At the risk of saying we told you so, VDB has no choice but to say we told you so, because we certainly did: in a remarkable coincidence unmatched in the long annals of completely unrelated accidental synchronicities, Jim Douglas’s super-stern call for a shake-up in management at Vermont Yankee was followed very quickly by VP Jay Thayer being placed on “administrative leave.” Exit stage right, Jay.

And, as predicted, the Governor can now go ahead with the new talking point, that Entergy gets it, and is willing to let heads roll. Or rather head. And not really roll but sort of vibrate slightly, for a few months until the heat’s off.

In short, the same old scripted song and dance between Entergy and Douglas. And VDB was pretty disappointed, because where’s the fodder for humor in ethics-free predictability?

Enter Curt Hebert, Entergy’s new Vermont viceroy.

Back in the day, before becoming the New Jay Thayer, Hebert recorded a long, painfully earnest version of Rudyard Kipling’s “If,” a poem beloved by Chambers of Commerce and CEO’s nationwide, for reasons VDB has never fully appreciated. Joined to Hebert’s reading are a series of haunting images, and the whole Hebert designed as a manly “tribute to the men and women in the power industry.”

Of course, as you might expect, the performance takes on some serious ironic overtones given the recent revelations about Entergy’s vexed relationship with the truth.

And given not-so-recent revelations too: among the haunting images are scenes of hurricane flooding, painfully ironic given criticism of Entergy’s corporate behaviour in Louisiana, following Hurricane Katrina.

The link is here (the embedding code has been removed “by request,” according to YouTube). It’s enough to make hair grow on your chest, man or woman.