Keller @ Large: MBTA Disaster Hurts Boston Olympics Support

BOSTON (CBS) - When the sun was out Sunday and the breeze died down, didn't it almost seem like spring might be possible here one day?

And if – or should I saw when – spring does arrive, summer cannot be far behind.

(By the way, I'm sure everyone will agree that no whining about the heat will be allowed in Boston during this coming summer under any circumstances.)

But thinking about spring and summer naturally gets you thinking about the Summer Olympics, and the local effort to bring the 2024 Games here that ramps up Monday night with the first in a statewide series of what they're calling "citizens advisory group meetings."

I'm sure the earnest folks over at Boston 2024 hope these sessions are a lot more positive than the citizens advice they've been getting about the Games over the last few weeks, as the poverty and incompetence of the region's mass transit has blown a hole in the local economy. Social media isn't a definitive sample of anything, but it's been colder than a snowbank toward the idea of bringing the Olympics here.

And for now at least, one of the core arguments being made for Boston's bid – that it would spur local elites to fix up what's broken around here and do proper planning for the future – is what seems to be infuriating the critics the most.

To sum up local Olympics Twitter lately: If you couldn't be trusted to fund and run the T properly before, why should we believe you'll pull off an Olympic Games without disaster, let alone parlay it into lasting social benefits?

That skepticism has deep roots in Boston's history, and its angry flame still burns in the younger generations online.

For Boston 2024 to make it, they'll need to figure out a better answer than they have offered so far.

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