Left-Wing Wackos Join Right-Wing Wackos to Bash Rail Transit

Ed Felein, the editor and publisher of PULSE (where my comic appeared between 1999 and 2003) sounds like David Strom and Phil Krinkie in this PULSE article.... not to mention Michele Bachmann, Ray Vandeveer, and Mark Olson who are running against progressive Democrats who support rail transit (Ed's a big help).... It's ironic that after the Hiawatha Line's phenomenal success, the only people remaining who say LRT is a bad idea on University Avenue are extreme right-wingers and the few people who haven't left the Green Party.

I won't go into detail about Felein's arguments against the Central Corridor LRT line. If you've listened to Mark Olson or Olson's PRT pal Dean Zimmermann (also Ed Felein's pal), you know all the tired old complaints about congestion, scary predictions that LRT "will kill people" and comparisons between trains and buses. It always cracks me up to hear critics of LRT extol the virtues of buses... which they never ride.

The timing of the article may seem a bit odd since the Met Council approved the Central Corridor on Wednesday, the day the article was published.

I suspect that Felein wants to stake out a grandstanding position opposing the Central Corridor LRT project in a way that won't have much affect on the project, but will create a campaign issue for Farheen Hakeem who is running against Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin. Felein ran as a Green against Peter McLaughlin for Hennepin County Commissioner. Felein is one of the few people still remaining in the Green Party ( the recent Green Party state convention could only attract 87 delegates).

Hakeem could run against McLaughlin's support for highway expansion on 35W, but like her fellow Green Party member Dean Zimmermann, she would rather stake out the anti-transit, anti-environment position rather than oppose an auto-centric, environmentally harmful project. Dean Zimmermann spent much of his time in office opposing rail transit and promoting PRT with Mark Olson. Many people in the 6th ward wished Zimmermann would have spent more time opposing McLaughlin's Access Project instead.

Another reason Felein is attacking LRT at this time may have to do with Olson's pod-pal Zimmermann's indictment for extorting bribes from a developer. Zimmermann's trial is scheduled for the end of July. If Felein could manufacture opposition to transit among progressives, it can only help rehabilitate the sorry reputation of Zimmermann.

Ironically, Felein's transit-bashing public relations effort may also help Mark Olson who is running against Jim Huhtala, a strong supporter of rail transit.

You're doing a heckuva job electing progressives, Eddie!