Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: The object of contempt

OVERSTEPPING bounds that bode not well for Nevadans.

There were two stories this week -- one involving the federal government and its disdain for Nevada and the other dealing with Nevadans and their disdain for one another -- that point out a growing danger that threatens one of the last great states in this union and one to which most of us have become very much attached.

In order of importance, the first story dealt with Nevada's lawyers filing another lawsuit against President George W. Bush's federal government for singling out the Silver State for burial duty of the nation's high-level nuclear waste.

It is not the first suit the legal team has filed in its Man of La Mancha-style quest to stop the federal juggernaut from destroying all that Nevada has created and, hopefully, it won't be the last. The theory being that if we throw enough legal theorems against the wall, something might stick.

But the simplicity of this latest claim is what is intriguing and it may provide the key to allowing judges who are reluctant to mess with the power in Washington the courage to just say no. After all, when we have truth, justice and the American way on our side, we have an outside chance that right will win out.

It has been frustratingly difficult to put into words the overwhelming sense of oppression I have felt about the way in which the Congress and, especially, this president have forced themselves on the people of Nevada. They have determined that all that is bad in the world must be contained and that Nevada is the only place where that can happen, regardless of the harm it will do to the people who live here.

It has been even more frustrating to listen to many in President Bush's local chorus give him cover for his lying to us and his refusal to deal with fact over the fiction his power industry friends are feeding him in their determination to make Nevada the nuclear waste dump of the nation.

Now come Nevada's lawyers who say simply that the Constitution of the United States does not allow the government to run roughshod over the sovereign rights of a state full of Americans. I know it is a novel concept -- that we pay attention to the Constitution -- but the Founding Fathers knew a thing or two about royal decrees, and they were dead set against being door-matted by their fellow Americans just because the others had the political muscle to do it.

Their argument is rooted in the principles of state sovereignty, the bounds of federalism and the value of the 10th Amendment. In a world without political and financial considerations -- remember, that's the world the judiciary is supposed to live in -- the argument rings true.

So much for President Bush's dismissive attitude of Nevadans. What about our attitude toward each other?

The other story was a follow-up to Sen. John Ensign's decision to recommend Sen. Harry Reid's son, Leif, to the president to fill an upcoming federal court vacancy. Apparently Leif was one of four names that Sen. Ensign has proffered to the White House.

Even though Reid the younger is probably as qualified as most candidates for the lifetime position, his age notwithstanding, the likelihood of the political machine in the White House ever giving consideration to a Democrat, who just happens to be the son of the second-in-command for the Democrats in the U.S. Senate, seems remote.

Stranger things have happened and if the president advanced Leif's name to the Senate for confirmation it would be a credit to Sen. Ensign for having the courage to propose him and it would be a credit to Nevadans who would benefit in the future from a person with the intelligence and temperment needed for judicial service.

That is not, however, how some Nevadans, to their great discredit, feel.

We have witnessed for too long the yelling, screaming and downright ugly displays of acrimony across the political divide known as the aisle in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. It is downright unbecoming and detrimental to the long-term health of our democracy.

So, finally, when one of our senators reaches across the aisle to do the admirable and, according to Sen. Ensign, the responsible thing, he gets hammered by members of his own party. And why?

Not because Leif isn't qualified but because his father is a Democrat and is Harry Reid. And these folks are so steamed that they plan to work and vote against Sen. Ensign the next time out.

Forget the sheer stupidity of such an emotional tantrum. The uglier message is that Nevadans still aren't mature enough to handle this thing called democracy and the notion of civility that must be a vital component if it is to work.

It is not that I don't know which is worse -- clearly, the president's disdain for Nevada is far more worrisome -- but when we act out so childishly as some have against Sen. Ensign, we send the worst kind of message to the next generation, which is already growing up more cynical than most people thought possible.

If we must disdain, do so against those who do us wrong. Praise those who do what is right. If you don't know which is which, I am sorry. What about our attitude toward each other?

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