You can read about the previous Pastry chef (and his dedicated pastry kitchen!) here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/chef/

I especially liked the Barney as Dessert video.

As for speeding motorcades, I would personally hope they would be speeding. I only lived in NoVa for a year, driving the Leesburg Pike from Reston into McLean for my daily commute but that was long enough to know this: a motorcade driving the speed limit during normal traffic flow is an impediment to normal traffic flow.

It isn't the speeding, it is the notion that they feel they can speed and that it is their right. As Wayne says, if I speed and get caught I get a ticket, they just add another cop car to their motorcade.

Wayne,

No, I wasn't saying 25 - 35 was fast, but that was likely the posted speed limit. Usually in urban settings like DC, and based on my memory of DC most streets probably had speed limits in that range. Hence going 55 mph in such an environment would be reckless, IMO. At any rate I'm sure that is what I'd probably get nailed with it if was me blasting through a red light like that. Granted I'm not a police officer, but a motorcade isn't an emergency either. Sending a couple of cars or motorcycle cops ahead to handle such situations would seem like the best solution.

Steve
I don’t agree that 25 – 35 MPH is that fast but you may have just been referring to how fast you thought the motorcade was going. I once saw a fire truck slow down then proceed through an intersection then get hit near its tail end by a driver who had no excuse for not seeing it. I’ve seen inexcusable speed by emergency vehicles going through intersection as well. In the case stated above, I simply don’t see any solid facts one way or the other. Spinning a vehicle 270 degrees is not that hard.

To constantly break the speed limit is not. My gut feeling is it is done more from elitist attitude than security reason.

Indeed, thats the reason all of us speed, isn't it?

Seriously though, for an article attacking politicians for acting different than us common folks, you managed to come up with them doing something that all of us common folks do almost all the time.

Bravo.

I agree in general, but I've seen emergency vehicles approach intersections with red lights. They slow down, they too look. Blowing through a red light at a high rate of speed even with sirens blaring and flashing strikes me as highly irresponsible and questionable. Given that most streets in DC probably have speed limits between 25 - 35 mph, it seems somewhat likely that the motorcade was going quite fast. As such, even a prudent driver might have gotten T-boned by a cop cruiser going 55 + mph.

I don't really mind high officials having motorcades and jets. However, I think it might be a good idea to put a minimum-wage worker in the seat begind the high official, and have him whisper stuff in his ear like "Remember that you put your pants on one leg at a time too."

I don't mind motorcades either...when they are reasonable. The President, Vice President, and possibly some others...okay. I can see the security issue. But blowing through a stop light? Sorry that is just moronic and abuse of power. Whomever was in that motorcade should be publicly flogged and if not that then stripped of his/her office. There is no excuse to flagrantly put other peoples lives in danger like that.

I don't mind a pastry chef either for the POTUS. I like pastries, and I imagine the POTUS can't just go to his favorite pastry shop and pick up a box. So, okay no problem there. Beyond that it gets ridiculous when the Mayor of a city thinks he can ignore the law simply because he is the mayor.

An emergency vehicle or motorcade going through a red light is not necessary against the law. Neither is having a green light means someone can blast through an intersection without caution. It is a driver responsibility to watch for emergency vehicles among others things. Who was at fault or was law-abiding at this particular accident? There is not enough information to know. Anyone with the given information who claims otherwise is full of B.S.

To vary the speed of a motorcade is a wise security measure. To constantly break the speed limit is not. My gut feeling is it is done more from elitist attitude than security reason.

The White House has an office staff of over 400 people, not counting security and household staff. Even apart from state dinners, it's not unreasonable for them to have an in-house cafeteria staff large enough to have specialized chefs.

The site I work at has a few thousand employees. We have two cafeterias. That's perfectly reasonable. We do not have multiple four star chefs on staff. That would be insane. Having one dedicated to pastries would be beyond insane.

You can read about the previous Pastry chef (and his dedicated pastry kitchen!) here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/chef/

The White House has a highly paid chef on staff to make cakes. That's it, just cakes. Oh sure they're really nice cakes (judging by the pictures, haven't been myself). Still you might stop to ask why it is the government feels the need to provide this service.

Secret Service? Okay that makes sense. Air Force One? Sure, alright I can see a legitimate need in terms of security.

Super happy fun time cake chef? No, I'm not buying that that in anyway helps the elected president do his job.

Same thing in Congress.

Why? Why do we allow this charade to go on? These people are supposed to be our peers, not our lords. Why do we have incredibly extravagent state dinners for foreign dignitaries? Does the posh and pomp really make diplomacy easier or is it simply a hold over from the very traditions of royalty and aristocracy that our country supposedly escaped?

As an aside, my oldest daughter will be graduating from high scool next year and has never not had a president named Bush or Clinton. I wonder if the same will be true when she graduates from college, or grad school, and whether enough people care about what this means for our democracy?