Sunday, August 24, 2008

About that train to Wilmington

That "man of the people," the scrappy senator Joe Biden from Scranton, who takes the train every morning and evening from Wilmington, DE., to Washington DC, apparently has an arrangement with Amtrak that sounds antithetical to what the Democrats are trying to sell.

Read this first person account of a passenger. It's fascinating.

No sooner had we left the station than a porter appeared to ask for my order—after all, I had paid the tab.  I asked for a cup of black and looked back down at my notes for the morning's testimony.  The porters remained and I looked up, telling him I was immune to offers of food served on planes or trains.   "That's not it, sir.  This is a reserved seat and you will have to move."
   "I didn't notice that these were assigned seats." I replied
  "This one is, just the same." he told me.

As a taxpayer, the notion that any operation as heavily subsidized as Amtrak should treat one fare-paying passenger any differently than another is offensive.  "I think I will stay here"   
  "I will have to call security, then."  This substantially raised the stakes and came to the point of valor wasted so I got up to move across the aisle.
  "Is this O.K?" I sneered at what was objectively my employee.
  "Fine, sir and let me help you move your case.  I'll be right back with your coffee."


A private seat for Senator Scrappy. The Democrats are trying to sell Biden as an asset in attracting working class votes. It won't work. There are few politicians in Washington who exude pomposity more than ol' Joe.


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