Where I Stand: Gov. Miller not accepting presidential appointment — now

Thursday, May 8, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

IT'S TIME TO WRAP up several days of writing and allow Editor Brian Greenspun to take over for a few days. Before stepping aside, it's necessary for me to go through my mail and notes and pass on the information they contain.

Gov. Bob Miller in the presidential company going to Mexico started some of the old political rumor mills whirring again. No, he's not going to leave Nevada and become ambassador to Mexico. That job is to be filled soon by a very competent Republican Gov. William Weld of Massachusetts. There's little doubt that Miller could be an excellent ambassador for the United States in Central or South America and in many other countries. If he wants such an assignment, when he leaves office, you can bet it will be his. Miller made the trip to Mexico because of his leadership role in the National Governors' Association and his familiarity with that country and its people. ...

Hillary Clinton's column published in the Tuesday edition of the SUN certainly disagrees with my view that the FDR memorial is just fine and shouldn't add another statue with the former president in a wheelchair. At least, Las Vegan Verla Boyle agrees with me. Verla writes: "Just read your article about Roosevelt. Since I am the 'girl' who typed his checks way back when, I do not approve of him being remembered in a wheelchair. I lived two years in Washington and did not know he was crippled. My aunt had polio at the same time as FDR, and my grandfather sent her to Warm Springs where she became a close friend. I did not know this until years later. FDR was the first president I voted for, as I had to return to California in order to vote." ...

SUN reader Beverly S. Grenier and several others brought to our attention an error. The cutline beneath a picture of a mule and burro in Oatman, Ariz., referred to them as "ancestors of turn-of-the-century miners' mules." The readers let us know that the animals couldn't be the ancestors 90 years later and still be alive. As a farm boy, I also wonder about how many offspring mules would be able to claim. ...

The selection of former Congresswoman Barbara Vucanovich as ambassador to the Congressional Awards Council of Nevada is a plus for that organization. Patrick Smith is pleased that Barbara will participate in the activities. Barbara says: "The Congressional Award is such a great way to keep young people focused on helping their communities and themselves. By setting personal development, public service, expedition and physical fitness goals, participants achieve their goals at a comfortable pace and in a noncompetitive environment." ...

Veteran Tom Casey is just happy to be alive. Tom writes: "I especially would like to thank the V.A. for keeping me alive for the last seven or eight years when I couldn't afford medical insurance." ... Dewey Huss knows the value of the prevailing wage for working people. Then he adds: "Could you please write an article on NAFTA before Bill Clinton gives away the rest of the good-paying jobs?" ...

SUN reader Cliff Rivas wrote his recollection of a dog column I wrote 11 years ago. It was the farewell words of the elderly dog Duke. In his letter, Cliff enclosed a tribute to the dog given by a senator when pleading the case for an owner who had his dog killed by a neighbor. The man sued, and Sen. George G. Vest took his case to a jury in a northern Missouri town.

Here's how Vest described the best friend a man can have:

"A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground where the wintry wind blows and the snow drifts fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer. He will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journeys through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth, an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying, to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and, when the last scene of all comes, and when death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by the graveside may the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even in death."

The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff and awarded him $500 instead of the $200 he had sought. It's been said that a few of the more sensitive jurors wanted to hang the defendant.