Beijing to Guangzhou in 8 hours, NY to Miami, 30

Dear Mr. President,

Two letters from the White House, both dated Dec. 20, arrived Monday. One was a condolence note—“I am deeply sorry for your loss and pain”—and the other thanked me for my “service and sacrifice.” I’ve read each one several times and for the life of me still have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve had no loss of a loved one for many years, my service occurred decades ago and was without sacrifice—never in harm’s way, never trained to kill, never close to an enemy—and none of my letters mention loss, service or sacrifice. You might want to check on your workerbees in the basement who scan your letters and emails. Maybe it was too much Christmas cheer and they got letters and names mixed up or maybe there was a glitch in the computer program that generates responses. At any rate, not a big deal, just some feedback from out here on the hustings. What I really want to talk about though, is an article in this morning’s New York Times about a new high speed rail line between Beijing and Guangzhou that went into service yesterday: 1,200 miles in 8 hours. That’s impressive, especially considering Amtrak’s Silver Meteor between NYC and Miami, about the same distance, takes 30 hours. Since 2008 the Chinese have built 5,809 miles of high speed rail lines, 4 lines north-south, 4 east-west, each line employing about 100,000 workers. The project has had all kinds of benefits: low unemployment, reduced pollution by freeing up old rail lines to run more freight trains which takes trucks off the roads and reduces diesel imports. All this for $640 billion, hundreds of billions less than we spent bailing out the Banksters of Wall Street and for which we got nothing in return but misery and hard times. In the same 4 years China built all that, we spent millions studying and planning a 400 mile line between LA and San Francisco but not a shovelful of dirt turned yet. How is it a bunch of backward commies you say are a threat can accomplish so much so quick and we can’t even pass a budget? How come they can invest in their future but we’re told we’re broke and have to cut everything but the military? And right there’s the problem, Mr. President; we spend on war but not peace, to destroy but not to build. We obsess over enemies but don’t recognize the real enemy—the ignorance, cupidity and hubris that blinds us to our own injustice and brutality and leads to defeat. So long as you promote war and violence, we will continue our descent into Dante’s inferno.