Quick Clips: Kids say the darndest things?

** Nevada’s chief executive, quite possibly the worst governor in the nation, Jim Gibbons, left his chief of staff Mike Dayton to field questions about educational funding from students representing the Clark County School District Student Advisory Council. The results weren’t pretty. Could a person venture that they might have been worse had the Governor himself faced the kids – and their grasp of the statistics and consequent implications? Full Story at Las Vegas Sun. Perhaps we could encourage the kids to ask the governor about northern Nevada’s bleak numbers in the last economic quarterly reports? [RGJ]

** Molly Ball reminds Nevada Republicans that if they lose one more seat in the State Assembly the Democrats will have a veto proof majority, and one more seat in the Senate will give Democrats control of the Legislature. [LVRJ]

** If this comment concerning the influence of lobbyists on John McCain’s president campaign isn’t replete with elitism, it’s hard to image what would qualify: “Asked today if questions about potential conflicts-of-interest might be affecting the choices of average American voters, Black responded bluntly: "Hell, no." He was careful to say that Senator McCain is committed to maintaining the integrity of the campaign -- hence his commitment to the re-vetting process. But, Black added, "I do not believe that average voters out there care." [MSNBC] The Great Unwashed, Hoi Polloi, Little People, have noticed that the campaign staffers weren’t vetted in the first place – had this not been the case “re-vetting” would not be necessary. What the “little people sitting out there in the dark” understand perfectly well is that executives who are tied to lobbyists (Jack Abramoff anyone?) have ethical conflicts of interest, and conflicts of interest all too often result in scandals, jail sentences, and other scenarios played out during the Bush Administration. Black’s had ties to the Mobutu regime in Zaire, Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos (on whom Reagan pulled the plug), Nigerian dictator Ibrahim Babangida, and the brutal regime controlling Equatorial Guinea. [HuffPo] What was McCain saying recently about not talking to brutal dictatorial regimes?

** We could do this for another hundred years? “The Army said today that it is "increasingly a challenge" to provide troops for the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and to reach its goal of allowing soldiers at least 12 months at home between combat tours. The experience of the 25th Infantry Division is typical. It just returned last October from a 15-month deployment in Iraq and will spend barely 12 months at home before its new deployment. The division served a 12-month deployment in Afghanistan in 2004 and 2005.” [Baltimore Sun] Or this? “The Pentagon plans to send 39,000 soldiers to Iraq to replace troops scheduled to leave the war zone and to hold the total U.S. force level steady over the next year.” [Reuters] When is a “Surge” a permanent escalation?

** Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) noted that President Bush would be the first chief executive to veto a benefits bill for veterans. [TP] Meanwhile, the Philadephia Inquirer, the Denver Post, and the Seattle News Tribune weigh in with support for the Webb Bill.

** Bomb Bomb Iran: Senator John McCain is upset that Senator Barack Obama is “downplaying” the danger from Iran [CNN] which, in turn, yields the question: Who wants the danger played UP? The list includes Michael Ledeen, James Woolsey, and Norman Podhoretz [TWN] and where have we heard those names before? Neo-conservatives one and all. Ron Paul caught them at it in 2006. Conanson picked up on the implications of a McCain presidency in a Salon article last March, “The danger of a McCain presidency is not only that he would prolong our presence in Iraq but that he would seek to fulfill neoconservative dreams of a war expanded from Iraq into Iran and Syria, leading to a regional conflagration. With his campaign already sowing the arguments for a wider conflict, we will not be able to say we weren't warned.” For what it’s worth, McCain endorser Rev. John Hagee would be delighted to see the promotion of Armageddon. “Hagee, who has a radio and television ministry with a global reach and is the author of more than 20 books, views the Israel-Hezbollah conflict as a warm-up to a confrontation with Iran.“[RtWebWtch]