Monthly archive
Good morning, everyone. The last two days have seemed like June in March – i.e. end of session atmosphere. Long, private meetings, lots of waiting for Godot, nothing happens. The media are restless, anticipating history but, like many lawmakers, eager for history to occur so we can get on to more quotidian matters such as balancing the budget and heariing mining sob stories.
I suppose we should have known the Brooks affair would end ugly. I gather some members of the Assembly Democratic Caucus...
Good morning, everyone. Just a quick, tardy Flash today after a long, long evening, mostly of waiting outside an ad hoc committee room at the Carson City Courthouse for that anticlimactic 6-1 vote to recommend Steven Brooks’ expulsion. It occurred at 11:19 PM. The meeting started at 7:30. Of the nearly four hours, only about 40 minutes (tops) was public. So despite the almost anguished mini-speeches before the vote, this was a process cloaked in secrecy, supposedly to protect Brooks (all in the...
Good morning, everyone. Getting ready to go up to Carson City for a busy day – and night – after a long weekend of R&R at Lake Arrowhead. Gloriously relaxing, except for the huge mistake by this anti-outdoorsman of taking a long hike through some uncertain terrain. My right calf muscle is not happy. But at least Michigan continues in the NCAA, so I am in a good mood through the pain. Then again, as you know, I am always in a good mood.
I saw four movies during my Weekend of Doing Nothing....
Good morning, everyone. Michigan fans are happy (yes, moi) and Rebel fans (many of you) are sad this morning. UNLV’s first-round loss came after high hopes that began the season that something special might get done after a few months of excitement, only to be dashed by a familiar conclusion. A preview of Session ’13?
I am going to try my best to stay off the grid for the next few days, dear Flashees, to recharge my batteries and scream at the television during March Madness. Flash will return...
Good morning, everyone. If you are not excited about March Madness, you are 1. Not a sports fan. 2. Don’t know what you are missing. 3. Have no idea what I am talking about. Just so you know, as Michigan goes in the next fortnight, so goes my mood. So I advise all of you with elected titles to become Wolverine fans----
I still think it would be fun to create an all-time Nevada Politics bracket, with seedings, etc. (I may do this!). Imagine who gets to the Final Four, with the battle to be...
Good morning, everyone. If you are surprised Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid killed the assault weapons ban, you have not followed his career. Reid has never been a fan of a ban. He also knows how to count votes and always wanted to protect his red-state members. And he knows how to take flack from the left, as he is once again. Only Reid, like the rest of us, knows how he was affected by Newtown. But we now know the answer is: Not enough to push hard for a quixotic cause, expose some of his...
Good morning, everyone. A horrible reminder of the horrors of war on the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq conflict as six Marines are dead and eight injured after an early morningexplosion in Hawthorne. It’s easy for those of us who have never served to sit in the comfort of our ivory towers and criticize political decisions to go to war or to not go to war. But whether it’s fighting a murky war in the bog of the Middle East or engaging in dangerous military exercises in a remote...
Good morning, everyone. March Madness will soon begin, but does it tell you something about my ongoing sickness that I look forward more to May Madness, when state lawmakers try to wrap up the 77th session and avoid a special (s)? Maybe I ought to do brackets for May Madness, with various lawmakers and how they will fare vs. each other in May? There are just about the right number (63) for a tourney bracket. But the difference is: Who wins the right to lose to the governor in the championship...
Good morning, everyone. It’s the Ides of March, but it’s also Margins Tax Punt Day. State Senate Majority Leader Mo Denis isn’t in the capital (family funeral), but his folks put out a “let the people decide” statement and the other side, probably recovering from Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick’s birthday blowout bash, won’t do much of anything today, I’d guess. It’s irresponsible, cowardly and short-sighted. It’s the Nevada Legislature. (The only reasonable comment I heard came from state Sen....
Good morning, everyone. The Gang of 63 only has one more day to avoid the margins tax before getting on to more important avoidances. I hope someone – are you listening, NSEA? – puts every one of them on record on how they stand on the proposal. Why not just hold the vote and let it lose and go on the ballot? Might some of those brave souls be worried about actually having to take a stand on it? Why won’t the GOP leaders of each house stand up and demand a vote and see what the Democratic...