Weekend Update: A Little More Hubris And The First Chink In The Armor

Articles and news stories published over the past few days evidence a weak response by proponents of the Bi-County Parkway and the first sign of backtracking by the McDonnell administration. Strangely, the proponents response to last week's hearings and public outcry was underwhelming to say the least.  Apart from a staunch Connaughton supporter (read sycophant) defending the Dark Lord on several local blogs, the only other posting in support of the route was an editorial by Roger Snyder published in Friday's WAPO.  Not surprisingly, the editorial evidenced a level of hubris that has come to be expected of those in support of the Bi-County Parkway.  Mr. Snyder asserts that "glib quips bloated by hyperbole make for attention-getting sound bites, but they should not be allowed to unravel the three-plus decades of methodical planning that has brought the road this far".  I would suggest that Mr. Snyder's letter is marked by the very "glib quotes bloated by hyperbole" that he accuses opponents of using.  In fact, such tactics have actually been the stock in trade of those pushing the Bi-County Parkway as evidenced by his written statements.  He merely parrots the time-worn arguments, arguments that have been shown to be without factual basis, made by the CTB, VDOT and the various Chambers over the past six months.  Merely repeating that there are no other options, the road will ease traffic on I-66, its merely a "concept corridor", it will spur economic development in PWC and that the process has been transparent does not make those statements any more factual than they were six months ago.  It has been demonstrated that there are several other options, the impact on I-66 is unknown, it likely will not provide PWC an economic advantage and the process has been far from transparent.  Lastly, although Mr. Snyder discloses that he was the "Prince William County director of planning, chief executive of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association and the City of Manassas director of community development", positions from which he has retired, he does not disclose that he remains active in the development field as the owner of RWS Aerial Photography which provides aerial photographs for local developers and the Chamber of Commerce as evidenced at the Prince William Chamber of Commerce Commercial Real Estate Showcase (CRES) recently held at the Hylton Performing Arts Center.  Perhaps Mr. Snyder should review the definitions of "transparency" and "full disclosure", telling only half the story and cobbling together questionable "facts" in the form of "glib quips bloated by hyperbole" is the essence of hypocrisy, another quality that has marked proponents' presentations.The more important story however is Hank Silverberg's report posted this morning on WTOP.  It would appear that the recent public outcry may have revealed the first chink in the Governor and VDOT's armor.  Taken at face value, it would appear that the Governor has taken notice of public opinion and confirms that "Part of the plan is being revisited as the state moves through a series of public meetings".  What part of the plan is anybody's guess but one would presume that the most likely segment in question would be the Bi-County Parkway.  In any event, it would appear that now is the time to turn up the heat to ensure that the Governor remains focused on that opposition.
Source:http://thederecho.blogspot.com/2013/06/weekend-update-little-more-hubris-and.html

Weekend Update: A Little More Hubris And The First Chink In The Armor Images