We asked a simple but unanswerable question last week: would the presence of Anthony Pollina in the Governor’s race, particularly in the absence of a declared Democratic candidate, be enough to scare Governor Jim Douglas straight on the Yankee Decommissioning Fund bill. Well, the question is pretty answerable now. No, in a

For those of you who missed it, the bill would have forced Entergy, in the event that they spin off another fledgling company to hold the bag on their unregulated nuclear assets, to substantially strengthen its financial committments in the area of decommissioning.

But Douglas, who has consistently shielded Entergy from aggressive oversight, seems to have made a very clear-eyed decision: that having given Pollina six months to firm up his reliable 25% of the vote, and having waited until early May to begin organizing behind Symington, Democrats are in no position to make him pay substantially at the polls.

And maybe so. But maybe not. This is an issue that won’t go away, especially since as the ball game goes forward, Entergy will need Douglas to set more than a few more gubernatorial picks. And each time, as we go forward to November, more and more people in the stands will be paying attention.

But what can we do in the meantime?

Well, this whole issue has us waxing nostalgic for the Audio Dream Theater trilogy that we turned out last year with sound wizard Alex Ball and aspiring voice deity Neil Jensen.

The premise? Douglas and Dubie are two hapless superheroes, just muddling along trying to raise corporate profits and sully the environment, when suddenly they’re drawn into an epic battle with their worst Democratic nightmares.

And Episode III: Statehouse of the Living Dead, prophetically enough, features a battle to the death between Douglas and Gaye Symington.

Think Firesign Theater meets Monty Python meets, like, the Rutland Herald. It’s full-tilt audio, with some of the best and snarkiest humor you’ll hear on an overcast Thursday morning in May.

If you’re new to VDB, and you managed to miss these productions, they’re listed on the right sidebar under “The Jim Douglas Trilogy.” But here’s the first to get you started. And remember, no politician truly fears for his political life until the jokes start. Enjoy.