring fantasy in which I took him out during a press conference … saving America from the horror of a President Giuliani.

Hastings rejected objective journalism as a fraud and said most reporters secretly shared his views:

Objectivity is a fallacy. In campaign reporting more than any other kind of press coverage, reporters aren’t just covering a story, they’re a part of it — influencing outcomes, setting expectations, framing candidates — and despite what they tell themselves, it’s impossible to both be a part of the action and report on it objectively. …
I wasn’t alone in the press corps. I don’t think I spoke to another journalist who ever said one good thing about [Giuliani]. What did we say? We made fun of his divorces and his wives, that he’d married a second cousin, that he surrounded himself with corrupt cronies, that he had a piss-poor relationship with his children, etc. We talked about his megalomania and his cynical exploitation of September 11.

Describing his own habits on the campaign trail, Hastings said he watched pay-per-view pornographic videos in hotel rooms and said masturbating to porn “was not unlike the larger experience of campaign reporting.” . . .

You can read the whole thing. I have no idea why Republicans act like it’s an insult to call liberals “liberals,” or to say that a guy who rammed his Mercedes into a palm tree was “hauling Irish ass.”

Category: Journalism

Comments

57 Responses to “Michael Hastings ‘Was Hauling Irish Ass’”

jwbrown1969
June 20th, 2013 @ 7:23 am

Michael Hastings ‘Was Hauling Irish Ass’: According to LA Weekly‘s source: LAPD traffic investigators found th… http://t.co/J411NAoOKm
preciseBlogs
June 20th, 2013 @ 7:35 am

Michael Hastings ‘Was Hauling Irish Ass’ http://t.co/odUwkiUlHu #news #conservative #journalism
jakee308
June 20th, 2013 @ 7:46 am

Another case where believing what you see on TV or in the movies can get you killed.

(most likely he was inebriated so that’s probably the main reason)

If he was sober or legally sober, driving at high speed is not as easy as it looks on the screen.

Those are staged scenes with PROFESSIONAL drivers and even then they have medical assistance ready to roll. The scenes are choreographed out to the max and nothing starts until everyone is satisfied with the action.

Most people don’t realize that just because a manufacturer makes a care that can go triple digits doesn’t mean that it can be OPERATED at that speed. Many cars have instabilities at high speed due to poor maintenance, poor design or poor conditions.

Next up is the driver. A good driver can compensate for a lot of the bad noted above but if their experience amounts to driving on our free/express ways or limited access highways, they probably don’t qualify.

Everyone thinks they’re a better driver than they are.

Most don’t realize how drastically the handling characteristics of a vehicle change above even 75 mph.

Wind, dirt, road surface can all play a part and will at higher speeds. But it’s not that they make such a difference, it’s that most drivers have NEVER encountered those conditions at those speeds often enough to have gained experience and the instincts to make the right moves when things go wonky.

But then maybe this is what he was aiming for.

It’s my firm belief that many one car “accidents” are really suicides.
Adjoran
June 20th, 2013 @ 8:28 am

It’s one thing to open it up on a lonely rural highway where you are unlikely to encounter any other traffic, much less bicycles or pedestrians. This looks like a densely developed area to me. Thank God no one else got in the way.

It’s a sad story, but not a new one: http://youtu.be/d43g8unp7Wk
archer52
June 20th, 2013 @ 8:32 am

Hey, a liberal writer who thinks he is invincible meets physics and a tree who didn’t get a hoot who he thought he was.

Gotta love it.

My first serious wreck I worked was a middle-aged man who bought a corvette stingray. He tried to take a curve on a neighborhood street at high speed and met a tree, which also didn’t get a hoot he was going through a mid-life crisis.

We spent some time looking for his head, which was missing from his body. Found it down the street in the median.
The Smell Of Death’s Around You | The Camp Of The Saints
June 20th, 2013 @ 8:37 am

[…] please do check out Stacy’s addendum post over at his own joint, The Other […]
joethefatman1
June 20th, 2013 @ 8:58 am

Michael Hastings ‘Was Hauling Irish Ass’ http://t.co/u63B5HXQru
BobBelvedere
June 20th, 2013 @ 9:03 am

RT @joethefatman1: Michael Hastings ‘Was Hauling Irish Ass’ http://t.co/u63B5HXQru
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 20th, 2013 @ 10:07 am

I wish Rachel Maddow was riding shotgun that night.

Is that wrong to think?
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 20th, 2013 @ 10:09 am

Wreck on the Highway
rsmccain
June 20th, 2013 @ 10:10 am

“As a journalist who’s done a bit of high-speed driving myself … I feel a certain sympathy with Michael Hastings.” http://t.co/eD2R2cFck1
BobBelvedere
June 20th, 2013 @ 10:11 am

RT @rsmccain: “As a journalist who’s done a bit of high-speed driving myself … I feel a certain sympathy with Michael Hastings.” http://t…
robertstacymccain
June 20th, 2013 @ 10:12 am

Yes, that’s wrong, which is why you’re an EVIL Blogger Lady.
guinspen
June 20th, 2013 @ 10:15 am

So, Bill O’Reilly was in the car.

What happened to him?
HarrietBaldwin
June 20th, 2013 @ 10:15 am

RT @rsmccain: “As a journalist who’s done a bit of high-speed driving myself … I feel a certain sympathy with Michael Hastings.” http://t…
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 20th, 2013 @ 10:20 am

Okay, but maybe she would have told him to slow down?
robertstacymccain
June 20th, 2013 @ 10:24 am

Well, once you see the video of him running that red light at blur speed, the only remaining mystery is, “Why?” This might actually be an interesting question to pursue. Where had Hastings been until 4 a.m.?

He was heading southbound on Highland which (if you look at the map) suggests he had been in Hollywood. Let’s assume Hastings was heading home. (Do we know his address in Los Angeles?) OK, why was he in such a hurry to get home?

My hunch is that within a few days, reporters in Los Angeles will find the answers to some of these questions. It’s not often LA-based reporters get to cover this kind of story, which has a ready-made audience among NY- and DC-based journalists, and also a potential national-security angle, if you pay attention to those who say Hastings was onto some Big Story. Also, East Coast-based reporters might be able to talk their editors into an expense-paid trip to LA to cover this story.

So I’d guess “The Final Days of Michael Hastings” will make its appearance by Sunday at the latest.
robertstacymccain
June 20th, 2013 @ 10:24 am

“A man’s got to know his limitations.”
rsmccain
June 20th, 2013 @ 10:36 am

Michael Hastings “never bothered to hide his political enthusiasms” http://t.co/eD2R2cFck1 Neither have I, obviously.
Josh_Painter
June 20th, 2013 @ 10:39 am

RT @rsmccain: Michael Hastings “never bothered to hide his political enthusiasms” http://t.co/eD2R2cFck1 Neither have I, obviously.
Bob Belvedere
June 20th, 2013 @ 11:54 am

One would hope not.

[I denounce myself]
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 20th, 2013 @ 12:00 pm

Should we start calling you Evil Bob Belvedere?

BTW, could they fit that fat Schmalfeldt in the back seat (or the trunk)?
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 20th, 2013 @ 12:04 pm

A C Class Mercedes is a decent car for the price, but it not exactly designed for high performance driving in suburban neighborhoods. Hence the reason it transformed itself into a tree rammer and mobile BBQ grill.
rsmccain
June 20th, 2013 @ 12:15 pm

@owillis Well, Hastings was “hauling Irish ass,” you know. http://t.co/eD2R2cFck1
K-Bob
June 20th, 2013 @ 1:45 pm

Did it look surprised?
K-Bob
June 20th, 2013 @ 1:54 pm

Nice story at ViralRead. I barely remember the guy. Then again, I don’t remember the kinds of writers who go out of their way to destroy what little ethics remain in “journalism.”
Buffalobob
June 20th, 2013 @ 2:09 pm

Lets us imagine for a moment that instead of running into a tree at 100+ MPH he ran into a family of 12 illegals crossing the street. Would Miss Maddow still be supportive?
Richard McEnroe
June 20th, 2013 @ 3:02 pm

Well, it’s an insult to true liberalism to associate it with modern liberals…much on a level with calling a crack whore a courtesan…
Richard McEnroe
June 20th, 2013 @ 3:05 pm

Highland and Santa Monica? Well, the ‘dense’ part certainly applies…
Richard McEnroe
June 20th, 2013 @ 3:06 pm

If he was southbound on Highland, he may have been fleeing the Valley. Wouldn’t want anyone he knew to see him there…
Richard McEnroe
June 20th, 2013 @ 3:07 pm

Not sure you could fit Schmalfeldt in the back of an F150…
Richard McEnroe
June 20th, 2013 @ 3:08 pm

John McCain would have moved a sense of the Senate censure against him. Rubio would cosponsor. Because Schumer told them to.
Adjoran
June 20th, 2013 @ 4:25 pm

Yeah, but Corvettes don’t market their cars as the safest things on the road that will save you from your own mistakes.
Adjoran
June 20th, 2013 @ 4:26 pm

Not if they wanted to do 100 . . .
Adjoran
June 20th, 2013 @ 4:27 pm

How does anyone listen to Schumer for two minutes and not realize D’Amato was right? (He’s a putz).
Adjoran
June 20th, 2013 @ 4:32 pm

Over at PJ Tatler, commenters claim its a conspiracy. Including this gem:

ageisp0lis

Rest in peace Michael. Interestingly at his untimely death he was working on a story about the imprisoned journalist Barrett Brown (facing 105 years for sharing a link, etc.) and planning to visit him in jail. They were friends and allies. About this story he said “Get ready for your mind to be blown.” His last article mentions BB, as do his tweets
from early June. I confirmed he discussed the story with his editor at BuzzFeed and here’s some of my correspondence with Michael: https://twitter.com/ageis/status/347435866089717760 I last talked to him June 3 when I referred him to the lawyers about the visit. See http://twitter.com/FreeBarrett_

By the way, I find this spectacular, fiery crash deeply suspicious.
crosspatch
June 20th, 2013 @ 4:35 pm

I have no idea why Republicans act like it’s an insult to call liberals “liberals”

For one, I wish people wouldn’t use that word for a couple of reasons. Our founding fathers were the real “liberals”. The liberals were the ones with the notion of individual rights and limited government. That word has since been hijacked by the political left.

Second reason is that we should really use the world that shows up on the ballot: “Democrat”, not “liberal”. I will give you a perfectly good example of why. I was once back home in a fairly rural area talking with some folks at the local cafe. Someone was railing on about the “damned liberals”. One of the guys at my table said he’s glad “the liberals” haven’t run for office around there. He said he was a Democrat, had been all his life, and would never vote for a “liberal” candidate. Said those “damned liberals” sounded like a pretty bad bunch.

Seriously. 99% of Americans just aren’t all that political and the farther you get away from centers of Democrat activism (cities) the more true that becomes. What percentage of Americans have even HEARD of most popular political web sites? A darned tiny percentage.

But seriously, if you are going to criticize, use the name of the group that appears on the ballot.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 20th, 2013 @ 4:55 pm

True, and that Mercedes would be doing a wheeley if that fat load was in the back.
RichFader
June 20th, 2013 @ 5:04 pm

He had to get home and get ready for work?
Neo
June 20th, 2013 @ 5:40 pm

What ? ObamaCare didn’t save him ?
RichFader
June 20th, 2013 @ 5:53 pm

There’s really no car that’s safe to wrap around a tree at freeway speeds.
RichFader
June 20th, 2013 @ 5:56 pm

The LA Weekly’s guy says he thinks Hastings was going over 60 mph, doesn’t specify how much. I checked Google Maps right after the first post and Highland appears to be posted for 35 around where he crashed. Yeah, that might do it, and more so the faster he was going.

I’m guessing I’d have been no fan of Hastings’ work, but I don’t like the idea of burning to death in a car crash.

I will say that anybody who compared campaign reporting to fapping to porn couldn’t have been all bad.
ChuckFinley
June 20th, 2013 @ 6:26 pm

OK. Here’s my innocent explanation and my tin foil hat conspiracy theory.

Innocent explanation first. He had just gotten an expensive Mercedes so he got up real early one morning so the streets would be empty in order to see how fast it would go. The answer turned out to be faster than he could control it.

Conspiracy theory. The computers that control new cars have laughable security and for the convenience of the places that service them, they are replacing the plug in monitors with blue tooth. While the range of standard blue tooth is a few feet, there is nothing to stop someone from making a high powered blue tooth transmitter with a directional antenna, connecting to your car and telling the engine to go as fast as possible. Does that explain some of the unintentional acceleration incidents? I dunno. Maybe. Does it mean that somebody deliberately sped up Hasting’s car until he lost control and crashed? It is physically possible but that does not mean that somebody did it.
Bob Belvedere
June 20th, 2013 @ 7:13 pm

Thanks for reminding me of that. I’ll have to use the quote in future.
Richard McEnroe
June 20th, 2013 @ 8:06 pm

When you embrace DC think, “putz” is the new “normal”
Cube
June 20th, 2013 @ 8:54 pm

From the look of that hole where the driver’s seat used to be, I don’t think the fire was a problem for him.
terresamonroe
June 20th, 2013 @ 9:02 pm

Michael Hastings ‘Was Hauling Irish Ass’ http://t.co/KGlWBBZPeJ
SDN
June 21st, 2013 @ 12:57 am

I have a bluetooth earpiece for my cell. It has a range of ~20 feet…. and it’s not powerful.
John_Scotus
June 21st, 2013 @ 12:57 am

Michael Hastings ‘Was Hauling Irish Ass’ http://t.co/WLb9aAu1Ia
sheilaaj
June 21st, 2013 @ 12:58 am

RT @John_Scotus: Michael Hastings ‘Was Hauling Irish Ass’ http://t.co/WLb9aAu1Ia