Commentary
The burning question for Laxalt: Will Trump take him back?
Nevada failed politician Adam Laxalt became the chair of Never Back Down, the PAC that would become a central part of the Ron DeSantis presidential bid, in April. A month earlier in March, a couple national polls had found DeSantis actually leading Trump. They were outliers – most polls even then showed Trump ahead. But […]
Empty promises: The illusion of test score improvement in public education
Feigned concern over national and state test scores or school ratings seems to be a ritual each fall. Unfounded criticism falls like leaves on public schools because of disparity in student test scores that are beyond their control. It is usually political blather presenting no viable solutions. This summer the superintendent in the Clark County […]
Lombardo and his PAC blasted Biden policies. Now they’re trying to take credit for the results.
“Nevada has experienced 10 straight months of employment growth under Governor Joe Lombardo’s leadership,” the Lombardo-adjacent Better Nevada PAC tweeted this week. That’s one way to look at it. Here’s another: Nevada has experienced 34 straight months of employment growth under President Joe Biden’s leadership. According to monthly state employment statistics through October 2023, seasonally […]
The next one ‘they’ come for may be you
I attended an event sponsored by the Mansfield Center in Billings, Mont., recently. Former Governor Marc Racicot and author Marc Johnson spoke on the legacy of the late Sen. Mike Mansfield. Both men spoke eloquently on the virtues of the U.S. Constitution and democracy, especially as practiced by Mansfield. They acknowledged the woeful state of […]
No, you’re not that good at detecting fake videos
Someone tracking the conflict raging in the Middle East could have seen the following two videos on social media. The first shows a little boy hovering over his father’s dead body, whimpering in Arabic, “Don’t leave me.” The second purports to show a pregnant woman with her stomach slashed open and claims to document the […]
Unholy night – A Trump White House Christmas coup caper
It was a Christmas party at the Trump White House, and despite the festive decorations, the trees and the wreaths and the red-and-green bunting, the mood must have been grim. A few days earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had firmly rejected a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas seeking the overthrow of election results […]
Fear and loathing with Pat McCarran
With the possible exception of illegally pilfered top secret documents, Donald Trump is reportedly not much of a reader. So any opinion he might have formed about former Nevada Sen. Pat McCarran probably doesn’t extend beyond wishing the Las Vegas airport was still named for him, if for no other reason than that it’s now […]
How to make the U.S. more affordable
For the last two years, the debate on the economy has centered around inflation. After reaching a 40-year high last summer, inflation as measured by economists is now approaching normal levels. But despite the rapid slowdown, millions still feel squeezed by a decades-long affordability crisis. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans struggled to afford sky-high prices […]
The right’s hypocrisy on the rights of parents
There are a lot of excellent reasons to oppose laws that require parental approval when young women under the age of 18 seek abortion care. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to meet an Indiana couple who lost their teenage daughter to such a law. Terrified of admitting her pregnancy to her parents as […]
International reaction to Gaza siege exposes growing rift between the West and the Global South
The lopsidedness was stark: 120 countries voted in favor of a resolution before the United Nations on Oct. 26, 2023, calling for a “humanitarian truce” in the war in Gaza. A mere 14 countries voted against it. But the numbers tell only half the story; equally significant was the way the votes fell. Those voting […]
If we wanted a hot mess why didn’t we just put Jara in charge of F1?
Next week the fabulous Las Vegas Strip is hosting a Formula 1 race. It could be a catastrophe. Or it could be merely an agonizing and costly study in how negligent-to-nonexistent planning can inflict costly inconvenience, chaos and confusion on thousands and thousands of people trying to get from point A to point B. Point […]
Why are US politicians so old? And why do they want to stay in office?
When former President Bill Clinton showed up at the White House in early 2023, he was there to join President Joe Biden to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act. It was hard to avoid the fact that it had been three decades since Clinton was in office – yet at […]