Oh, I dunno if it's wholly arbitrary. I am somewhat informed on most of these issues. But, yes, I pick and choose with authorities on subjects I'll listen to. There are those who, for example, suggest that the Washington Times is an authority on the news, or that Bill O'Reilly is an authority on politics. I disagree, so I choose other authorities to listen to.

I will say that when it comes to something as non-political as a high-speed rail project, the statistics don't tend to lie. We're not talking about a line from Kansas City to St. Louis. This is california. They know their stats, they know their traffic.