Sigh. The spin industry and its forebear, the marketing behemoth, think we are all such simps. “Used” cars seem low-class, so they became “pre-owned.” Want to sell kids caffeine? Call it an “energy drink.” Afraid health risks will make people stop smoking? Bury the studies that prove the link, push the allegedly healthier “low tar” cancer sticks, and work on making the things even more addictive. Sarah Palin wasn’t shallow, inexperienced, and willing to use her office for her own ends – she was a gutsy outsider. Can’t afford a house? Hey, we have dandy new loans that will magically let you qualify even if your savings account currently boasts fewer figures than a reunion of Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and the Ashley twins.
And oh by the way – the Trans Texas Corridor is dead.
Well, most of us are too gullible too often. But that last bit of hype was so transparent that folks were calling the Texas Department of Transportation honchos on it before the words were barely out of their mouths.
It’s true, Static was, well, ecstatic a week or so ago when the news of the TTC’s alleged demise broke. Fort Worth Weekly has extensively covered the many-laned, many-legged monster that promised to eat huge chunks out of towns and ranches across Texas and give much power to huge and often foreign corporations. Opposition to it was truly grassroots, combining ranchers, environmentalists, independent newspapers such as the Weekly, and just-plain folks who objected to the huge land grab it represented.
Nobody’s buying this latest spin (read: fib). Even the transportation agency admits that the projects that the TTC represented are, for the most part, still going forward, including the mega-freeway to parallel I-35.
One of the main groups opposing the TTC was the San Antonio-based Texans United for Reform & Freedom. Leader Terri Hall said her organization “believes this is a deliberate move to dupe opponents into complacency … and the Trans Texas Corridor is in reality going underground.”
No contract has been canceled, no law has been changed, no environmental report redone, she said. Hall’s group is hoping that legislators – who have listened to voters and been on TxDOT’s scaly back for months now – will also see through it. Hall said coverage by non-mainstream papers such as yours truly, Waxahachie Daily Light, Wilson County News, and others “have been critical to informing citizens about the egregious nature of the TTC beast, which the mainstream media failed to do.”
Stay tuned for developments during the new legislative session that began this week. “We expect ironclad action before we begin celebrating victory,” Hall said.
Glad that’s settled. Static really needs a Winston Light and a Red Bull.
