It's a-whole-nother world here in Vegas, where the politics and the
politicians are as big as the digital signs
announcing Seigfried and Roy's latest. And they don't get much larger
than our very own Mayor, Oscar Goodman.
According to his bio on the City of Las Vegas Official Site,
"Oscar B. Goodman was elected the 19th Mayor of Las Vegas in June 1999. Mayor Goodman was born in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He moved to Las Vegas in 1964 and soon became one of the City's premier criminal defense attorneys. He has been recognized as one of the "Fifteen Best Trial Lawyers in America" by the National Law Journal and is listed annually in the publication "Best Lawyers in America.""Well, yes; I suppose "criminal defense attorney" is technically correct. "Mob lawyer" is somewhat more descriptive,
(Recently, Goodman stated in an interview that Las Vegas was a "much
better town" when it was "run by the mob".
I can't seem to find anyone who disagrees with that assessment. Well,
in truth, I've only asked about six people, and
at least two thought me completely insane. But my gut tells me a majority
agrees with this. Makes me kind of wish
I had "come West" sooner.)
We love our Mayor here. Frankly, he reminds me of Ed Koch, former Mayor
of NYC (I used to live there).
Koch was the perfect Mayor for NYC because he had a really, REALLY
big mouth. He said what he felt,
what he was thinking, when he was thinking it, and didn't really give
a damn what anyone thought.
Oscar's a lot like that. Take his comments about U.S. Energy Secretary,
Spencer Abraham after Abraham's
announcement that "based on sound science", he would recommend the
Yucca Mountain site (a scant 90 miles
northwest of Las Vegas, population 1.4 million) as a storage area for
nuclear (or "nucular", if you're a certain
Texan now residing in the White House):
"that piece of garbage"(Honestly, I could swear he called him a "fat pig", but neither of the papers around here would report it.)
Abraham had indicated that he would recommend Yucca Mountain as a nuclear
waste "storage" site to President Bush
and that his decision was based on "sound science". Goodman wondered
how Abraham could have possibly had the time
to read the (literally) tens of thousands of pages of documentation
on the site in time to make his "recommendation".
We Nevadans kind of wondered that, too. Perhaps Abraham is an Evelyn Wood Speed Reader.
(Around these parts, we are well aware that "sound science" is a euphemism
for "the nuclear industry has more money
and clout than Nevada and Nevadans". A recent GAO report indicated
that Yucca Mountain still had at least 290+
"questions" that remain unanswered as to the safety and procedures
of the site. I suppose when billions of nuclear dollars
are at stake, not to mention states in which these plants currently
reside having many, MANY more elected representatives
than Nevada, "questions" are secondary.)
Abraham's reaction was typical of a blackmail scheme: His "spokesman
... cautioned against further attacks
on the secretary, saying they could backfire on Nevadans."
How could anything at this point "backfire" on us? The man just finished
telling us that he was going to
recommend Yucca Mountain as the site for a nuclear waste dump. I shudder
to think what could be worse.
(You have to remember we already have the Nevada Test Site sitting a
hop, skip and jump from Las Vegas.
That's where they detonated, both under and above ground, a host of
nuclear bombs. How long do you think it
will be until that land is earmarked as "safe"? I wonder if humanity
will still be around.)
Should Goodman have tempered his remarks? Perhaps, for decorum purposes.
But I haven't noticed any of the
fat cats in Washington or the nuclear industry tempering their remarks.
Take John Sununu, for example. Sununu
is now a high-priced lobbyist for the nuclear industry. His reaction
to Nevadans' outrage over Abraham's projected recommendation of the site
to Bush:
"If I were advising Nevada long term, I would suggest they do whatever they have to do politicallyFunny how a plan that has been in the works for 14 years is suddenly a "homeland security" top priority. Funnier still
in a way that doesn't create resentment in the country," Sununu said."If Nevada is not willing to do its part in what is part of a national plan for homeland security ... maybe Americans ought to vacation somewhere else."
To show you what kind of people are Southern Nevada residents, one person took the opportunity to do a little "investing":
The billboard is located at US 95 and Las Vegas Boulevard ("The
Strip"); the sponsor is unknown. Sununu is supposed
to visit Yucca Mountain on Thursday, February 14. I wonder if he'll
drive past on his way from McCarran Airport?
One hopes.
As is the very definition of "politics as usual", we (Nevadans) were
lied to by the Bush Administration (even before they
became the Bush Administration). Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn (R) was
Bush's campaign manager for campaign 2000, promising to deliver all FOUR
of our electoral votes to the former Texas Governor. Bush indicated that
he would go against Yucca Mountain in return for these votes. Note that
he apparently did not say this outright, but all indications were that
he
would oppose it.
Guinn should have known better, but hindsight IS, in fact, "20/20".
History now shows us just how important those FOUR electoral votes were;
if this state had gone for Gore,
Florida would probably have been an asterisk in the election books.
(And it was pretty close, with Clark County
in Southern Nevada, where Las Vegas is located, going solidly for Gore,
60-40%.)
Imagine that. We were lied to by Bush.
But this doesn't stop our Oscar. Recently, he was in Washington, D.C.
for a mayors' conference. He spoke with at least
some of the mayors across the U.S. where their respective cities would
be part of the route the waste would take to get here.
His theory was to get them on board with us by convincing them just
how dangerous the transport of the waste through their
cities would be. He has also set up a mechanism whereby ordinary Janes
and Joes here in Las Vegas can "videotape" a
message to Bush expressing their thoughts on Yucca Mountain. (As discretion
is the better part of valor, I have refrained
from recording anything. They wouldn't send it anyway.) As of February
13, there had been 60 such recordings collected.
Call me a cynic, but 60 or 600 or 6000 weighed against the billions
of dollars at stake for the nuclear industry just doesn't
mean a whole lot. Yucca Mountain was a foregone conclusion in 1987
when Nevada was one of ..... ONE choice(s) for
such a site.
(I don't suppose anyone would be willing to speculate on whether or
not the Carlyle Group somehow has a subsidiary
that stands to make some money off this, would they?)
Until next week.....