A post on Glenn Beck's website The Blaze expressed righteous outrage that kids were forced to ride naked through the streets at this weekend's 2012 St. Louis Naked Bike Ride by their hippie parents.
"'DISGUSTING'," The Blaze headline shrieks. "PARTICIPANTS IN 'WORLD NAKED BIKE RACE' SEEMINGLY BRING THEIR CHILDREN."
The Blaze was tipped off by local conservative blogger Jim Hoft's original post titled, "St. Louis Mom Strips & Exposes Daughter on Naked Bike Ride [VIDEO]."
Only, here's the thing: There's no stripping. The kid's clearly wearing clothes. And there's no way to tell if it's a boy or a girl.
The video, shot by "jackohoft" from a car, shows some bare-bunned bikers before the cameraman takes off in hot pursuit of one particular rider: A clothed woman on a tandem bike with a kid in the seat behind her. Once he catches up we see the child is wearing shorts, shoes, and helmet, which is of course the exact same thing as completely nude. The presumption that this is someone's "daughter" seems to be based on the fact that the kid doesn't have a military buzz cut.
Even if this is a girl, the description of the video ("St Louis mom disrobes her child," "Strips & Exposes Daughter") and the fact that this thing has been viewed almost 24,000 times is the creepiest part. Apparently jackohoft was so concerned with covering up the kid's shame that he ... filmed him/her and put it on the internet? Blegh.
Here's the "disturbing" video which is actually really dumb:
For some thoughts on why nude rides like this one are legal, as opposed to the end of Western Civilization, please consult this handy guide.
