Saturday, August 11, 2007

Building Bridges... To Nowhere!

An association of Civil Engineers recently rated the United State's infrastructure, which includes bridges such as the one that recently collapsed in Minneapolis, a ‘D’, and estimated the total upgrade cost to be $1.6 trillion. That amount is roughly what has been blown in the Iraq & Afghan Wars." So, offers Jim Willie, the shrewd proprietor of the newsletter, The Golden Jackass.

If one data point could possibly sum up the absolute criminal madness, the lunatic idiocy of our Executive's priorities, and much of the Legislature's as well, that might be it. Putting aside the Afghanistan escapade for a moment, the invasion of Iraq, under baldly false pretenses, has, in effect, left the entire U.S. motoring public, and all commercial roadway and railway traffic, vulnerable to the travails of roads, railways, bridges and tunnels that are literally disintegrating under our collective wheels. This stark reality certainly gives whole new meaning to the, by now, bitterly ironic Bushism, "Mission Accomplished." If Peak Oil doesn't curtail happy motoring in the not too distant future, collapsing highways and such just might. And don't expect the government to come to your favorite local crumbling bridge's aid anytime soon, After all, what with the government's bailout of the big banks, broker dealers and such all but a certainty, there won't be much dosh around to repair anyone's falling to pieces freeway, that is assuming they could be bothered to anyway.

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