Las Vegas Gleaner

Gibbons v. Gibbons: Let's get ready to rumble!

America is a nation at war abroad and suffering from a dismal economy at home, but at least there is some good news on the horizon: A couple of early signs give reason to hope that the Gibbons divorce case will be a mean, bitter struggle that will humiliate (or worse) both parties.

First, Jim Gibbons, ever the officer and the gentleman, is demanding that Dawn pay his attorney fees (pdf). Even if that is standard operating procedure on the part of the person filing the papers in contested divorces (perhaps a divorce lawyer could elucidate in the comments), there is nothing standard about a gubernatorial divorce, and from a public relations standpoint it makes the nation's worst governor look like a petty unfeeling pig. Which of course he is and that remark is probably an insult to pigs. But still, you'd think that someone who cares, if not about him, then about his governorship (Sheldon Adelson? Chuck Muth? Sherm Frederick?) would have advised that a PR battle is brewing and the nation's most unbalanced governor stupidly just put his jaw out.

And Dawn is clearly willing to throw haymakers at it. From AP's Brendan Riley, who got good quote from Cal Dunlap, Dawn's attorney:

"It's sad that after all Dawn Gibbons has done for Jim Gibbons that not only is he divorcing her but he's seeking to have her pay his attorney fees to boot," Dunlap said, adding that he will "vehemently oppose" the attorney fee request, and also will seek spousal support for Dawn Gibbons.

Coupled with the calculated and pre-emptive interview Dawn granted to a useful writer the other day, resulting in a spectacularly sympathetic and unquestioning column that portrays Dawn as the poor put-upon woman in tears and Jim as the insensitive jerk, clearly Dawn is more than eager to destroy her estranged husband in the court of public opinion. And at this point in the proceedings, her squatting in the governor's mansion notwithstanding, she's exhibiting a PR savvy superior to that of the nation's most incompetent governor — a low bar, to be sure, but still...

It's early days of course and it remains to be seen whether Nevada's fondest and best hope will come true — as the marriage goes down in spectacular flames, Dawn spills some serious beans about one or more of Jim's various venal acts and takes him down with it.

But the divorce seems to be getting off to a truly excellent start, no?

Nation's worst governor files to get out of miserable sham of a marriage

The Easter Bunny and his giant carrot/human hybrid snack managed to keep those poor mixed up kids from gouging each other's eyes out, but alas, could not bring them together.

Gov Jim Gibbons has filed papers in the proper jurisdictions saying that he wants out of his empty shell of marriage, or words to that effect (Ralston, RGJ, AP).

At this troubling time, the Gleaner would like to extend a personal note to Dawn, his (for now) wife: Look on the bright side. At least there is a legal mechanism by which you can be separated from the nation's most emotionally unbalanced governor before his term of office is up. The rest of us appear stuck with the dullard.

Gibbons (the wuss, not the wife) is reportedly seeking custody of the governor's mansion. No word yet, however, on whether he is also seeking custody of all the Warren Trepp bribe money.

Hopefully, the divorce will be long, but ugly. Oh, and very, very public. That would not make the Gibbons administration worthwhile — needless to say, any plausible scenario that would justify or warrant the pernicious forced march to the past that is the governorship of Pervus A. McSkanktard defies imagination. But if the divorce is incredibly messy and icky and mean-spirited and splashed all over the media, Nevadans would have at least something to show for electing him in the first place.

Misapprehension? Relax. Angry Republicans are soaking in it.

Various sundry War Party apparatchiks from near and far have been sputtering a steady stream of entertaining exhortations all week long. Dina Titus running against Rep. Jon Porter? Why, she just lost a governor's race because she's a big bad liberal!

"Two losses in a row would be career-ending for her," warned a functionary with the National Republican Congressional Committee, clearly concerned for the state senator's well-being.

Not to be outdone by out-of-staters, a paid War Party spokester and leading Jim Gibbons apologist from Carson City did Nevada proud by rendering an even more over-the-top reaction: "With her record, especially on taxes, and personal negatives of stratospheric proportions, Titus might just be the one, and only one, Democrat who could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in that race this year. Run Dina, run!" the spokester gushed (though to be fair, he seemed to flip-flop the next day, chiding his NRCC soulmates for their "silly inflammatory statements").

Well, shopping the spin that Titus is doomed to defeat is the sort of stuff such wingnuts get paid for, and the last thing anyone is bound to hear from them is what they really think about her chances to knock off Porter. Given the new voter registration numbers in the third congressional district, Titus' superior performance there in her 2006 race for governor, the fact that roughly, oh, 99 out of 100 people are convinced that the War Party has taken America down the wrong track, etc., Porter and his allies in the kookwit infrastructure, though they're loathe to admit it, are justifiably alarmed.

At the same time, they seem to genuinely, sincerely believe that ham-handed slams against Titus on taxes and immigration, coupled with whatever political negatives she's got, offer a full account for her loss in the governor's race, so if they just work from that playbook, history will repeat itself and Porter can eke out a victory.

It's not a bulletproof theory, but it's the one they've got, and we'll see how that works out for them.

But in taking solace in the 2006 Titus defeat, the War Party also might be overlooking something.

It has long been the belief here at Gleaner HQ that if not for Chrissy Mazzeo, Dina Titus would be governor of Nevada today.

Titus gives it a go

The late and singular circumstances of Dina Titus entering the race to knock off Jon Porter meant that she ended up officially announcing on the fifth anniversary of Bush's "Mission Accomplished" idiocy, one of the first of the 692 (and counting) times the worst president in the nation's history would declare victory vis-a-vis his twisted invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Not least for his unquestioning support for Bush's invasion and occupation policies, it's time for Jon Porter to go, Titus told a large crowd (both on stage and off) who provided an excellent visual for the live shots being fed to the local evening newscasts. "And when that happens in November, it will be a real Mission Accomplished."

Titus repeatedly used the word "accountability" and stressed that Porter needs to be "held accountable." That's typical political boilerplate of the sort routinely slung at incumbents. But inasmuch as Gleaner HQ is renowned as ground zero for naive optimism, perhaps readers will excuse the suggestion that when Titus calls for holding Porter accountable, she might mean it just a little bit differently.

It's not merely that Porter needs to be held accountable in the sense that all his stupid and pernicious votes a) in favor of corporate interests and political allies, and b) against his constituents, social and economic justice, and peace should be brought to the light of day for voters to examine.

It's that Porter must be held accountable in the sense that actions have consequences, so he deserves to be thrown out. He's earned it. And hopefully, that's what voters will understand once Titus gets done with him.

More on her announcement later. Probably. (Oh, and for the three people who care, Andrew Martin was there, and Jim Gibson wasn't).

Hack/dork/cad Jon Porter owes you money!

Jon Porter desperately wants to hold on to his snazzy congressman job so instead of going back to being an insurance salesman and living in one of his run-down apartment buildings in Boulder City he can continue his corporate-sponsored beltway parties with groupies — both the variety that hover around his garage band, and those pathetic souls who are attracted to War Party congressmen no matter how obscure and/or dorky they are.

But even if the hack/dork/cad does lose his job to that nice Dina Titus lady, he thinks she should only be paid 77 percent as much as he's been making. At least that's what this radio ad from Americans United for Change says.

Actually, that can't be right. Porter opposes the idea that women and men should be paid the same for the same work. But Porter doesn't do much. Work, that is (the exciting life of a skirt-chasing keyboardist in a crappy cover band can be awfully time-consuming). So even if Titus were paid only 77 cents on the dollar she should still get paid about 186 times more than what the public has been paying Porter, based on work ethic alone.

For that matter, taking the "you get what you pay for" axiom into account, taxpayers shouldn't have been forced to give Porter a salary at all over lo these many years that he has been fulfilling his childhood dream as a full-time career politician. He should have been paying us. Porter has helped oil companies, health insurance companies, drug companies, student loan companies and virtually every other powerful industry in America gouge consumers in countless ways since being sworn in to Congress in 2003. Forking over the $900,000 or so he's made as a congressman (not counting benefits) to his constituents would be the least he could do. No. Really. The very least.

Controversial association dogs presidential candidate

From WSJ/NBC poll:

• Percent of voters who say they're bothered by Obama's "bitter" remarks: 36.
• Percent of voters who say they're bothered by Obama's "associations" with Jeremiah Wright and William Ayres: 32.
• Percent of voters who have a "major concern" with McCain's closeness to the Bush agenda: 43.

It all lends an added poignancy to the truly wonderful phrasing of a statement that came in over the transom Wednesday afternoon ...

"On the fifth anniversary of President Bush declaring Mission Accomplished, Sen. Dina Titus will join friends, family and supporters tomorrow for a major announcement regarding Congressional District 3."

That's 5 p.m. Thursday, May 1, at the Henderson Amphitheatre Stairs, between the Henderson City Hall and Henderson Convention Center (NVDems).

November, anyone?

A conspicuous silence from a normally noisy source

Because who knows when if ever there will be another opportunity to say this about a UNR professor who gets quoted in the media, it should be noted that economist Tom Cargill is right: The McCain-Clinton plan to cut federal gas taxes is an insult (RGJ).

The price of gasoline is so high that taking 18.4 cents off the price of a gallon isn't going to help anybody in any meaningful way — or as Barack Obama put it, a gas tax holiday isn't about getting consumers through the summer, it's about getting McCain and Clinton through an election.

It's tempting to throw the McCain-Clinton gas tax holiday scheme in with other useless ideas touted by Republicans, such as...

• Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. At peak production after several years and by the most optimistic estimates, ANWR would reduce America's dependence on foreign oil from 62 percent of the nation's supply all the way down to ... 60 percent. And it would have only a negligible impact on global market prices, if any at all.
• More nuclear power. House Minority Leader John Boehner, a beloved mentor to Nevada's very own Rep. Jon Porter and a man who has done much to nurture the local hack/dork/cad's humiliating and sycophantic approach to the oil industry, has been telling anyone who will listen that the way to reduce gas prices is to increase the nation's use of nuclear energy. Leaving aside for the moment that virtually no one in the national credit and banking community has shown any interest whatsoever in investing in an industry renowned in financial circles primarily for exorbitant expenses, cost overruns and an inability to operate, let alone compete, without a steady stream of government subsidies, it also turns out that no major auto manufacturers in this or any other country have yet to develop plans for the nuclear powered SUV.

But the gas tax holiday might actually be even worse than those stupid ideas. For one thing, it is something that Congress could actually do. And if it came to pass, it would further starve an already inadequate funding stream that is needed not only to maintain and repair America's crumbling infrastructure, but also to develop fast and efficient mass transportation systems that would come in really handy right about now.

People who are getting hit hardest by the world's dysfunctional oil market are the people at the lower end of the income scale. Gas prices are quickly and severely eroding the standard of living in Nevada and the nation. People are scrambling, scrimping, hurting and pissed. And politicians add insult to injury by floating a disingenuous tax gimmick that does very little to help in the short term and only makes matters worse in the long term.

Which raises the obvious question: Where's Bob Beers?

Back in 2006 when the War Party state senator was running for governor and telling everyone that Jim Gibbons was a liberal, Beers proposed eliminating the state gas tax. At 17.65 cents per gallon, the tax is nearly identical to the federal rate and so axing it would be every bit as helpful to consumers as the McCain-Clinton scheme, i.e., it's an insult.

Eliminating the tax would, however, bury the state's budget even deeper into the hole and put even more delays on much-needed state infrastructure projects (which are among the best local economic stimulants there are, by the way). Beers has a record of irresponsibly pissing away the public's money, so you'd think he'd be all over this outstanding opportunity to kick government while it's down.

And if eliminating the tax was a good idea in 2006 when a gallon of gas was going for $2.50 or less per gallon, surely it must be a great idea now when it's topping $3.60.

Brainlessly killing a tax is the surest way to a Paultard's heart (a consideration for Beers of late). But more importantly, by showing a little consistency, Beers could also remind his voters just how much better shape the state would be in, fiscally, if only Nevada would have listened to him and eliminated the state gas tax two years ago.

Someone is having fun in the spotlight

"In politics, as in life, you never know what's coming around the next bend," writes Dina Titus in missive blasted out over the email list she built up a couple years ago and has been nursing along ever since.

After noting that the Robert Daskas congressional candidacy is over and saying the requisite nice things, the email says...

Democratic national congressional leaders, including Nancy Pelosi, Shelley Berkley, and Harry Reid, have called on me to carry us to victory in CD 3.  I am honored by their support, enthusiasm and confidence.

Everything I've been able to accomplish in the State Senate, such as property tax relief, stronger sex offender laws, and saving Red Rock from development, I've done with your help and encouragement. You've supported my unfinished fight to make Nevada a powerhouse in clean, renewable energy and to build an educational system we can be proud of.

The Republican attack machine will stop at nothing to hang on to CD3. We have seen how they turn accomplishments into negatives, distort voting records, and twist words. So we know it will take all of our best efforts to achieve victory in November.

Before I make a decision, I'd like to hear from you.  So what do you think?  Should I run for Congress to give the people of CD3 effective representation?  I need to decide soon so please write me your thoughts.

There is an open thread in my website's blog for you to leave your comments.  You can find it here.

A blatant example of milking a moment for all it's worth by openly soliciting supporters to express their warm regards and effusive praise? Oh, you people are so cynical. 

That said, the responses aren't comprised entirely of "you go girl" cheers.

OK, most of it is — a quick scan of the 70 or so (and climbing) comments on that thread as of Tuesday afternoon found a majority either want her to go for it, or want her to go for it and publicly humiliate Jon Porter in the process. But a few others don't seem sure, and say they'll support her whatever she does. There are also a few naysayers who think she should stay put.

And somebody slipped in to complain about the government. Probably an RJ reader. Or its publisher.

UPDATE: Best response spotted thus far, by far:

50. Written by Lori Porter, on 29-04-2008 21:57
do it. 

p.s. Jon, I want my records back

Miniglean: The newspaper — dead or undead?

• Oh looky, the Republican command center in D.C. has told campaign staffers for crappy congressmen like Jon Porter that one of this season's buzzwords is "the Pelosi Congress" (RJ). Because disaffected-by-definition swing voters a) know who Pelosi is and b) care. Well, what else are Republicans going to say? More wars, my friends, more wars? Go Bush-McCain?
• Please, everyone, in all the excitement the important thing is not losing sight of the fact that Nevada Democrats suck. Sun
• As most of you may have noticed, print is dead. But not in Las Vegas! And the local dead tree of record's unattributed rewrite of an AP story gives the impression that the Review-Journal is being singled out by the national wire service as the last successful print product in the entire nation! Sadly, however, the RJ wasn't singled out by anyone — except the RJ — as can be seen by comparing the self-fellating version that ran in paper to the original wire story that moved nationally. Yeah whatever. But why would the RJ's circulation be going up when the rest of the industry's is going down, anyway? Possibilities include but are not limited to:
  • Nobody in Las Vegas has the internets.
  • Las Vegas continues to grow, so it stands to reason that the newspaper's circulation would grow by at least a teensy, weensy fraction as much — especially when one of the town's fastest-growing demographics is geezers.
  • The circulation audit continues to reflect gains accrued when the Sun rolled it's newspaper — and it's remaining subscribers — into the R-J.
  • They're giving it away.
  • The Review-Journal is just that damned good.
• Mainstream media goes where no one has gone before (except of course the Gleaner commentariat, who went there first) and explores the legal questions surrounding the residency of the nation's wussiest governor. AP, RJ
• What's that? Ron Paul's libertarian supporters can be a horde of crazed, caustic, vitriolic harm-casting kookwits? (AP, INP, Bob Beers). Well, stop the fucking presses.

Area woman may save local election season from being most boring ever

Nevada War Party Rep. Jon Porter has raised $1.8 million so far this election cycle and has managed to spend only about $800,000 of it partying with the band and overpaying consultants so he still has about a million in cash on hand.

American corporations really appreciate all the work Porter has done over the years to assure that people have no choice but to pay too much for stuff like health insurance, student loans and gasoline. And if there is one campaign promise that Porter is bound to keep, it is his solemn vow that so long as he is on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, he will do everything he can to assure that the same corporations that rip you off will never, ever have to pay their fair share in taxes.

In return, thanks to some of the most abusive special interests in the history of American socioeconomics, Porter can turn on the fundraising spigot in earnest at his leisure, and just leave it running 24/7 until election day and beyond.

What that means, of course, is that if Dina Titus makes it official and challenges Porter then come autumn the television airwaves will be saturated with the words "Dina Taxes." Coming up with material sure to turn the tables and put Porter on the defensive won't be difficult, him being a flip-flopping career politician tool of the special interests and a cad to boot — not to mention all the warmongering. No, the problem will be having enough money to get a word in edgewise on the teevees.

At least Titus won't have to spend a bundle building name recognition. She's a proven fundraiser, and she'll get oodles of help from the national party organization. But make no mistake, neither Titus nor anybody else is going to beat Porter by outspending him.

Fortunately, she's got some experience winning with less money. In her 2006 gubernatorial bid, Titus was outspent in a Democratic primary and won. She was outspent in in the general election and lost the state, but won Clark County by more than 23,000 votes — and more to the task at hand, according to a precinct-by-precinct breakdown of the vote done by the state party, Titus beat Gibbons in CD3 by two percentage points, 47 to 45.

Now of course the state Democrats are crowing that they've registered thousands of new voters, giving them something they didn't have in 2006, a 22,500 vote edge in CD3.

If in fact Titus makes it official, it could be one of the most hard-fought, mean, low-down and vicious campaigns Nevada has ever seen for any office, period. Well, one can hope, anyway (we'll save the retrospective on the comparative performance and nature of her gubernatorial primary versus general election campaigns for another day 'cause the subject deserves it's own post, m'kay?).

But the chances of Democrats knocking off Porter looked a lot better at close o' bidness Monday than when the day started.