OPB -- and everyone else --

I wish it were true that We, The People, have
any really decent choices as to whom to vote for. But
we rarely do. This country, and even smaller cities,
are so big that it takes huge sums of money to just
tell voters you exist, and what you stand for. And we
are such a diverse bunch of people, with such widely
varied views, that no one can ever get elected if he or
she is not a “mugwump”: someone whose mug is on
one side of the fence while his wump is on the other.

In other words, ya gotta try to be all things to all people,
or you’ll never ever get elected to anything. And that is
assuming (incorrectly) that our votes will be counted
correctly, if the results would displease the 1% who control
just about everything in this poor, suffering country.

Given that only 3 huge corporations own and thus control
all forms of media in this country -- TV, radio, newspapers,
magazines, and books -- we are not likely to learn things that
would upset the 1%, Such as: did you know that Iceland is
bailing out its ordinary people and jailing its bankers, which is
the exact opposite of what is happening in this country?

And Switzerland is even talking seriously about giving a nice
sum of money ($2,750 PER MONTH!) to every Swiss citizen!!
And you’ll never learn in our billionaire-controlled country, that
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was in favor of a Guaranteed Annual
Income for every US citizen.

So -- no, We The People rarely have a real choice of whom
to vote for. What we need is a real choice. But what we almost
always (not always!) get is two candidates, each chosen by the
1% to do their bidding. We almost always get a choice only
between, as I like to say, “Tweedle-Dumb” and “Tweedle-Dumber”.

Mandatory railroad content (I bet ya thought I’d never include this!):
I am not convinced that most people would refuse to ride trains
if there were frequent, safe, reliable, not-too-expensive, and
convenient trains and streetcars to ride. And this is shown by
the record numbers of riders that Amtrak is now seeing. This is
in spite of the many “never again” people caused by Amtrak’s
poor equipment maintenance and too many rude and uncaring
employees, as well as poor ol’ Amtrak running far, far too few
trains.

For more great and very reliable info on the truth behind why
we in the USA do not have a decent passenger train system,
please read Stephen B. Goddard’s excellent and very well-
researched 1994 book, “Getting There: The Epic Struggle
between Road and Rail in the American Century”.

We The People need and deserve truly first-class passenger
trains, staffed only by skilled and caring people, and using only
well-maintained equipment, that would have spacious and
comfortable interiors, with all necessary facilities and amenities.
This must equal or exceed what was provided to regular coach
passengers back in the late 1940s and early 1950s. These coach
seats must be as roomy and comfortable as those in the late
1940s and early 1950s long-distance streamliner coaches, with
leg rests for every seat. Nowadays this would mean, at a minimum,
electric outlets at every seat, and WiFi access wherever possible.

Comments, anyone?

Margaret