"It's hard to dance with the devil on your back"

Name 3 things in the news that have steam powered railroad locomotives as bit-part players on the (all the) world's stage currently. Correcto-mundo if you read the title above.

Yes the Chinese make a mean steam locomotive, or they used to. Now they re-make and export locomotives that can pull long freight trains. I know this because Youtube is loaded with videos of the "QJ" (that's what the engines are called) stroking across the mid-west, USA, smoke blowing every whicha-way and railcars trailing submissively along behind.

Too bad that the television remote control the Chinese made and sold to me at Wally-world didn't work as well as the steamer QJ. Too bad the instructions that came with it were written by persons who obviously have never owned a tv set. And just try to find one made in the USA, with instructions in actual English.

What does any of that have to do with RNC & DNC? Well, who do you think passed laws governing how international trade to and from this country is managed? Yes, some of those gals and guys at RNC and DNC, and the lobbyists who run that show get the credit. The taxpayers get the debt. And what does that have to do with steam locomotives?

Consider that the Union Pacific Railroad just ran a 34 car passenger train to Denver for the DNC. It was headed by what is quite nearly the largest steam locomotive in the world. And the same train was scheduled to go to St. Paul with an even bigger steamer doing the pulling, but according to the UP RR website, the trip has been canceled.

Seems to me that if the Grand old Party really wants to win this thing in November they would welcome a full head of steam, even from an old railroad engine.