Vogon_Glory
Vogon_Glory's JournalA privatized Amtrak means a shut-down Amtrak
One of the longest-running lies on the political right is the idea that passenger rail nrtworks can be privatized and that private corporations can run them for profit. This is complete bunk and has been untrue for over half a century. Amtrak was created to take the burden of operating intercity passenger trains off the hands of private corporations, many of which were in dire financial straights (I.e. the Western Pacific Railroad, the Rock Island Railroad, and the Penn Central). It’s still untrue. There have been a few attempts by corporations to resume running regularly-scheduled passenger trains without subsidies, but they failed. The fact that there aren’t any speaks volumes, if not so noisily as Musk and the propagandists at Faux Noise and Town Hall.
A point should be made about right-wing politicos, influencers and propagandists pretending to be journalists. They have little or no understanding of the expense and complexities of civil engineering projects and seem to show little or no interest in learning them.
Passenger rail systems are big, expensive, take years to build, and cost lots of money to run and maintain. Privatizing Amtrak would have the same effect as doing the same in Central and South America (I am counting Mexico as part of North America, not Central America): shut-down, scrapping and then having the politicians and managers who seek to undo their predecessor’s pinheaded move learn that replacing what was destroyed following right-wing dogma will cost tens of billions, if not hundred of billions to replace.
An irony here is that South Africa still has a functional passenger rail network, but if South African expat Elon Musk has his way, we Americans won’t.
Let's Bring Back Lady Columbia!
Let’s bring back Lady Columbia, one of the older American avatars used to represent not only the spirit of America but also what our country represents! In these dark times she can be a symbol of who we are and what this country ought to be.
For those who don’t know, Columbia was the female figure depicted in patriotic art as rallying the patriots, being menaced by foes of freedom and the Union, and as a tool for military recruitment. She’s usually shown wearing a Phrygian cap and a red, white and blue shield. She was usually depicted as being a brown-haired Caucasian, and I’ll admit that depicting her as a light-skinned woman of Northern European ancestry is a meme that has passed.
I’m NOT suggesting using the light-skinned Lady Columbia again. If the Good Guys start using Lady Columbia, I’d call for an update. I’d say browner skin (Hey, she’s got at least some Native American ancestry. She ought to show it) and long black hair.
This might sound a bit like Wonder Woman, but she’s not. She predates Wonder Woman by at least a century, she’s in the public domain, and Donald John and his stooges can’t pressure DC Comics or DC’s owners to sue depictions of her like they can images of Diana Prince’s alter-ego.
She’s historical, she’s definitely not a straight white male nor one of those bottle blondes found in Donald John’s entourage and is a lot more inclusive than MAGA.
A shout-out to Independents: Save the Republic!
One of the memes (among many) that we Democrats ought to be using is to portray Orange Julius as an enemy of democracy and a wanna-be dictator. I hope there’s a way to make Independents feel that voting for Joe isn’t just about voting for a Democrat, it’s about preserving the rule of law, free elections, and government by the people for the people.
I can hope that enough Republican voters remember
that they believe in truth and common decency and strike a blow for a better future for themselves and their children by blanking the presidential ballot if they can’t bring themselves to vote for an honorable, church-going Democrat.
Deficit Hawks Beating The Drums For Republicans Are
deluding themselves and scamming the rest of us.
Three out of the last four Republicans deliberately ran up the national debt without making any sort of effort to balance the budget and reduce the debt (For the benefit of right-wing lurkers, that’s Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump). The last Republican who tried to reduce the deficit was George H.W. Bush and he was crucified by the Republican Party’s right flank.
Considering Republican behaviors when they control the Executive Branch of the Federal Government, there is NO reason why fiscally-conservative voters (I said Fiscally-conservative voters, NOT conservative voters. They’re not the same thing). should believe that Donald John Trump would work to be fiscally behavior. For you right-wing lurkers out there, I would point out what a fella does in the past is a good indicator of what he’d do in the present or future. That isn’t rocket science: that’s common sense.
I admit I’m a Democrat. I’m a thinking Democrat. I support Democrats and Democracy. If I can’t convince any of you right-wing lurkers out there to do what’s right for the USA, I hope I can at least persuade you to leave the presidential choice blank if you can’t bring yourself to vote Democratic.
A republic, if you can keep it
We Democrats are the party committed to keeping the United States of America as a healthy, functional representative republic governed by representatives responsible to the wishes of the majority of its citizens. Club Pachyderm has cast aside those values to become an authoritarian cult dedicated to one-man rule with no respect for the wishes or desires of its citizens.
We should hammer home the idea that our party is the guardian of democracy, a role the other party has capitulated to its devotion to Orange Julius.
Re: The New Maya Train
The rail journey should prove more comfortable than it used to be.
My parents took the train to the Yucatán back in the late 1950’s. At one point they had to load their auto onto a flatcar because there wasn’t a passable road to Merida back then.
That might seem rugged to today’s pampered travelers, but the narrow-gauge trains were worse. Those rail lines weren’t built to a high engineering standard, the route was twistier, the passenger coaches were ancient, unairconditioned and slow. Very slow. It took a long time to get from here to there and the Yucatán used to be one of the most impoverished parts of Mexico.
The railways were once steam-powered but were later dieselization. Steam lingered on the narrow gauge until the 1960’s, but eventually the surviving narrow-gauge lines were dieselized too.
The narrow gauge is gone but a few relics might survive.
Two of the former Unidos de Yucatán steam locomotives were acquired by Disney and ran at Disney World in Florida.
Family Planning activists have said it time and time again
The (so-called) Pro-Life 
movement’s interest in infants begins at conception and ends at birth. Anyone thinking otherwise should look at their actions. These people’s jihad against Planned Parenthood and other family planning services have been remarkably successful—at closing down clinics and denying pregnant women access to birth control and obstetrical care.
These people claim to provide abortion alternatives. Do they fund obstetric care? No. Do they provide access for post-born babies? No. Do they provide adequate financial assistance to struggling mothers with infants? No.
Idaho looks like it’s on the way to becoming a desert for women seeking maternity care, and it’s largely the fault of social reactionaries and the anti-abortion movement.
I wish I had more sympathy for the low-info mothers and fathers who vote for these social reactionary politicians, but I don’t.
Because Joe is probably thinking about the New
Jersey Cuban emigres and their votes. I suspect that he’s written off Florida.
IMO the Miami Cubans have helped turn Florida into a red state. They’ll never vote Democratic and as a group, Democrats owe them no favors. Let them sit and stew the way the old “ China Lobby” had to do after Richard Nixon started dealing with the People’s Republic of China. Chiang Kai Chek will never return to the Chinese mainland, and the emigre Cubans-turned-Republican don’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell of winning a free and fair election in social democrat-minded Cuba.
The Repuds have no choice but to oppose abortion
rights. Not that I sympathize with them, but the largest single voting block in the Republican Party, particularly in red states, is the anti-abortion faction. Not only are they a large block, but they are well-organized and extremely demanding. If you’re an aspiring or incumbent Rethugly politician, you toe their line and you toe it exactly. If the anti-abortion leadership croaks “frog!”, you start hopping around or try to catch flies with your tongue. If they say no exceptions for rape, you remove exceptions for rape. If they say no exceptions for incest. If they say no exceptions for the health of the mother, you remove those exceptions. Otherwise, they’ll cut off your funding or have you tossed out in a party primary.
Republican politicos let these people come in over a generation ago. They not only constitute a large and vital voting block that means the difference between electoral victory or political oblivion. These are people that Republican politicos HAVE to placate. They HAVE to toe the line.
Do I sympathize with those Republican pols?
I don’t.
Not.
One.
Little.
Bit.
Profile Information
Member since: 2003 before July 6thNumber of posts: 9,773