Amtrak Is Already On America's "Do Not Ride" List
Hilarious observation by radio host and blogger Mitch Berg, regarding Senator Charles Schumer's response to the news Bin Laden had his eye on trains (demanding a "Do Not Ride" list):
In vast swathes of the US, terrorists would be the only person on an Amtrak train.
via Hot Air
Except for the Northeast corridor. Do you know how many people ride the train every day between New Haven, CT and New York City?? Tens of thousands. And that's probably where the at least one of the potential hits would have been. Also, countless dry goods and food/merchandise are shipped by train, every day, all over the country. It wouldn't just be the trains anyway. Railroad tracks would be affected as well. A powerful enough explosion would rip the tracks apart.
Flynne at May 9, 2011 8:21 AM
If it weren't for such horrible scheduling, hubby and I would have ridden the train several times. It's almost as though the schedulers don't WANT Amtrak to be successful.
We could almost walk to El Paso (from Dallas) faster than the stupid train would get us there, since it goes through San Antonio between the two. What kind of routing is that?
gharkness at May 9, 2011 8:37 AM
So, the high speed rail train to the middle of nowhere in CA can now have even fewer passengers? Good to know.
KateC at May 9, 2011 9:56 AM
I love the trains and use them a lot. I took a business trip recently that would have otherwise been impossible, since I refuse to fly anymore. The train ride was 10-1/2 hours (as opposed to a one-hour flight), but it was worth it. Of course, once the TSA invades Amtrak, that option will go out the window, too.
The fear-mongering and stupidity are coming from all sides, left, right, and in between. So let's band together, those of us who aren't bedwetting losers bleating "Terrorists!", those of us who value our rights, and work together on this regardless of political persuasion.
Lisa Simeone at May 9, 2011 12:13 PM
It wouldn't just be the trains anyway. Railroad tracks would be affected as well. A powerful enough explosion would rip the tracks apart.
This is al Qaeda you're talking about. They're...not exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer. Yes, they've had some spectacular successes, but if they'd been smarter about it and not obsessed with the big, splashy disaster, we'd have been tied in knots for years.
You don't have to attack the trains to instill fear in the ridership. Fortunately, al Qaeda missed that lesson in terrorism: killing isn't necessarily the goal, generating fear is.
I R A Darth Aggie at May 9, 2011 2:15 PM
"we'd have been tied in knots for years.
You don't have to attack the trains to instill fear in the ridership. Fortunately, al Qaeda missed that lesson in terrorism: killing isn't necessarily the goal, generating fear is."
We HAVE been tied in knots for years. They HAVE generated fear without killing. $8.1 billion for TSA alone. Bullying, intimidation, harassing, and groping at airports. Expansion of the National Security State. Snooping -- expensive snooping -- into almost every aspect of our lives. People running around screaming "The Terrorists! The Terrorists! The Terrorists Are Coming To Get Us!"
I'd say al Qaeda's mission accomplished. They've done exactly what they set out to do, and, in fact, what they spelled out explicitly that they wanted to do: incite terror in the American populace, and make us bleed ourselves bankrupt through ever-increasing "security" measures.
Lisa Simeone at May 9, 2011 2:35 PM
Actually, being on the train is not the best way to destroy the train. Chuckles will annoy everyone at enormous expense, increase government employees, accomplish nothing, and get some publicity.
In his book, that's success.
MarkD at May 9, 2011 3:46 PM
gharkness is right. What is up with the schedule? A few years ago I considered taking the train. The departure time 2:10 at night. Or I had the option at additional expense to leave around 6pm, travel for a few hours and then wait 8 hours to transfer to the train that left at 2:10 around 4am. It was just ridicules.
The Former Banker at May 9, 2011 10:59 PM
But it's now being extended almost to Chowchilla.
The federal government is giving California the $300 million Florida rejected so the state can extend the tracks almost to Chowchilla.
When it's finished you'll be able to take the bullet train from just north of Bakersfield to just south of Chowchilla - the "gateway" to the Bay Area according to Rachel Wall, spokesman for the California High Speed Rail Authority.
Chowchilla is 148 miles from San Francisco. It's no more the "gateway" to the Bay Area than Provo, Utah is.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/10/BANG1JE080.DTL&type=newsbayarea
Conan the Grammarian at May 10, 2011 10:46 AM
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