Chief meddler

Barack Obama apparently isn't happy merely being the president. Now he has set his sights higher. He wants to be an urban planner:

That's why I'd like to see high speed rail where it can be constructed. That's why I would like to invest in mass transit because potentially that's energy efficient and I think people are a lot more open now to thinking regionally in terms of how we plan our transportation infrastructure. The days where we're just building sprawl forever, those days are over.

I think what our Community Organizer in Chief means is not just that our days of "building sprawl forever" are over but that our days of doing what we want to just because it seems to be the right thing for us are over. The planner/organizer types know government exists not just to protect people so they can live their lives in peace but to make them live better lives as envisioned by all the smart people who know what's best.

Sprawl happened as a result of the way people wanted to live. They had cars, so they could escape the city to have a big house and yard in the suburbs. Now, a lot of people are tired of that lifestyle and are creating a sort of urban renascence. Stay out of the whole thing,