This doesn’t count as the long-awaited No. 15 Finale in the California High-Speed Rail series. (For previous episodes see No. 1, No. 2, No. 3,No. 4,No. 5, No. 6, No. 7, No. 8, No. 9, No. 10, No. 11, No. 12, No. 13, and No. 14.) All readers will be relieved to hear that No. 15 is still to come. Instead this is to announce, as No. 14 1/2 in the series, some actual news. It’s best understood in this sequence:
1) A little more than a month ago, Jerry Brown won his (unprecedented) fourth term as governor of California. One of the campaign issues was Brown’s commitment to build a north-south high-speed rail (HSR) system as his signature project for the state.
3) The very next day, Brown’s first full day of his final term, he will go to Fresno. There, according to an announcement a few hours ago, he will conduct—ta da!—a groundbreaking ceremony on the first leg of the HSR system. This is the way politicians indicate causes that matter to them. I think I have to be in D.C. on January 6, but I would give anything a lot to be in Fresno on that day.
In the next few days, in the long-awaited installment No. 15, I’ll argue more fully why I think this is a good move for Jerry Brown, for the state, and for the country. For now, as national politics remain locked in stasis, a reminder of what it is like when public efforts can get things done.
