This New England

Obama's inauguration speech was very well constructed and wonderfully delivered (after the mildly amusing snafu with Chief Justice Roberts on the oath), and there were some good phrases throughout. But no single line jumps out. Maybe he can get one into his State of the Union speech.

The best part was an appeal to Americans to show more responsibility and, by implication, to move away from the narcissism and selfishness that have increasingly characterized many Americans. Maybe the phrase he needs as a motto for his administration is "The New Responsibility,'' kind of like "The New Deal.''

But wait! It's really "The Old Responsibility'' that too many people just forgot about.

His speech was oddly conservative (smal 'c'') -- as in old-fashioned. And wasn't it interesting that he quoted Washington and not Lincoln?

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Are suicides on the rise? Anecdotal evidence would suggest it. The economy, a bad winter?

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Foxwoods officials, perhaps desperate about plunging revenues at their vast Connecticut casino, are pushing a slots parlor near Philadelphia's Chinatown and the city's historic district. I assume that they expect a lot of walk-in business from bored or desperate residents of the City of Brotherly Love. Why be dependent upon drivers?

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Government has a way of growing even during hiring freezes. (Such pleasant circumstances don't apply to private-sector employees.)

In Connecticut, for instance, the state comptroller's office says state government has added 824 full-time employees since Gov. Jodi Rell ordered a hiring freeze last May. But the governor, who remains popular, notes that she doesn't control judicial, legislative and higher-education jobs.

Oh, well. We can assume that the number of such jobs will soon surge with the Obama stimulus program -- part of which will include bailing out the states.

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Some Connecticut lawmakers want commuter rail service re-established between Hartford and Waterbury, to lighten traffic on Interstate 84. You could say the same thing about restoring commuter train service between Providence and Worcester.
What does the Providence & Worcester Railroad think about all this? And maybe new track should be laid down along Route 146?

Meanwhile, people are agitating to save Amtrak service to Rutland, Vt. But how many actually take the train themselves? Or are they like many affluent people who think that mass transit, like being "green,'' is a terrific thing -- for other people.

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