Yeah, it was an interesting year. 2008.
Lot's of goofy political crap. Seems like it might be impossible to beat.
But FEAR NOT; There will be PLENTY to talk about next year. This IS Reno, Nevada after all.
If I don't lose my voice from yelling at the computer.
When I first heard that Governor Jim "Rogue Elephant" Gibbons had appointed "a good buddy" as Nevada's new Tourism Director, I wrote it off as incompetence. And why wouldn't I? Gibbons has done a fantastic job in expanding the definition of "incompetence" in his four years as governor of Nevada.
But then I read about The Law. Apparently there's a law on the books that requires Gibbons to use a search committee. There is no way Gibbens forgot about this requirement. I know he sucks, but he ain't that stupid.
No, Gibbons is now pushing the envelope to see what he can get away with. It's clear that the Nevada Democratic Party (at least the ones who matter) have no intention of trying to impeach Governor Dorkbrain, and he knows it. The Dems completely want to run against Gibbons in 2010 and him to stay in office, abet neutered, until that time.
The only problem? A de facto lame-duck Executive, like George W. Bush, can do massive harm in a short amount of time. With our current economic state, even Chuck Muth has got to be worried about Gibbons.
The question is, will the Democrats take the step to formally Censure Gibbons, or make a formal announcement about their extreme concern about his abilities and intentions? And even more importantly, will the non-crazy Republican legislators (there are a couple!) join in the outcry?
And you thought all the fun was over! Well, even though Nevada's Governor is still a conservative right-wing Mormon type, the recent winning of a veto proof majority in the Assembly, and control of the State Senate, the Democrats now are approaching the ability to enact legislation that would have been impossible with previous partyline votes.
Like Civil Unions for gay couples. As America found out with California's idiotic vote on Prop Eight last month, sometimes pure democracy is sketchy. Us idiots here Nevada voted away the possibility of legal gay marriage eight years ago in a Mormon led referendum. It was overwhelmingly passed, by the way.
Anyway, if you ask me, I think some things like protection of civil rights are too important to be left up to fear driven, under-educated and over religious knucklehead citizens. And not just redneck knuckleheads like here Nevada; even those incredibly enlightened liberal types in California shouldn't be given the opportunity to turn back our country's progress with ill-conceived, and hatefully promoted up-and-down votes.
And guess what? The Nevada Democratic Party (at least most of the Central Committee) believe that Legislators need to fix what "shouldn't have happened anyway" back in 2000.
So get ready for a full-court press, as the Nevada Democratic Party goes on offense for the first time in a looooooooooooooooooooooong time and tries to bring Nevada out of the Mormon imposed dark ages by introducing and shepherding legislation to legalize same-sex civil unions, and the upcoming session.
And ironically, the highly publicized upcoming budget battles with the Governor and the remaining GOP Legislators, may actually shield the bills from what would've been knee-jerk conservative scorn. And, if the NV Dems actually pull this off, it might be the first serious result to come out of the recent disintegration of the Nevada GOP.
Apparently the Iraqi assailant has tried it before; check out the surveillance video
December 14th, 2008
© FauxNews - Arlington, VA - In an unexpected move today, Secretary Gates announced that the Department of Defense would immediately be changing its name back to the Department of War.
"Most of the conflicts we've been in since World War II were started by the US, so what the hey. It's all part of the Truth in Advertising Program Congress passed last year" said Gates earlier today. "I don't like it, but it actually seems more fitting. Our offense is on the field 95% of the time after all."
Thousands of government suppliers and sign makers celebrated throughout the country today in response to the immediate boom in stationary, sign and label needs. "It's like Christmas two weeks early!" Said Robert Billabong, a Maryland-based printing House executive.
House Republicans announced their disapproval of the decision, explaining that it was just another liberal make work project designed to make President-elect Obama look smarter. Dean Heller (R-NV) may have said "We true conservatives believe that the role of government is to subsidize Big Oil, spy on citizens and ensure greater corporate dividends for firms our contributors have invested; NOT tell the Truth or find jobs for Citizens."
Do you get ridiculous "warning" e-mails from loved ones warning you about things that are silly? Like car thieves stealing your door code, or kids eating hand sanitizer to get high? Silly crap.
So I was thinking, since people are so gullible to believe that stuff, why not just start our own viral e-mail about something we care about? Since fear works well, let's start off with a nasty one.
Cut and paste this into your e-mail and send it to everyone you know. Especially the grandparents with the e-mail Jones.
It's actually pretty funny. All the locals down at the bar are flapping their gums about the recent bailouts. Like any of those bunch of drunks can manage their own freaking checkbooks. They think their opinion is more informed than Congress. Comical.
Anyway, the question was:
"Should the US government be giving bailouts to certain market sectors?"
7 Hell no! This ain't Russia!
3 Hell yes! Do you want to live through another Depression?
9 What the hell are you talking about? Like it matters to me.
3 Can you spare a Dollar Buddy?
1 Whatever Obama wants to do is fine with me.
This is Nevada.
We do things differently here. Kind of like Illinois. Except we legalize the things that the other states make illegal, and then skim off of. We just Tax them. And our Vice trains run on time.
So what the hell? Let's auction off some of the upcoming and soon-to-be opened seats in our state government! We can put the money straight into the state coffers, and let all of our poor state workers get their raises, and our poor undereducated students not have to pay more for an education in our state schools.
Opening Bids:
Governor: $30 million and promise to not act like an idiot.
Lt. Governor: a bucket of warm spit. Seriously $25 million
Las Vegas Mayor: one black chip. The mob runs Vegas anyway.
US Senator: $80 million and Skull and Bones membership ring
GOP State Chair: $2.38 and prove you can lie out of both sides of your mouth.
Maybe we would start a trend. We sure did with the legalized gambling thing. And hookers too. Didn't prostitution originate in Nevada? That sure seems true...
Comedy Union Rules require that I create one utterly stupid post per week, in order to retain my #2 Best Political Blog Status. Here goes.
Newspapers are old and busted. With the announcement yesterday that the Tribune Corporation in Chicago was in big trouble, this is more than just Zekes crazy opinion.
Have you ever noticed that "intelligence" is always equated to "absorbing X number of newspapers every day"? Have you also noticed it is usually a newspaper that reports that tidbit? Interesting.
Being a blogger, I believe that the newspaper industry is automatically suspect in its mission: to tell the public about news stories, while attempting to entertain, grow readership and make money.
Even though bloggers, like Zeke, just love it when we are read by thousands of people (or 3 in my case), we don't require it to pursue the truth. It doesn't matter how many people read The Desert Beacon, Muth's Truths or Dullard Mush every day. They can't go out of business, because they have no overhead. Most Nevada political blogs don't even feature ads or any revenue stream. They blog because, whether they want to admit it or not, they care about our society and want to make it better. Newspapers exist to make money. Period.
People who work for newspapers are in the commercial news media, will spew their standard line to ridicule these claims and retort "Bloggers are hopelessly partisan and will not cover certain uninteresting yet important issues that professionals will".
I got two words for these nonpartisan thought: Fox News. Also MSNBC. Also have you read the Nevada Appeal lately? Bunch of wing nuts down there.
As for the "better coverage", the reporting done by Nevada political bloggers on this year's Dem and GOP State and National Convention's far surpassed any coverage by "professional media outlets". Also some well-known news reporters contacted me, yes me, for information about convention activities. Inother words, they are phoning it in don at the Nevada Papers. So I call bullshit on the second "commercial media claim of importance".
Oh yes, newspapers with their 12 hour lag, messy and environmentally ludicrous method of distribution, and 100% reliance on advertising make me wonder what their exact purpose is, anyway. Other than self existence. And to cover the latest plane crash in Alabama and Saturdays sale at Macy's. And to start fires at conservative religious extremist book burnings.
You get the point.
Check this out: God knows it was fun to pick on Sarah Palin's inability to name a newspaper she read. If newspapers were relevant, that wouldn't have been possible. And before you start telling me "she's an idiot", remember these two things: she is the current governor of Alaska. And you are reading a non-newspaper media source right now to get your news. Or what ever this is, I write.
So my suggestion is, sell all of your newspaper stock and cancel your subscription to the Reno Haberdashery-Journal. Beat the rush. And keep reading Zeke.
Hey!
Look at that! He's #2!
With the arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich for allegedly attempting to sell Barack Obama's open Senate seat to the highest bidder, our beloved train wreck Governor Jim Gibbons has been reduced to America's Second Worst Governor.
Somebody needs to tell the Nevada Democratic Party so they can change their site.
Of course, the question as to who is the worst Lieutenant Governor in the Nation has not been brought up, and with Nevada's Brian Krolicki currently under indictment, my money is on that guy.
Granted reporting terrible economic news all day long, has made many news sources dig deep for some sort of interesting topic to report on.
So what we get? Barack Obama smokes.
I know many Democrats are very focused on identifying right wing attack squad attempts at tearing down Obama's Presidency, even before he gets into office, but I don't think Obama firing up a dart every once in awhile is indicative of the new GOP strategy. And even if it is, are we about to see the Left's Truth Squad actually defend smoking? Now that would be funny. Next to killing dogs, smoking is probably the most hated thing an individual can do these days.
I'd like to think that everybody has some character flaw that makes them human. Zeke, of course, has a lot more than one.
If Obama's only flaw is that he enjoys a cigarette (with tobacco in it) every once in a while, it'll be less impactful then Bush's flaw: Destroying America as a reflex.
With the recent creation of the Democrat majority in Sparks, Reno and Washoe County, the question is can The Party capitalize on the situation?
With only one Democrat sitting on each of the cities Councils, and County Commission, it's pretty clear that there is a big opportunity to shake things up a bit.
And why not? It's not like Reno or Washoe County have been run very well for the past 10 years. With last week's approval of a obviously fake "green" housing development project 20 miles north of town, it is clear that the old boy network in Reno has no intentions of acting responsible, even in the toughest of times.
With overstressed roads from an unmitigated growth program, a struggling local economy due to very little forethought into creating an attractive business environment, a bankrupt local school system due to poor legislative lobbying by local Councial members and a general philosophy that this is 1970, and a good snowfall will bring all the rich skiers in the town "just like the old days", Hey Reno Leaders: Elvis is dead, and so is your 30 year old Business Plan!
We need creative, smart and responsible people on these boards. Like now.
The only question I have, is will any of the sitting Republicans try to switch to Nonpartisan or Democrat before the next election? I'd bet dollars to pesos that some of them are thinking about it. And they should because the new and still growing Democratic majority in Northern Nevada is going to make things very difficult for the incompetent incumbent GOP board members.
Especially if they continue to act directly against the will of the voters.
Ya heard it here first.
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