Clueless in Arizona

We like to poke fun at the dumb things our Nevada politicians say and do, but they all look like brain surgeons — even Gov. Jim Gibbons — compared with Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks.

Franks, clearly, is not competent to hold public office. On Monday on Fox News (surprised?), Franks condemned Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on grounds that he supports building a railroad from Disneyland to the Moonlite Bunny Ranch near Carson City.

Huh?

“It’s astonishing to me, you know,” Franks told Fox talking head Megyn Kelly. “At one point, we had the ‘bridge to nowhere.’ Now we have the train to the Moonlite Bunny Ranch.”

Kelly did not question Franks on this ridiculous notion. In fact, she elaborated: “It’s a super-railroad, of sorts. A line that will deliver customers straight from Disneyland, we kid you not, to the doorstep of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Nevada. The bunnies are very happy about this development.”

As the Nevada Appeal noted in today's edition, Franks and Kelly were confusing two very different projects that Reid is involved with.

The first is $475,000 for a tourist train that would run 18 miles from Carson City to Virginia City. The railroad happens to pass by Mound House, which is where four brothels are located.

Separately, Reid wants funding for a high-speed mag-lev train between Las Vegas and Anaheim, Calif. He hopes some of the $8 billion allocated for high-speed trains in the stimulus package could be used for this project.

OK, so let’s say it’s 2015 and you live in Anaheim, perhaps within walking distance of Disneyland. You’ve had enough Mickey Mouse and you want to go to the Moonlite Bunny Ranch. You get on the bullet train to Las Vegas, and it whisks you across the desert in 90 minutes. Great. What now?

Next, you need to either get on an airplane and fly to Reno or rent a car and drive for about seven hours to reach the aforementioned brothel. Good luck.

Fox News has a reputation in left-of-center political circles because of its blatant conservative bias. This absurd exchange between host Kelly and Congressman Franks — obviously intended to smear Reid — certainly doesn’t help the cable network’s cause.

As for Arizona, well, some of you elected this guy.