The speech

“Talk! Or we’ll make you watch the State of the Union.”

From The New Yorker.

Rob's comment:

I didn't watch the State of the Union speech even when Obama was president and I liked him. I loathe Donald Trump. Besides, the Golden State Warriors are playing Utah on TV tomorrow at the same time. Easy call to make.

Fox News: Democrats are "Cowardly" on high-speed rail

Karl Mondon, Bay Area News Group

Fox News calls out Gavin Newsom and the Democrats:

The four leading Democratic candidates for governor in California have offered various levels of support for the rail project.

The Los Angeles Times says current Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom---the frontrunner in the gubernatorial race---has dodged repeated requests for interviews on the bullet train for more than two years. Newsom’s office also did not return multiple calls from Fox News seeking comment.

“This reticence to speak about a deeply troubled project might seem like smart political strategy, given its support by the governor and construction trade unions, a valued Democratic constituency,” The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote in a scathing editorial. “If the Democratic candidates don’t detail how they would salvage the most expensive public project in California history, there’s a better adjective: cowardly.”

Rob's comment:

Once upon a time, Gavin Newsom questioned the high-speed rail project, but later more or less walked it back. Now he doesn't want to talk about it.

As Mayor of San Francisco, Newsom got a lot of credit---and criticism---for his initiative on gay marriage. Maybe he's now just sensitive about political timing. 

That may be a lesson learned too well. Better to get out front now on the dumb high-speed rail project---it's clearly not sustainable---than get a reputation as a political windsock.

Thanks to The Daily Beast.