Scott Wiener: Dumb or dishonest?

Scott Wiener in his pro-high-speed rail op-ed in yesterday's SF Chronicle:

San Franciscans have “gotten” high-speed rail since 2008, when 78% voted for Proposition 1A to build high-speed rail in California. 

Of course Wiener knows that the statewide vote on the project was only 52% in favor, but those oh-so wise and progressive SF voters gave it 78%. 

What it really shows is that like the right-wingers we love to despise, city progs also live in a political bubble. 

On this issue, it was predictable that liberals were going to vote for the train without really being informed. That is, city voters were dumb the same way Wiener has always been dumb on the issue.

The dishonesty is that Wiener hasn't bothered to inform himself about the project in the last 13 years. Like being a right-winger often provides automatic issue responses, being a liberal means you support trains regardless of the pesky details, like how much a project costs and whether it makes sense.

Randal O'Toole said it best:

"All you have to do is mention the words 'public transit' and progressives will fall over themselves to support you no matter how expensive and ridiculous your plans."

O'Toole is particularly good on the dumb high-speed rail project.

Local projects Wiener doesn't bother to inform himself about: CEQA and the Bicycle Plan and the Geary Blvd. BRT.

See also Transit agencies can skip environmental review under bill signed by Newsom. Guess whose bill that was?

To begin learning about the project, go to this site. Good place to start is with Briefing Papers or Brief Notes.

David Brooks makes his Checkers speech

From Driftglass:

It isn't very much after taxes but my child bride and I have the satisfaction that The New York Times doesn't care about the money I've raked in from all my side hustles. 

I should also add that my child bride doesn't have a mink coat, but she does have a respectable Republican cloth coat and a mansion in the exclusive Capitol Hill suburbs of Washington D.C.

And I always tell her that she'd look good in anything!

One other thing I probably should tell you because if I don't they'll probably be saying this about me too. We did get something — a gift — after a recent column of mine. An Aspen Institute board member read that I like fancy Italian deli meats and, believe it or not, the day after I wrote that column, FedEx showed up with a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was?

It was an Italian dry salami in a crate ordered from Harry & David. And my child bride named it Soppressata, because that's what it was. And you know, like all privileged white suburban goobers, we love the salami and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of how many of The Poors it may freak out, we're gonna eat it.

Don't worry about David Brooks