Posted By Jonathan Mark
Route 17: Hobo's Lullaby
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There's nothing like August in Iowa.
If all the fussing over kosher cows in Postville, Iowa, has you in the mood for milchig, let's you and I drive the road just east of Des Moines to see the famous Butter Cow at the wonderful Iowa State Fair, going on now.
Every self-respecting trumbenick knows that August in Iowa also means the annual Hobo's Convention, on a road just outside Britt, and we hear it was quite a convention this past week. (At the Hobo's Convention, do they have a "plenary" and "breakout sessions"?)
If you think Route 17 doesn't run through Iowa, think again. There are Jews everywhere, even on the Big Rock Candy Mountain. Here's a hobo glossary advising bindle stiffs that "goy" means: "a hobo who can work the Jewish agencies. Plural, goyim." Also "Rabbi: frequent moniker of a Jewish hobo." And, of course, "Trumbenick: A Jewish hobo."
Not all hobos stay hobos. One ended up giving $500,000 to the Jewish National Fund.
If this has you in the mood for riding the rails, hobos suggest a ride on these .
This brings me to a very big problem with John McCain. At a time when both the political and economic costs of importing energy from the Middle East are bordering on disaster, McCain has been as big an impediment as anyone in Washington to the revival of the American railroad. Train service has been rising considerably,
but infrastructure is hurting and Amtrak is lagging in buying new passenger cars. Insensitive cuts in train service, even to major cities, have hit bone.
For example, there's now only one train from New York to Cleveland and it arrives at the ungodly hour of 3:27 a.m., and that's the only train from Cleveland to Chicago.
In too many cities, trains don't leave, arrive, or come often enough to make trains a viable alternative to other forms of transportation, even if the public wanted. Too many Republicans, such as McCain, take the Marie Antoinette position that the public can drive or fly, that the lack of riders on the 3:27 means the public doesn't want to ride Amtrak, when the public is only answering an unfair question.
More American money is going to reconstruct Baghdad than to reconstruct American trains. McCain, when he was chairman of the transportation committee, killed billions of dollars that could have gone for train service, demanding that Amtrak be more self-sufficient and charging that Amtrak is a symbol of government waste. Imagine all the government waste in the last decade and imagine thinking Amtrak. That was McCain's kind of foresight earlier this decade, and few have been more shortsighted.
Today, with oil prices and airline chaos, there may be no greater wisdom than a decent national rail service, and no energy option so easily available.
A recent Times editorial was right, the national rails deserve a fighting chance.
To leave you on a lovely Iowa summer night, gentle reader, here's Emmylou Harris singing "Hobo's Lullaby," , Arlo Guthrie singing the same and Johnny Cash on the "City of New Orleans."
Thanks
08/14/08 @ 08:12 PM | Posted By rabbi neil fleischmannI've been a fan of your work - particularly the nostalalgic, empathic element of your writing - for a long time time.
Thanks for the links you signed off with. I enjoyed the Johnny Cash video. It made me wonder if you're familiar with the author of that song - Steve Goodman. I think that you, and those who enjoy your style, will really be in for a treat if Goodman is new to you.
On Youtube there's one version of hi singing City of New Orleans. I recommend a searing song that's more obscure - about his late father - called My Old Man. There's a live version of Goodman singing it on Youtube as well. Also there's something on Youtube that's just labelled as "John Prine - Steve Goodman," which is Goodman's dear friend Prine singing a pretty version of the song - in tribute.
Also on Youtube is Goodman at the end of his life singing A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request, which I think you'll "get."
Thanks again for this piece and all the past pieces as well.