Wednesday, January 16, 2008

The Nevada Democratic Debate-A Nuclear Waste Of Time


The Nevada Democratic Presidential debate was a predictable snoozefest. Or, if you were a Democratic voter, it was the greatest thing since Novocaine. Take your pick. One thing is for sure, if you take all these candidates at their word, you will never have the pleasure of taking part in a guided tour such as that pictured at top, of people entering the north portal of Yucca Mountain, where the nation's radioactive waste is stored.

This has been a hot button issue for Nevada voters for some time now. American politics works this way. If you want to win over the voters of Nevada in a primary or caucus contest, you can do so in part by promising to shut down Yucca Mountain. If you want to win the general election that comes later, you can do so in part by convincing the voters of the country that you were talking shit to the voters in Nevada, which has all of five electoral votes. See how it works? Just ask John Edwards, who as a Senator voted for maintaining Yucca Mountain as the national go-to place for nuclear waste, before he turned against it as a struggling Democratic Presidential candidate desperate for a win. The trick in the general election is to not come right out and admit you were lying. We get it. What happens in Yucca Mountain, stays in Yucca Mountain.

In other Nevada debate news, Hilary Clinton agreed with Senator Obama that the greatest event of the nineteen sixties civil rights movement was not Lyndon Johnson's great "I Have A Scheme" speech.