Over And Over Again...

For old and loyal fans of Green Nuclear Butterfly, who remember its heyday when it was cooking, causing double double toil and trouble, you will also remember how it all fell apart, destroyed from within, by infiltration, greed, stupidity and downright evil.

Well the same forces which caused FUSE USA's fearless leader Sherwood Martinelli's early retirement, now only a ghost presence on this blog, are once again in action having penetrated the sanctity of the Coalition Against Nukes, the group organizing the Rally for a Nuclear Free Future in Washington DC.

It wasn't for lack of early warning mind you. Yet, despite my best efforts, the CAN  committee decided to go against my advice and wishes, chose to disrespect my one and only condition for participation. In other words, after all the long hours I put into their effort, they picked a wrong choice of speaker over of my continued opposition.

I feel betrayed and helpless, not quite sure what my next move will be. My options have certainly been limited by this chain of events. I want the rally to be a smashing success because we need the blowback to influence the NRC's decision to shut down Indian Point. But I won't have anything to do with anyone who continues to reward illegitimacy in the anti-nuclear community.

The nuclear power industry feeds on internal conflicts, using the dishonesty within the community to divide and conquer. A house divided cannot stand, and yet, strangely, the press rarely investigates, afraid to take a stand. It leaves the door wide open for all kinds of two-bit crooks and charlatans to easily take the helm, raise lots of cash and aspirations from gullible anti-nuclear supporters looking for articulate voices to carry their message, giving false hope for a fat pay check.

There's no point harping on the situation. In my case, it's checkmate, and most probably, like Sherwood Martinelli, I will fade away, pushed out of this new anti-nuclear community I helped bring together, out of desperation.

The decision rests with the CAN committee, but I already know what they will do... nothing. They will, as usual, as always the case, hope I will just go away... hope I won't get too angry, or make too many waves... as the effectiveness of their work mysteriously evaporates, losing intensity and focus, wondering how it all dissipated so quickly.

The rally will be great, Americans will finally get a chance to vent their anger towards nuclear power in the Capital, something they haven't done in a long time. But then what? What happens afterwards? Yes, there will be "strategy" meetings, but it's always the same thing. Accommodation after compromise, short of a miracle, we'll be right back where we started, the same tired faces, with 100+ reactors still in operation threatening hosting communities, waiting for the next accident to happen to again "reconsider" nukes.

From excluding green corporate sponsors, to now allowing known spoilers into their ranks, CAN is setting itself up to suffer the same fate as all other anti-nuclear coalitions before it, again relegating license renewal fights to under funded, under staffed regional organizations, overwhelmed by the power of the Federal Government, the military-industrial complex and now Homeland Security which has stamped anti-nuclear activists as a terrorist threat!

Let's see what happens... I'll be paying close attention, albeit with deep regret, at what happens after September 22nd. The Hudson Valley liberal left anti-nuclear community feared FUSE USA and destroyed it. Let's see what they do to the Coalition Against Nukes! The de-clawing and de-fanging process has already started... just in time for Halloween.