The most decisive winner on election day wasn’t the Democrats, but mass transit. The Wall Street Journal’s Christopher Conkey and Paul Glader report that 23 transportation ballot initiatives were approved in metropolitan areas throughout the country. This provides $75 billion in funding for public transportation.

Understanding Government has detailed some of the most vital mass transit issues. Marc Albert wrote a piece on a "bullet train" approved by Californians that would be America’s first attempt to imitate European high-speed rails. And Ellen Ramachandran has a completely comprehensive report hitting the world wide web soon on the triumphs and tribulations of "America’s Metro"– the Washington, D.C. subway system. 

Perhaps one theme from all these reports is that while mass transit is under-funded and maligned, it’s also become increasingly popular.-MB

Strange subhead in the Washington Post today — "Obama Silent Amid Conflicting Advice" about whether to replace the nation’s top intelligence officials.  What is he supposed to do, shout to the highest mountaintop about how he wants to get rid of Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and CIA Director Michael Hayden?  Is he supposed to make all these changes within one week of getting elected?  Let’s hope this isn’t a hint of how the Post plans to sell newsprint and pageviews as the Obama Administration comes to power.  The presidential transition should be just that — a transition, not an abrupt change brought on by outside pressure on the president-elect to "look decisive" or "take action."  The guy was only elected eight days ago!  He not only has the right to occasionally keep mum about his plans, he has an obligation to do so.  The country needs reasoned and well-considered decisions, not a rush to judgment.  And as far as the intel chiefs themselves go, it might make sense to keep them on for a few months or even better, to agree with them on a six-month consultation period to help their replacements learn on the job. -NH

The Washington Post’s Peter Finn reports that Barack Obama will make it an early priority to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. But he doesn’t know what to do with the 250 detainees.

One solution proposed by Human Rights Watch that Obama is receptive to is "try-and-release": detainees with suspected Al Qaeda ties are tried in federal criminal court and the other detainees are released back to their home country or another nation (where they also will presumably be put on trial). But it will be hard to try anyone in court who might have confessed to a crime while tortured.

This is not going to be solved quickly, so one should bear in mind that this massive legal, moral and security problem is entirely the doing of the Bush administration’s CIA, office of the vice president, Pentagon and Justice Dept. After 9/11, the administration could have shown respect for the rule of law and tried captured detainees in criminal court. Instead, it flew detainees around the world and tortured them. There is no legal precedent that Obama, the former constitutional law professor, can draw from in response to the extraordinarily undemocratic actions of George W. Bush.-MB

I will be in Chicago the next few days and blogging will be lighter. Unless I run into David Axelrod.-MB