Hot House Ball

Kevin Drum and Brad Plumer are wondering why conservatives are obsessed with nuclear power.

Of the handful of Republicans who think global warming is a serious problem--like [Senator Lamar] Alexander--most refuse to address it unless nuclear power gets a starring role.

Their conclusions - that the right believes that if the left is against it, it must be pro-America to be in favor of nuclear power; and, it's a way to act like the left isn't really serious about the problem of global warming - and the right really is (cognitive dissonance, for sure) - since the left is opposed to such an important and serious solution.

And I suppose that's right, as far as it goes. But I think there's more to it than that.

The extremists on the right don't believe in consequences from their mistakes. If you believe in it, the result will be as you hope. It's the fantasy that underlies the neocon agenda, among others. "Real" America is always morally in the right, and as a result, we will automatically succeed in, among other things, liberating Iraq and Afghanistan (well, as long as a Republican is at the helm, because Democrats like Barack Obama aren't really Americans, anyway), just like we toppled the Soviet Union. (And torture isn't torture as long as real Americans are doing it.) In the same way, there can be no negative consequences to nuclear power. Nuclear waste, risks of meltdowns, and risks from terrorist targeting are not real risks. All we need to do is get the roadblocks out of the way. Positive results will flow from naturally from their presumably "right" decisions. God bless America.

Moreover, on the extreme religious right, divine intervention will keep them safe from any risk.

And finally, those on slightly more stable footing (we can pretend that means John McCain, or at least the media-centered version of John McCain) just use the nuclear card cynically. They know nuclear (fission) power will never be a major component of our quest for energy independence and the fight against global warming, but it's still a cudgel to wield against the Dems. Which gets us back to Kevin's and Brad's reasoning above.