Fizz, Pop, and Awe

Maybe our friends over in North Korea are having a little fun at our expense with some leftover fireworks from Dear Leader Day. As of the time of this posting nobody has noticed any radiation yet, and an American intelligence expert is on record suggesting that the putative nuke test was "more fizz than pop". And the UN Security Council has only expressed concern - which is their default reaction for any kind of international dust-up.

Why do we call it a Nuclear Club anyway? Wouldn't you prefer to hang out in a Nuclear Lounge instead? Imagine a fun, avant-deco place to visit after hours, with a great jukebox, retro cocktails, and kittenish grad students wearing go-go boots. Can't you picture a ruckus near the rope line as a dirty little North Korean dictator attempts to gain admittance?

The political ramifications of this little atomic kerfuffle won't immediately be known. It may knock Pagetouchergate from the headlines between now and November, and I'm waiting for somebody on the Democrat Underground forums to suggest that this was somehow, someway, the result of Karl Rove's manipulations. Meanwhile the stock market looks just as kooky as a Japanese seismological meter and our president has delivered a stern and un-Pelosi-like statement in response.

Tags: North Korea, Nuclear Test