Las Vegas to Nowhere, all aboard!
Oh.My.God. Both Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-NV) and I are in agreement on something: Sig Rogich‘s Choo-Choo to Nowhere blows donkeys and that maglev (aka, “The Sin City Express“) is the way to go. CityLife Editor Steve Sebelius has the shocking news from Carson City.
Admittedly, $45 million is a drop in the bucket — if that — and Midnight Jim may be piqued to see Rogich in the embrace of new Desert Xpress supporter Sen. “Hapless Harry” Reid. Gibbons and the Sigmeister used to have a steamy bromance going … at least until Midnight Jim got a little too friendly with a cocktail waitress, whereupon Mrs. Gibbons gave Rogich the boot. And lastly, by waiting until after Reid switched his support from maglev to Sig’s choo-choo, Gibbons may be doing too little, too late.
But I give Gibbons credit for bucking GOP orthodoxy, which holds that a train “from Las Vegas to Disneyland”* is Evil Incarnate. Besides, nobody — and I mean nobody — with whom I have discussed the Great Train Debate, whether they’re from Nevada or California, has the slightest intention of driving to some big-ass Park ‘N Ride in Victorville, Calif., just so they can hop a train to Vegas (or rent a car to L.A.). Might as well drive the whole way.
As for Midnight Jim’s belated epiphany: Welcome aboard, Guv.
(* — The smarmy hypocrite who coined that phrase later backtracked on his own high-speed rail request after it made him a further target of public ridicule.)
