That?s how I would describe the comments of John Claflin, head of the Triangle Transit Authority, as he attempted to defend the vision of a rail system that has been subjected to surprisingly withering scrutiny by the Raleigh News & Observer this week:

?We have to offer alternatives,” Claflin said in an interview. “And we have to be prepared for the inevitable $80 a barrel for [oil], when only the rich can afford to drive, when your gas is $6 or $7 a gallon and you can’t afford to commute.”

Only the rich will be able to drive? $7 a gallon? As we saw with the recent revision of a claim that 60 percent of North Carolina?s families earned less than a ?living wage,? a major problem with the Left is that they don?t have enough common sense to serve as a check on flawed computations. TTA?s silly prediction of 9-hour round-trip commutes from Raleigh to Durham was enough example of this phenomenon. At far less than $7 a gallon for gas, alternative fuels for personal vehicles become price-competitive. If commuting costs rise, people and employers will respond by making different choices about locations and schedules.

Geez.