Spelling out the stakes in November

Gullyborg (from Resistance is Futile) is a man of many talents. We learn today that one of these talents is nuclear weapons expert, as Gully explains: 1) Why North Korea did indeed set off a nuclear explosion; 2) Why that should be of particular concern to the Northwest United States; and 3) How this episode should affect our decisions in the November election.

Be sure to read the comments to understand why Gully's in a position to make these statements, but here's the key info:

Given the data that we have right now, I think we can safely conclude that a nuclear explosion did take place, and the North Koreans are capable of immediately going into production of bombs comparable to the Hiroshima bomb. And once they are able to produce devices which can consistently yield 20 kT or more - and it seems they aren't far off - they are literally only a tritium source away from producing hydrogen bombs and increasing the yields another order of magnitude into true absolute city-killing range.

This is a big, big deal.

And considering that Oregon has a useless Governor who fails to understand what Homeland Security really means, considering that Portland has an obstructionist Mayor who undermines Homeland Security by every means possible, and considering that the Port of Portland is one of the most important shipping centers in the world, we should all be very, very afraid of what might happen. It would be very, very easy for Kim Jung Il to put a nuke on a boat and sail it right up the Columbia. And by the nature of nuclear explosions, there wouldn't be much in the way of forensic evidence left to figure out what went wrong.

Keep that in mind when marking up your ballot, and choosing between people like democrat and stalwart anti-Bush obstructionist Peter DeFazio, and Republican and veteran counter-terrorism expert Jim Feldkamp.

Keep that in mind when choosing your governor. Remember that David Wu and Darlene Hooley have, at best, mixed bags in their national security voting. Washington State voters should give a long, hard look at Maria Cantwell's record vs. Mike McGavick's stances. (Hint: Cantwell voted against paying National Guard members who were deployed more than six months; and in favor of cutting billions of dollars from defense appropriation bills to support our troops overseas.)