Ready, set, go! It’s the Friday Slashback!

Endorsements from beyond the grave! North Las Vegas rents out its basement apartment for some extra cash! And Bobby Jindal knows next to nothing about Jesus! It’s the (newly re-named) look back at the week that was, the FRIDAY SLASHBACK!

• What’s the best kind of political endorsement? The one that nobody can really disprove, of course.

That’s the real genius in would-be attorney general Adam Laxalt’s bold assertion to the Reno Gazette-Journal’s Ray Hagar that the late former state Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio would have endorsed Laxalt’s candidacy. That directly contradicts the testimony of Dale Raggio, Bill Raggio’s widow, who says her husband had committed to endorsing Miller. (Dale Raggio and Dema Guinn, widow of former Gov. Kenny Guinn, held a joint fundraiser for Miller in Reno.)

It’s an interesting question: Raggio was a friend of Laxalt’s famous grandfather, former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt. And Raggio died in 2012, right around the time Adam Laxalt was moving to Nevada. (According to Dale Raggio, the two men never knew each other.)

So it comes down to the word of a man’s widow who ostensibly knew him better than any other person on Earth versus the unsupported post hoc claim of a guy running for office. Hmmm, which to choose?

But this could open up a whole new thing in politics: posthumous endorsements! Think about it: They can’t be denied, and you can drape yourself in the cloak of legendary political brands. Why wouldn’t Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater or Abraham Lincoln have endorsed Adam Laxalt? They’re all Republicans!

There’s a downside, however. Reverse posthumous endorsements! That’s right, what’s to stop Adam Laxalt’s Democratic opponent, Secretary of State Ross Miller, from saying or implying that Laxalt might have earned the endorsement of some unsavory characters from history? Can you see the ads now?

You know who would really have liked Adam Laxalt? Genghis Khan! Both men had a lust for power and conquest that drove them to horrific acts of public depravity. Both were fond of leaving the land of their birth and venturing into new territory for the purposes of conquest. Genghis says, “Vote Laxalt!”

I’m telling you, this could get ugly.

• The city of North Las Vegas is taking on some tenants. After all, somebody’s got to pay for the brand-new City Hall that they built in the middle of the worst recession Nevada has seen in decades.

But instead of looking at this as the last, desperate grasp of a failing municipality that’s one step away of ordering its employees to sell blood plasma in order to raise cash for the general fund, we can look at this as an opportunity! The city could strategically partner with companies that might help it stay afloat.

For example, how about leasing space to shady, fly-by-night telemarketers? You know, the kind of people who call you on your cell phone and offer you free trips to Disneyland even though you totally put your number on the federal “Do Not Call” list and the last time they called, you gave a totally inappropriate fake name on the recording? Yeah, those guys.

It’s not like the city is somehow opposed to getting into business with private companies, after all.

What about night schools? Not just any night schools, mind you, but the kind of night schools that might simultaneously train workers for new jobs, but maybe also supply the city with some officials who might stick around more than a year or two before getting bounced or mysteriously quitting.

For example, the Subway University. (You didn’t think they let just anybody off the street make sandwiches, did you?) Or maybe an outlet of SUNY’s Fashion Institute of Technology? (“Mr. Mayor, we’ve been meaning to speak with you about those outfits…”) They could even house a journalism school, if there was anybody stupid enough to consider a career in journalism, that is.

• Verily, I say unto thee, pass the ammo!: Am I asking too much, for politicians who show up to pander to Christians to actually read the holy book that Christians hold most dear? (That’s The Bible, in case you were wondering, not “The Purpose Driven Life.”)

This week, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal showed up to pander to the crowd at the Faith and Freedom Coalition. He reinforced the idea that Christians (who comprise a majority of people in America, and claim every single president since the founding of the country among their numbers) are somehow under siege because Hobby Lobby has to offer health care to employees. Here’s what he had to say:

“I can sense right now a rebellion brewing amongst these United States, where people are ready for a hostile takeover of Washington, D.C., to preserve the American Dream for our children and grandchildren,” Jindal said, according to Talking Points Memo.

The governor said there was a “silent war” on religious liberty being fought in the U.S. — a country that he said was built on that liberty.

“I am tired of the left. They say they’re for tolerance, they say they respect diversity. The reality is this: They respect everybody unless you happen to disagree with them,” he said. “The left is trying to silence us and I’m tired of it, I won’t take it anymore.”

Ah, yes, just as Jesus said: Band ye together, and overthrow the government! For verily I say unto you, if you follow me, your life will be totally awesome all the time!

No, wait. Jesus didn’t say that. In fact, he said just the opposite. Love your enemies. Pray for those who hate you. Love one another. And if you take up your cross and follow me, you will suffer in this life for my sake.

Anybody who’s read the Bible knows that. So what’s Jindal’s excuse?

• The dark side of the gambling industry. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (motto: “Justice in 30 Minutes of it’s Free!”) is allowing voters to decide whether to ban gambling throughout the Bay State, which would be a major inconvenience for MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts, both of which are angling to build casinos there.

Of course, opponents tag the industry with all sorts of stereotypical negatives, saying casinos will increase crime, lead to gambling addiction and hurt small businesses. C’mon, people! Get some new arguments why don’t you?

Here, let me help: The legalization of casinos — and a 25 percent gross gambling tax — will eventually make the state and local governments dependent on gambling revenues for operating budgets, which will disproportionately increase the influence of casino companies upon public officials, which will inevitably lead to the corruption of those governments and the enactment of policy that’s bad for the people, but good for the “gamers,” as they like to call themselves. And if you don’t believe me, log on to the Nevada Legislature’s website and check out how many high-priced lobbyists work for casino companies, and them ask how often they lose on issues.

But be quick about it. MGM Springfield President Michael Mathis says his company will defend its — and I swear I am not making this up — “urban revitalization project” with a campaign to “educate the voters on the enormous economic benefits that would be lost to taxpayers” should they ban casinos.

Yeah, enormous economic benefits. That’s how it starts. Next thing you know, Beacon Hill is gambling’s bitch.

• This guy’s from … California? So apparently some House Republicans are worried about newly elected Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who hails from my home state of California. You know, deep-blue California, land of Jerry Brown, Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer! So, really, how Republican can this guy really be?

Need I remind the GOP that California is the home state of their patron saint, inheritor of the Barry Goldwater legacy, Ronald Reagan? Yes, he was a Democrat for many years, but he was a California Democrat, he did commercials for cigarette companies, and by the time he was elected governor in 1966, he’d become a Republican.

Not only that, but California is also the birthplace of the ultra-right John Birch Society, located in Orange County, which is hardly a liberal enclave. And McCarthy hails from Bakersfield, which is a central valley town that is about as far as you can get from the liberalism that dominates places such as Los Angeles and San Francisco.

So relax, Republicans. McCarthy may not be from the South, may not blurt out ridiculous inanities about abortion or rape or leading a Christian crusade to re-take Washington, D.C., but he’s plenty Republican.

Then again, maybe I’m just saying that…?

• Depends on what the meaning of the word “imminent” is. The guy who wrote the memo saying the Obama administration could kill American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, third-person shooter-style, justified the move in a 41-page memo back in July 2010 that was just released this week, albeit with heavy redactions. The memo said it was OK for the president to order the deal of an al-Qaida operative if he concluded the person could not be captured and posed an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States.

Only the memo redefines “imminent” to note that it “does not require … clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. person and interests will take place in the immediate future.”

So, if a guy might someday think about maybe attacking us, he’s fair game for the drones? BTW, the author of that memo, David Barron, is now a judge of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

• Tea party’s bad year continues. Mississippi U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, targeted by tea partier Chris McDaniel, hung on to his seat by the hair of his chinny, chin chin this week, 50.9 percent to 49.1 percent. Of course, McDaniel being a tea partier, he immediately refused to concede the race and claimed “irregularities” tainted his narrow loss.

In the tea party, there are only two kinds of elections: The increasingly few contests they win, and the ones their opponents totally cheat them out of!

Where have I heard this all before?

• And, finally this week, freedom! The New York Court of Appeals struck down a ban on sugary sodas of more than 16 ounces imposed by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in a bid to improve the health of New Yorkers. (Sure, you can still buy boiled meat of uncertain provenance from a street cart. Bloomberg was a health fascist but he wasn’t a dictator!) Anyway, New York City residents can once again fire up the Big Gulp, Super Big Gulp, and Double Gulp (not to mention those little buckets with straws the size of a gasoline pump hoses)! Excuse me, I’m going home to bathe in my hot tub, which I’ve spent all week filling with Dr Pepper!

See you next week!