I don't care if it's 900 yards to UDF for a hot fudge shake or 900 miles to Disneyworld - I'm taking the Chevy Avalanche.  No-brainer.

What do I like about driving?  Well, for starters, I'm in control.  Air travel for long trips?  Sorry, I like to keep to my schedule - not yours.  With driving, I can come and go as I please.  And when I decide I want to go, brother, I got 3 tons of steel behind me in case anyone tries anything funny.  Walking and biking for short trips?  Please.  I'm a professional.  I like to arrive at my destination looking my best.  No sweaty forehead or grimy collar for me.

So as you can clearly see, driving gives me the utmost freedom to travel exactly how I want.

Still, every couple of years, some wiseguy, reeking of patchouli oil, goes door-to-door, trades marijuana for signatures on a petition, and bam, Light Rail ends up on the ballot.  The idea is that someone like me can catch a train from a station near my house with a bunch of someones like you, and we can travel into the city together.

Now why on earth would I wanna go and do somethin like that?  I only go to the city once every couple months, to catch a Reds or Bengals game.  And, as I've previously stated, I like driving to all of my destinations, and that goes double for dowtown.  Fortunately, most folks think like I do, and voted against Light Rail.  Twice.

But now, what with rising gas prices and all, some folks are being swayed to the other side.  They argue that, with the benefits of having less pollution per person, increased tourism to downtown Cincinnati, and the slowness of suburban sprawl and traffic, Light Rail has a real chance of taking off.

Sure, it can get a bit expensive making some of the longer journeys, but that's more than canceled out by the fact that I got a 4000 square foot house on 2 acres of land for a hundred grand.  No complaints here.

Some still say:  "Jorge, prices have skyrocketed to an all-time high, and it can cost someone who drives a car like yours $4000 a year in gas, to say nothing of insurance.  Maybe it's not worth it anymore, and light rail makes sense for certain trips?"

In response, I bring up a sad story of one city and its relationship with mass transit.

London.

First of all, let me just say that my thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims and families of this tragedy.  Those subway bombings were just absolutely terrible.  Not as bad as 9/11, but, still, very very bad.  I don't wish that on anyone.

Fortunately, my strong faith in God allows me to see the silver lining in every cloud.  That silver lining is that we don't have the mass transit infrastructure that terrorists could sabotage - like Light Rail.

So remember, next time Light Rail finds its way onto an election ballot, via some stinking, filthy hippie, repeat this to yourself:

If we build Light Rail, the terrorists have already won.