Political shocker: Rhetoric doesn’t always jibe with lifestyle
To hear her tell it, U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle would rather have a family member working in a house of ill repute than one who draws a paycheck from the federal government.
The rock-ribbed conservative has called for the elimination of the Department of Education, the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. Small government, that's the only kind Angle likes.
But I've noticed she's not spending a lot of time protesting the existence of the Bureau of Land Management, an agency with an extremely mixed relationship with rural Nevadans. In fact, I'll speculate the BLM is the least liked federal agency in rural Nevada.
It might surprise supporters of Angle's small-government candidacy to learn her husband, Ted Angle, worked for many years at the BLM. In fact, he draws a federal government pension.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. Actually, I'd argue that the Angles are like a lot of rural Nevada families who rely on federal agencies and programs for their livelihoods but find a way to criticize the size and effectiveness of government every chance they get.
But it does make me scratch my head and cast a different light on the GOP's small-government revolutionary.
SEARCHLIGHT-RITZ: Just so you Angle acolytes don't think I see things only one way, here's my favorite head-scratching irony from the incumbent.
Have you ever heard that hard-scrabble Harry Reid was born in tiny Searchlight? Of course you have. Barely a day goes by that Reid and his hometown aren't mentioned in the media.
For a place so few people actually choose to call home, Searchlight gets an amazing amount of ink thanks to its favorite son, who lives there part of the year.
Read his memoir or hear him speak, and you'll almost think Reid still lives in the shack with the outhouse in the back. He doesn't, of course. He's a multimillionaire who owns a fine home in Searchlight and often stays at the Ritz while Congress is in session.
That's right. The Ritz.
Who knows, maybe the joint has an outhouse.
NYE JUSTICE: Veteran Las Vegas attorney Pete Christiansen, who has enjoyed a successful career in the criminal and civil arenas, has been selected as the special prosecutor in cases against two Nye County officials.
Multiple sources confirmed this week that Christiansen, an Ely native, has agreed to prosecute Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett and sheriff's investigator David Boruchowitz.
Beckett is charged with mishandling the county's Bad Check Program. Boruchowitz was arrested in connection with the Beckett investigation and charged with oppression under color of law and false arrest, among other allegations.
Beckett lost his bid for re-election in the recent primary in Nye County.
Visiting District Judge Robert Estes of Yerington is presiding over the case.
Christiansen was part of the defense team in the defense of attorney Noel Gage. He also was a member of the defense team that represented the Hells Angels against federal charges connected with a deadly fight at the Laughlin River Run.
On the civil side, Christiansen has represented families of victims in gross negligence, product liability and personal injury cases.
ON THE BOULEVARD: When brother and sister Robert Cole Inouye and Tiffanee Anderson died from injuries suffered in a June 19 car accident, it left their family with withering funeral expenses. An account in their honor has been set up at Silver State Schools Credit Union in an effort to offset those costs. The account number is 146905-Donations. The Nevada Cancer Institute is playing host to a registry for the National Marrow Donor Program from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at its Sunflower Café at 1 Breakthrough Way. It's part of the marrow network's "Be the Match" program.
BOULEVARD II: Can anyone explain how popular Las Vegas Constable Robert "Bobby G." Gronauer lost his race?
Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? E-mail comments and contributions to Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.
