Mission not accomplished:

According to Washington Post Staff Writer Michael D. Shear, McCain Still Waiting for His Turn at Good Luck. [Thursday, July 24, 2008; Page A06 Washington Post] http://www.washingtonpost.com/…

It seemed like a great way to counter Obamamania. Sen. John McCain would board a helicopter in New Orleans today, skim quickly over the Gulf of Mexico and land on an oil rig — a made-for-TV moment to highlight his call for offshore drilling, an issue that Republicans believe will be a big winner in November.

Then came Hurricane Dolly, a Category 2 storm that made a helicopter ride impossible. And then, improbably, a 600-foot oil tanker collided with a barge on the Mississippi River, creating a 12-mile oil slick and causing diesel fumes to waft over the city’s French Quarter. The trip was off.

Shear concluded with

In this campaign, it seems, McCain just can’t catch a break.

Unless one counts CBS News….

Per The Rutland Herald:

Vermont Yankee’s steam dryer has withstood the additional stress from a 20 percent jump in power production despite developing an increasing number of cracks, Entergy engineers told a panel from the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Wednesday.

And if the steam dryer was going to show serious problems, as it has at other, similar nuclear power plants which have increased power production, it would have by now, Larry Lukens, an Entergy Nuclear engineer, said.

Lukens said the steam dryer’s new cracks appeared in areas of the dryer that don’t receive a lot of stress, supporting his theory that the cracks are a result of natural aging in earlier welded areas rather than metal fatigue. He said the cracks did not affect the structural integrity of the large steel dryer.

Uhm… Good?

Or maybe not.  What Lukens is saying is that (1) there are cracks throughout the system, (2) just because there are cracks is no reason to be concerned and (3) it’s just part of the aging process.

This is my take on it:

You.  Have.  Got.  To.  Be.  Kidding.  Me.

This is not rocket science, though it requires rudimentary knowledge of The Way Things Work.

Large structures with small cracks in them might last for years, but if those cracks are exposed to continual vibrations (you know, like the constant stress of power output designed beyond the device’s original intent) or used beyond their intended age limit (this is not a McCain joke), then maybe those tiny cracks can get a little… what’s the word for it?  Oh yes.  BIGGER.

But I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about it.  It’s not as though any of the aging, antiquated equipment at Vermont Yankee has suffered from any sort of structural problems.

Nothing to worry about at all.

Here it is:

Mixed feelings. The content needs to get out there, and kudos to them for that. Lord knows the press corps doesn’t give a crap about reporting on this kind of shameful behavior from our chief executive.

But stylistically, I think the subject is too hot to deal with in standard political ad format. On this one, I think they would’ve been a lot wiser to do away with the sinister music and let the bobbing and weaving speak for itself. But that might just be me.

In any event, good for them for holding Douglas accountable like they never – and I mean never – have before.