D.C. Metro Buses Soon to Be Driven by SWAT Cops

After being rewarded with a new contract for overseeing a series of embarassing, tragic, and downright incompetent mistakes by his subordinates (see here and here), D.C. Metro General Manager John B. Catoe took a page out of your typical politician's playbook: When you can't seem to wrap your arms around a problem, just declare war on it.

"We have a battle in front of us," General Manager John B. Catoe said in a statement to board members at the start of today's board meetings. It's a battle, he said, to win back public confidence in mass transit. "If people don't feel safe, we won't have riders."

"This is my declaration of war," Catoe said. "Today, it's about action, not about reviews."

He said every aspect of the Metro operation would be affected, but "no one is more accountable than I."

"I will not hesitate in taking -- if I think that we're not moving in the right direction -- to make future changes."

I suppose it's at least refreshing to see a government employee declaring war on sub-par government employees for once, instead of on those of us they govern.