Okay. One more time. Nuclear power is neither safe nor clean.

As I listened to Obama give his speech, I couldn’t understand why he was buying into this big lie. Nuclear energy is not clean. It does not equate to wind and solar. It’s not even close. Just a couple of points here:

Emissions are not the only consideration at a nuclear plant. Contamination is much more serious. And the recent reports of nuclear plants contaminating surrounding ground water are more than a little alarming.

There is no such thing as a “safe” dose of radiation and just because nuclear pollution isn’t visually there for all to see with thick, black smoke belching out of gigantic smokestacks, doesn’t mean it’s “clean.” For years nuclear plants have been leaking radioactive waste from underground pipes and radioactive waste pools into the ground water at sites across this nation.

There are nuclear sites that are Superfund sites because of the contamination to the areas that surround them — particularly the areas where waste has been disposed of in an unsafe manner for decades. These are the most contaminated patches of land in the country, yet this President has the audacity to call it “clean technology.” What planet is he on?

Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago is a nuclear superfund site. So is Hanford Washington. So is the Idaho National Laboratory and the Nuclear Metals, Inc. site in Concord, Massachusetts, as well as the Gulf Nuclear superfund site in Odessa, Texas, and the Maxey Flats site in Kentucky and the Savannah River site in South Carolina and the Rocky Flats site outside of Denver… the list is very long. And available for all to see — including our President. Why does he ignore the history?

In his address this morning, he’s quoting “experts” from the “energy industry” as PROOF that it’s clean technology. *sigh* I’m sure if he asked Exxon, they would insist oil is “environmentally safe.” The same way that Massey Coal or Peabody believes coal has the capacity to be “clean” through carbon sequestration. Once again, it looks like we have the proverbial Fox writing the nuclear policy for the Henhouse here!

But the gigantic 800-pound gorilla in the Oval Office is the fact that unless and until there is a SAFE DISPOSAL METHOD to deal with the waste, it would be complete folly to continue to create the most hazardous waste known to mankind. And it’s especially insulting when this is proposed as a viable alternative to “dirty” energy sources that we all agree should be phased out as soon as possible. But nuclear power isn’t the answer.

Even a small amount of exposure to radioactive material is dangerous. There are very serious and obvious reasons to look at this subject much more carefully before we decide to guarantee $8 billion in loans to private industry to build and operate these plants. They are very costly to build, and very costly to operate, and without government subsidies, the power generated would be very expensive. The only insurance that can be obtained by these operators is through the Federal Government, as private insurers won’t touch them. It’s a ridiculous boondoggle to taxpayers, and the promise of cheap electricity/clean electricity/getting off foreign oil doesn’t begin to tell the whole story.

Why has the President set aside $11 million to “fight nuclear-related lawsuits” brought by citizens against the Federal Government if this is so safe? It seems the President is very aware of the problems inherent in the use of nuclear power and enriching nuclear material for these plants. Otherwise, why put away funds for lawsuits in the budget? Can’t have it both ways, Mr. President!

So much for trying to be “fiscally responsible.” This could end up costing us much more than I think the American people are willing to pay. If they were told the TRUTH about this industry, that is.

The man thought to be the Father of the Tea Bag movement, Dr. Ron Paul, has been thrown overboard — deep in the heart of Texas, no less. Makes me ask, “Just how conservative must a potential candidate BE?”

Ron Paul has found himself in a hostile takeover situation, with no less than three challengers for his House seat, and all claim to be real Tea Baggers. Dr. Paul begat the Tea Partiers in 2007, on the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, when he raised $6 million in a one-day, Web-based fundraiser. That was then.

The challengers Paul will face in the primary all claim to be active in the Tea Bagger movement, having organized local meetings and groups. Gerald Wall, Tim Graney and John Gay all warn Dr. Paul that he isn’t immune to the “anti-Washington” sentiments sweeping the Movement — nevermind that it was all his idea, and he’s been nothing if not consistent in his conservative political beliefs.

It paints an interesting picture, doesn’t it? It appears that this movement that claims to stand on rock-hard “conservative principles,” really stand in quicksand if they can turn their attack dogs on Dr. Paul. So it seems to me that this has absolutely NOTHING AT ALL to do with principles, but is really all about destruction of the system itself. The very system they are signing up to be a part of. Seems an understatement to call it “counterintuitive,” doesn’t it?

If this so-called movement does manage to run the board in elections in November, what could they possibly hope to accomplish? I’ve yet to hear a cogent policy plan from any of these people, including their Queen, Sarah Palin. They haven’t looked past the election. But elections are one thing. The ability to actually govern is quite another. And these clowns haven’t shown they have the intellectual capacity to understand the legislative process, let alone make it work.

I’m waiting for voters to ask them about these things. I’m waiting for positions on real issues to be proffered by even ONE of these possible legislators. So far, we get a lot of ridiculous rhetoric and despicable images and bad spelling on some signs at rallies. As far as I know, “Throw the Bums Out” doesn’t policy make. Nor does “Democrats are Commies.” The Republic Party doesn’t realize (or care) that these upstart Tea Baggers have pulled out the plug in the tub. If successful, the Republics will suffer a gigantic “brain drain” with this new crop of “Revolutionaries,” and they really can’t afford to lose what little “brain” they currently have.

Who would have ever believed that people like Eric Cantor and Mitch McConnell and John Boehner could ever be considered the “brains” of ANY Party? Let’s just hope we don’t wake up and wish for “the good old days.”

Bizzaro World, indeed.

But that’s just My Three Cents…

This weekend I have been talking with a friend of mine who lives in the Washington, DC area. And we have, no doubt, all heard about the massive snow storm that has blanketed the area with around three feet of snow. She relayed a story about trying to go to her local grocery store to pick up a few things on Thursday night, and was astonished to find she wasn’t able to even find a parking space in the lot, with countless cars circling like vultures. But after parking on the street and upon entering the store, THE SHELVES WERE ALMOST BARE! People were in an absolute PANIC. They were rushing out with one or two full shopping carts, not bothering to assess whether or not this was really necessary, or thinking about leaving anything for others. Nerves were frayed and people were beside themselves wondering “whatever will we do?”

I blame the Republic Party.

Thanks to Bush and Cheney, we now live in a constant state of fear in this country. Ever since 9/11, we have all been spoon-fed a constant diet of fear, Fear and more FEAR! And the result is a nation coming unhinged over simple things like snow storms in winter!

After 9/11, we were never allowed to relax. Just when things would seem to calm down, the Bush/Cheney Junta would ramp the fear up again by raising the Terror Alert and that would send people into a panic again. Not only would they use terrorism to control the masses, they began to create many tools guaranteed to instill fear on demand. And it has continued, unabated, for the past nine years.

There was the fear associated with immigrants that the Republic Party ramped up to a fever pitch and is still continuing to this day, thanks to lunatics like Tom Tancredo, who just yesterday showed us his absolute hatred of anyone outside of White America, even going so far as to call for new “Literacy Tests” in order to vote. He is seriously asking America to go back to Jim Crow voter suppression tactics in order to assure only white Americans are allowed to vote in elections. The attack is also on both legal immigrants and undocumented workers crossing the border to work. People like Tancredo and Lou Dobbs couldn’t wait to scare white America with the threat of brown and black people! And some people bought into it.

There was the fear over the H1N1 virus that ramped up last fall, making people believe that there would be a pandemic that could kill us all! What has happened? Well, it’s been shown that hundreds of times more people have died from the regular seasonal flu than from H1N1 this flu season. But Americans sure were scared there for a while!

Even OLD fears have seen a re-birth. Who knew, after more than twenty years after the break-up of the Soviet Union, we’d find ourselves bombarded with fearmongering rhetoric about our “Socialist President,” shown as both Hitler AND Stalin, as if it were honestly a reality. There are no limits. There is nothing too outrageous. And, yet, some people are eating it up like the fat man at the buffet! Yum, yum!

Be afraid! Be very afraid!

Meanwhile, the very things that should scare us to death are overlooked. Our rights being stripped from us through Draconian measures like the PATRIOT ACT have become commonplace, until now most people aren’t surprised when the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, stated this past week that the CIA has the right to put out Mafia-style hits on American citizens living overseas — if they are believed to be involved with “terrorist organizations.” Who needs to bother with burdensome trials? We’ll just kill them!

And so it goes…

So, people in Washington, DC panic at the thought of a week of bad snow storms.

Not surprising when we have been taught to live in a fear-based culture that requires Americans to freak out on command.

One more repulsive legacy of the Bush Junta. And the Lab Rats living in this country have become conditioned very well.

But that’s just My Three Cents…