Trouble ahead, trouble behind ... Casey Jones is ready, watch your speed.

I'm a bit hot & cold on Greg Sagan, which probably goes some way towards demonstrating that he's the onliest columnist left at the AG-R who thinks for himself.

But when he gets on one of his periodic train kicks, I'm with him.

Only problem from his perspective with the rail program currently being batted around is that it wouldn't come anywhere near Amarillo.

Worse, though, is his first commenter, who says "state subsidized mass-transit does not work."

First, as my dear old daddy used to point out before he went stark raving mad on a diet of Fox News and Bush-worship, all forms of transportation are subsidized to some degree by the government. Who you think pays for your roads? Microsoft? Disney?

Secondly, you're talking about transportation in an age of chaotic oil prices, imminent airline bankruptcies, and the proverbial Other Shoe of environmental disaster hanging over our heads. You can pretty much complete any sentence you start about the status quo with the words "does not work."

Maybe the commenter likes his/her Panhandlian bubble, but the rest of the country is going to have to do something about transportation. Attitudes like his/hers will only serve to keep Amarillo what it is and always has been: flyover, or drive fast through, or even perhaps "rail around" country.

spacedark