Public weighs in on high-speed rail plans

Before sitting down in my consulting room, Matt A. stepped forward and shook my hand. He was an athletic and handsome forty-seven-year-old man. He wore a white cashmere sweater, black Chelsea boots, and tortoiseshell glasses. His red watchband matched his socks. Typically, people who come to see me for a consultation begin by describing a problem; Matt began by describing himself. He told me that he worked in Downing Street as a political strategist and consultant for then British prime minister Tony Blair. This was 1999. He had been married for twenty years and had three teenage...