My travel through the desert from Las Vegas to Phoenix (about 280 miles) took about five and a half hours to complete. The main congestion was at Hoover Dam, just about 40 minutes from Las Vegas, which dams the Colorado River, and forms a border between Nevada and Arizona. Much of the slow travel can be attributed to the narrow, winding road that cars must travel; the terrain prohibits much else.
The other delays are more artificial. As I drove through the dam zone at about 5 mph, I realized what an example Hoover Dam is for our day. Not only is Hoover Dam a convergence of ideas and good ol' American know-how, it is also a collision of government work, tourism and the war on terror. Each car was funneled through a security corridor, where certain vehicles were directed for inspection. I imagine this is like the "additional screening" at the airport. Trucks, vans, buses and the like were directed to a special line, just as at the border. I imagine this is all to thwart any attempt by terroriets at damaging the mammoth hydroelectric dam, which would cause a massive flood, loss of electricity to huge expanses of the West, and significant loss of life and damage to the environment.
Hoover Dam brings together the federal departments of the Interior and Transportation and, I imagine, Energy and Homeland Security. I did not stop at the gleaming copper visitors' center to find out. Construction also slowed the traffic. This is because a new bypass road is being built, which, I assume will permit traffic to avoid traveling across the top of the dam and, hopefully, reduce risk of damage as well as speed things up a bit.
I observed an irony: The dam is named for an American president whose main legacy is that the Great Depression began during his administration, and his economic policies contributed significantly to that occurence. As a Republican, likely a pro-business fan of small government, his name is carved onto one of the most perpetually massive public works projects ever, still expanding today.
Then, as I looked back toward the dam in my rear mirror, I speculated what major government projects might be named for other presidents. Ronald Reagan has the trade building in Washington -- a huge structure (fans coould say because he was bigger than life, detractors could say because of his huge deficits). Washington National Airport is now Washington Reagan National Airport. Houston's main airport is named after George Bush, as is a stretch of the Interstate Highway surrounding that city and the headquarters of the CIA he once headed. No airports are named for Bill Clinton, but I imagine it is only a matter of time until something suitably ironic pops up.
What, then, will be the constructed legacy of George W. Bush? A massive Homeland Security building? Maybe, like the term "Hooverville" for the snatytowns that arose for the destitute, security barricades might be called "Bushicades." Maybe it will have to do with the deficit or dwindling natural resources or eroded civil liberties. Maybe future tax cuts will be called "Bush Cuts." Who knows? I am sure it will be filled with irony, though.
-- Peoria, Ariz.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
So when, exactly, have republicans opposed constructing dams (even if they are public works)?
Just thought maybe you'd like to answer that to clarify your point of irony. The name Hoover Dam isn't ironic as, oh say, naming the Eiffel Tower the "Duke of Whales Tower".
Ugh. No tributes to Dubya, PLEASE.
I did not mean to imply that Republicans opposed public works projects. Of course elected officials of both parties support public works projects, especially in their own districts or states. However, Republicans have historically opposed the massive kinds of projects such as Hoover Dam, in one part because the project can be seen as a make-work project, the kind that Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal promoted and helped the nation emerge from the Depression.
Additionally, since Republicans have also traditionally opposed large government expansions, as well as federal government control of huge parts of state lands, it is ironic that Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the surrounding area is now under the strong control of several federal departments: Interior, Transportation and Homeland Security. That this public works project is still expanding by government order some 70 years after it was built and named for a Republican president, who likely would have opposed what it has become, is definitely ironic.
-- L.
Post a Comment