Slams on Democrats amusingly predictable

To the editor:

Your editorials are always great for a laugh.

On Friday, in "Barack Obama in his own words," you ripped Democratic presidential candidates for their "wink and a nod to their core" while "running to the center."

During the primaries, Republican Sen. John McCain couldn't give President Bush enough praise. You'd think he was the reincarnation of Ronald Reagan. Before that, we've got numerous pictures of him giving President Bush a bear hug while almost slobbering on his shirt. Of course, now that the primaries are over, Sen. McCain is trying to distance himself from Mr. Bush by listing all the things he disagrees with him on and not wanting to have their picture taken together -- with a wink and a nod to the right.

Since Sen. McCain voted with President Bush 95 percent of the time, we'll see how well that works.

Also, when was the last time Sen. McCain "worked in a factory"? Or does that only matter if the Democrat hasn't done it?

And I loved the shot about "until the day after the election, of course." President Bush once told us he'd base his decision on the Yucca Mountain Project on "sound science." Yet he was barely in office a month when he green-lighted the project. But that's different, right?

Lastly, I got a great chuckle over your reference that we have a "secular" state, after the Christian right hijacked the Bush administration. I have many Republican friends who refuse to vote for Sen. McCain because he flip-flopped and begged those people for their endorsement after blasting them before.

Yes, he has condemned them now, but we all know that's a wink and a nod -- until the day after the election.

Tim Weaver

LAS VEGAS

Bashing history

To the editor:

My optimistic expectations of the human race often end in disappointment. But your Friday editorial on Barack Obama's success at gaining the Democratic nomination for president was particularly disheartening.

You might have set aside your extreme libertarian-conservative partisanship for one brief moment. You could have spared us your whining drivel about "collectivism" just long enough to celebrate the historic, groundbreaking nature of Sen. Obama's nomination. The nomination of the first black major-party presidential candidate is of huge historical and cultural significance, whatever his political views. But in typical fashion, you can find only the perceived negative aspects.

Your inability -- or unwillingness -- to look at the world from time to time outside the narrow box of your extreme ideology will continue to limit your influence to a very narrow band of followers. It's a shame, because our community could use a libertarian voice that actually seeks to engage, rather than to alienate, those with other opinions.

Bruce Mason

LAS VEGAS

Meeting expectations

To the editor:

The voters of Nevada elected Republican Jim Gibbons as governor mainly because of his pledge to not raise taxes, and voted against Democrat Dina Titus mainly because of her desire to raise taxes to create and expand services for the needy and children of Nevada.

So far, painful as it seems to some here, Gov. Gibbons has kept his pledge with very little help from his fellow bureaucrats. The fact that state gaming and other tax revenues have fallen far short of expectations due to the national economy and other factors -- and will remain lower thanks in part to the Legislature passing the "green business tax break" for companies, including megaresorts, using green-friendly construction methods because "it seemed like a good idea at the time" -- is not Gov. Gibbons' fault.

And now it seems the media and bureaucrats who didn't support him in the first place are sniping at Gov. Gibbons for doing the best he can to fulfill his mandate. They are trying to convince the public he somehow pulled one over on the Nevada voters.

Let's not forget why he was elected and just who seems so disgusted with his running of Nevada as a moderately conservative state.

And ask the California transplants what it is like to face higher and higher taxes.

KENT RISCHLING

LAS VEGAS