recent flagrant abuses of the word "literally"

From the P-G article about the recycling truck that hit a bunch of cars yesterday:

The half-full truck -- which weighs 32,000 pounds empty -- struck the station wagon and forced it into five other vehicles parked along the 300 block of East Carson Street.

"That [vehicle] became literally a snowplow pushing the others around," Public Works Director Guy Costa said.

Now, I don't so much mind that the guy misused the word "literally" -- that's really not a grave offense, just one that brings an amusing image to one's mind, and besides, completely unrelated to his job. The real concern, to me, comes when I think about the fact that when he sees a recycling truck smashing into cars, our public works director's first thought is, "Oh! Just like a snow plow does!"