@7666 "Yeah but." The vast majority of the population lives near the coasts in big cities, so while we still have significantly less population than China (one of the common examples of an HSR boom) and thus can't really justify cross-continent HSR, we still have the necessary density (and demand) for much more comprehensive regional service than we currently do.
(It also doesn't help that we don't even try to make tracks for even highway speed most of the time, given that they're almost all owned by freight companies. There's no good reason the Amtrak from NYC to chicago should only average 30-40 MPH with how few stops it makes. Coal doesn't really care whether it takes 3 hours or 8 to get somewhere, but people do. But the freight companies that own the lines don't want to pay for the extra maintenance of the faster speeds if it won't benefit their bottom line. It's a "perverse incentives" problem)
In other words: I agree with almost all your points in certain cases.