FLASHPOINT for Dec 10, 2006

Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006 | 7:45 a.m.

The theater last week surrounding the politicians who induced the hospital behemoth Universal Health Services to return to the table was nothing short of stunning. Jim Gibbons, the governor-elect, doing little and getting much positive press - I bet he'd forgotten what it looked and sounded like. Speaker-elect Barbara Buckley speaking softly and carrying the heaviest stick. County Commission boss Rory Reid speaking loudly to the hospital execs and shocking everyone - whether it was an act or not. Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Shelley Berkley exerting not-so-subtle pressure on the hospital to come to the table. And the winner: SEIU, the nurse's union. But will it be ephemeral? I'd hate to hear about Reid the Younger yelling again.

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