Well said.  I agree some comments fit your definition of jingoistic soundbites.  But I have engaged frequently and at length in this discussion because I think it contains far more thoughtful and informative comments than simple rants from readers who just want to vent.  So I hope you agree.  

I also hope you agree with my thinking that huge public investments--which will have decades-long impacts, for better and worse--should be based on better analysis of the full range of current and emerging threats and opportunities, and the full range of current and emerging alternatives to 20th century concepts of "mass transportation", before deciding what will be the most flexible and cost-effective choice/s in a wider range of plausible futures other than only "continued (full employment) growth"--such as possible "jobless" growth, mostly low-wage job growth, various types of stagnation, decline, and collapse scenarios, as well as other more technologically transformational scenarios.