Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Dishing out more reasons to be thankful

As you recover from your Turkey Day hangover and wonder when the leftovers will be gone, it’s time to revisit what some high-profile folks gave thanks for on Thursday. Luckily, I know:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: For Sharron Angle. For Hispanics. For Sharron Angle. For his campaign team. For Sharron Angle.

Failed GOP Senate hopeful Sharron Angle: For Reidhate. For voter/media amnesia, hence the 2012 boomlet. For her campaign team (looking loonier than she ever did in the aftermath).

U.S. Sen. John Ensign: For the blind, deaf and dumb faithful. For Mom and Dad having your back. For Harry Reid’s enduring support.

Rep. Dean Heller: For not taking on Harry Reid (quid pro quo in 2012, Dr. Ruthless?). For John Ensign’s disapproval rating. For National Republican Senatorial Committee love to come.

Rep. Shelley Berkley: For 2001’s reapportionment. For Ken Wegner (over and over again). For her upcoming volume entitled, “How to win friends and influence Nancy Pelosi.”

Rep. Dina Titus: For second (or third) chances. For Congressional District 4. For reports of her death being greatly exaggerated.

Rep.-elect Joe Heck: For second chances. For the GOP wave. For 1,922 Nevadans.

Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval: For his opponent’s last name. For Jim Gibbons. For Univision’s lack of a smoking videotape.

Failed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid: For Dad’s victory. For Dad’s race, so no one looked closely at how his was run (until that textbook next year, that is). For 2014, or 2018, or 2022.

Gov. Jim Gibbons: For being largely forgotten. For that horse giving the first reason in four years to feel sympathy for him. For all the job offers that surely are rolling in.

Speaker Barbara Buckley: For being (pretty much) invisible. For not having to answer media calls. For not having to deal with that budget in 2011.

State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford: For Bill Raggio being deposed and not on Finance. For having only one seat at risk. For dreams of Congress before the state Senate majority is lost in 2012.

Speaker-elect John Oceguera: For having lost only two seats. For having lost two seats to relieve the supermajority pressure. For the firefighters union not expecting anything from you, especially after they are providing the food, drink and location for that “thank you” event this week.

Former state Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio: For 120 days of patience. For an elephant-like memory. For that storehouse of legislative knowledge.

State Senate Minority Leader Mike McGinness: For six votes. For Harry Reid’s popularity in GOP central committees. For a good back-watcher, the better to see Raggio coming (objects in the rearview mirror are closer than they appear).

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman: For Bombay Sapphire (numbs pain of being ignored most of the year). For Las Vegans continuing year after year to give him platform to act like a chronic inebriate and only get more popular. For the pale imitation his successor will provide.

Clark County Commissioner Larry Brown: For being the likely pale imitation. For having access to the anointing fluid. For Steve Ross’ rift with some union folks.

Las Vegas City Councilman/mayoral hopeful Steve Ross: For Larry Brown’s dynamism. For the relatively small number of votes it will take to become mayor. For no one remembering he once thought he could serve two masters, public and private.

And some quick ones:

State Treasurer Kate Marshall: For Warren Buffett never hearing what she said about him during the campaign (that she’s a better investor).

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto: For Travis Barrick. For the lieutenant governor not really having any power to wreak any revenge.

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki: For Jim Gibbons. For evanescent indictments.

Secretary of State Ross Miller: For Rob Lauer deciding not to run for Congress.

Controller Kim Wallin: For Barry Herr. For no one knowing who the controller is or what she does.

Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani: For all the suckers who believe she’s interested in mayor (as opposed to pressuring mayoral hopeful Larry Brown to vote for her to chair the commission).

Nevada Republican Party: For Brian Sandoval not needing its help. For Joe Heck not needing its help. For nobody really needing its help.

Nevada Democratic Party: For the state Republican Party. For Harry Reid’s fundraising ability. For the GOP wave that wasn’t.

Nevada political junkies: For the 2010 U.S. Senate race. For Jim Gibbons’ four years. For the 2011 legislative cataclysm to come.

Las Vegas media: For the enduring truth that karma will out — it always does.

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