It did not get a lot of notice in yesterday’s news, but there was an important milestone. I keep dates in my head and remember when things happen throughout the year. I think it is the liturgical calendar that has always been inside of me. Yesterday was the Solemnity of Amtrak.
On May 1, 1972, the operating railroads (with a few exceptions, including Southern, which ran the famous “Crescent”) ceased to operate passenger trains. It had been a legal obligation. Many rail lines were subsidized by gifts of land and public funds with the understanding that communities would be served by passenger and freight transportation. The federal government had instituted laws on mail service that tended to protect trains and the crews that operated them. Richard Nixon ended all of this with his backing of a modest piece of corporate welfare. The original plan was for Amtrak to be passed into law and satisfy the activists who fought decades of ceaseless train discontinuance actions before the Interstate Commerce Commission (not necessarily the good guys in this drama). The thought was that Amtrak would quickly fold and that would be that.
Amtrak started with a pool of passenger equipment left over from the previous operators and it was generally a mess. The route system was established by Congress, so this was not a transportation company from the onset. Amtrak has been a pathetic whipping boy all along the way; the subject of gross misrepresentations, complete lies, and non-stop political meddling. Lord, Congress has to fool around with dining cars!
Amtrak is the target of privileged recipients of federal handouts. The airline and trucking industries pay for Cato, and Midland and who knows whatever other conservative think tanks to dream up dubious crimes against humanity of which Amtrak must be held accountable and denied the funds needed to operate a credible national system.
Amtrak does plenty wrong. The misdeeds concerning its Inspector General come instantly to mind. The self-indulgent and insulated management practices bring disrepute on the honest citizens who have worked so hard to maintain rail service into places like Longview, Texas and Dodge City, Kansas. Amtrak is a small town transportation business.
Amtrak is also an essential piece of infrastructure in the northeast corridor. Yes the design for the “high speed” joke known as Acela is filled with ineptitude. Although it might run at 150 mph., which would be a respectable attainment, it can’t. There are no funds to upgrade signals and roadbed, even in the region where over 20 million passengers ride annually.And to be a bit more “fair and balanced,” the northeast corridor does get some federal money but running such a major arrier is expensive.
And Amtrak top management does not even know or care that there is a Little Rock, Arkansas. They have allowed the Sunset east of New Orleans to be effectively discontinued after Katrina. In gaining “concessions” from Union Pacific for a new “improved” Sunset Limited schedule (insert laugh track here), Amtrak promises to ask for no new trains to run on UP for two years. This is the same Union Pacific that demanded $750,000,000.00 to permit the Sunset to increase its frequency of operation from three days a week to seven.
So lying politicians will still pull out the Sunset’s terrible statistical performance and pretend that it means anything. That, dear friends is a lie. The full truth about the Sunset is that, with a three-day-a-week operation, its performance is doomed to statistical irrelevance.
In Little Rock, where I live, Amtrak comes and goes in the middle of the night but,over 10,000 use it annually. (Yes neo-cons, grab your calculators and school me!) One train north and one train south and who gives a damn anyway? There are sensible cost-effective solutions far less expensive than the mind-blowing sums required for real European-style 200 mph high speed operations, but we never get to discuss that.
In America, it seems we never get to discuss anything any more. That is why I grieve over Amtrak’s 40th. birthday. We have no policy on dozens of items that press upon the national necessity, and what’s more, we don’t seem to give a damn.
Happy Birthday Amtrak! Thanks to the sensible and maligned people who work so tirelessly for better transportation options. Thanks to the employees that endure Amtrak management and the mindless criticism that so frequently lands on people who just work hard to get folks from “A” to “B.” Thanks to the readers who are still with me after this lament.
You will care about Amtrak when gas reaches $6 a gallon, but there probably won’t be an Amtrak by then.
More on “gay marriage”: what was President Obama thinking?
May 15, 2012 8 Comments
The obvious question arises, what it a political decision for the President to endorse “gay marriage?” The answer is straightforward, but needs a bit of qualification. Buckle up for the ride.
Of course it was political. Everything that a politician does is a ploy of some sort and that is not being cynical. We are inclined to devalue the art of political positioning, but it is a time-honored tradition. Yes, President Obama has declined in popularity because of his decision, but that is not necessarily a signal of his righteous intentions. Now, there is a small distinction here. The President is certainly following his own moral instincts, which (sadly) closely mirror those of the typical American Christian.
The President is doing two things here, and he is pretty smart (even if one does not agree with his position). First, he is immunizing himself from criticism in November. By the time of the General Election, most of the fury will be expended and there is simply nothing new to be added. Secondly, and more important, he is also defusing many of the other moral time bombs that are always ticking away and ready to demolish any candidate of the slightest progressive inclination. How this works is pretty interesting.
President Obama knows that “gay marriage” is gaining momentum in public acceptance. We all know gay people. They are excellent folks. They have parents and siblings who are generally sympathetic. The harsh words of a few political opportunists may play in the deep south and in certain religiously attuned conclaves, but America is generally sick and tired of the abusive tone of public conversation.
This is a somewhat subtle maneuver, and people in Arkansas will hardly notice it, but the President has marginalized the Republican arguments against same gender unions. Yes, Mitt Romney will still speak out at Liberty University, but the developing GOP strategy will include a much softer stance in a larger venue. Just watch and see how much play the Republican owned and operated Fox News gives to the more inflammatory anti-gay rhetoric.
In reality, the Evangelicals have been completely abandoned by the Republican Party. There will surely be plenty of lip service to “traditional marriage,” but not in any way that might cost anybody anything. It is exactly like the abortion debate. The strategy this; lie to the Evangelicals for as long as we can get away with it. It has worked perfectly well in the “sanctity of life” debate for 30 years. For the GOP, there is only one sacred value, subsidies for the rich and corporations.
I know lots of my conservative friends will not believe this. Let me just ask a question about the Republican supposed opposition to Roe v. Wade, faint as it has always been. How’s that working out for you guys? Made any progress?
Republicans still win the White House, and probably both houses of Congress, in November. By endorsing “gay marriage,” President Obama has assured that he will not carry one single southern state and no western states except California and Oregon. Republicans will stage a strong “niche” campaign in the south and other socially conservative strongholds, but the larger image will be “the softer side of Mitt.”
This has a tremendous consequence for the Arkansas legislative races, especially in the Second District. More on that in a day or so. It should also be observed that this developing situation bodes ill for Evangelical Christians and those who profess a serious commitment to the gospel message. Does anybody still have the Holy Spirit’s phone number?
Filed under Arkansas, Christian Worldview, Commentary, National politics