No, really. Not kidding!!
There's some silliness afoot in the world these days, mocking the authorities' bizarre acquisition and hoarding of excessive military force. The Onion offers up a silly photoshop of Ferguson, Missouri's surplus battleship, and a local outfit in Tennessee does a one-up on that with Chattanooga's recent acquisition of an aircraft carrier. (While the Tennessee River may be deep enough to float an aircraft carrier, it's hard to imagine it squeezing through the locks at the various TVA dams.) But that's all satire.
The State of Wyoming, on the other hand, appears to be contemplating acquiring its own carrier for real. And like the state's famous son, Dick Cheney, there is not a whiff of humor to be found.
Consider their legislature's House Bill 85 (PDF.) Reading through, you won't see any mention of aircraft carriers. So what's the big deal? There was an amendment offered by Rep. Kermit Brown of Laramie:
Page 3-after line 19 Insert:
"(vii) Conditions under which the state of Wyoming should implement a draft, raise a standing army, marine corps, navy and air force and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier.". BROWN
Thing is, it passed. I read about this in a real news outlet:
Forbes, where the author wondered how they could transport their carrier to the one lake in the state big enough to hold it. Perhaps more importantly, what would they use it for?
It appears that its largest lake is Yellowstone Lake, which on average is about 140 feet deep. (Yes, it’s in a national park now, but that wouldn’t matter, would it?) The draft of a Midway-class carrier, which you can probably find on eBay for cheap, was only 33 feet; even the biggest carrier available (Nimitz-class) only needs about 40 feet of water to float.
Me, I just marvel at the whole bill. It anticipates Armageddon-like conditions where the US has collapsed such that food and energy supplies become disrupted. Where the dollar has collapsed, and a constitutional crisis has rendered the federal government essentially inoperative.
It would appear that Republicans in Wyoming aren't content with trying to grind the federal government to a halt. The are, in their own small way, casting about for a Plan B. But considering that they're appropriating US dollars for the planning task force to reimburse for mileage (and other expenses), one wonders how seriously they've thought the whole business through (though they do assign their task force the job of developing some form of Wyoming currency.)
Some people figure they should plant fruit trees, raise goats and put up solar collectors for security. Maybe stock in some guns in their personal bunker. The Wyoming legislature obviously has a more grandiose vision.
What a world!