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Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012 | 2 a.m.
I give up.
I write this Saturday morning, long before any caucus returns are in, but the results for Nevada already are: We lost.
Over the course of caucus week, the embarrassments have piled up. Caucuses starting at different times in different counties, like staggered shifts in casinos. A “special” caucus for Gondolier Numero Uno Sheldon Adelson and others, taking place hours after every other caucus and at Adelson’s eponymous school. And two of the biggest media hounds on the planet, one national and one local, bounced onto the media stage — Donald Trump, staging one of the most awkward ring-kissing scenes in history with the Romneys, and brothel kingpin Dennis Hof, who, I believe, started Libertines for the Libertarian.
Is this who we are? Is this the real Nevada? Or is it, as the state song, “Home Means Nevada,” goes:
—“Way out in the land of the setting sun,
Where the wind blows wild and free,
There’s a lovely spot, just the only one
That means home sweet home to me.”
—
After days, weeks, years of lamenting and railing about the national derision, the annoying caricatures, the patronizing derision, I have reached the only stage that everyone here should: acceptance.
We are who we are: goofy, flashy, quirky. So be it. Deal with it.
Ignore the national folks and their trite tropes because we know what they don’t know — or they do know and are jealous:
—“Oh you certainly will agree with me,
It’s the place of a thousand thrills.”
—
Where else, what other state could play host to the spectacle that we have seen here just this week? Trump, who is a whore for media attention, and Hof, who gives attention to whores, are the perfect emblems and bookends for Nevada.
Hof, no matter what you think of what he does, epitomizes the best of Nevada’s spirit: brash, bombastic and effervescent. Trump, no matter what you think of him, embodies the worst parts of Nevada: soulless, hedonistic and narcissistic.
Nevadans, like Hof, don’t try to hide what we are. He offends many people — I cannot relate to that — but so what? As opposed to the world of politics, where dishonest is the default and poseurs are like locusts, we don’t try to hide our true nature.
But how many of the national media corps mocking us this week would have mortgaged their homes to be here for the horror show that was Reid-Angle in 2010? How many would have given their eyeteeth to chronicle the bacchanalia that was The Oscar Goodman Era? And how many secretly wish they could spend more time in the state that never sleeps, the state where dull moments go to die, where the political season never ends?
Many of them have discovered this week, traveling the vast expanse that is our gorgeous state, just what a rich tableau we have:
—“Here is the land which I love the best,
Fairer than all I can see.
Deep in the heart of the golden west.”
—
Nevada is not just the Strip sparkle and superficiality, but the incomparably beautiful scenery of Lake Tahoe, Red Rock and points in between. It is also a place where those seeking second chances actually get them and where dreamers come to make a fortune. And it is, alas, a place where the American Dream has been crushed by a bursting housing bubble, where tens of thousands are out of work and may be out of a home soon. This is no unpleasant mirage, no neon nightmare.
Nevada may be an unreal place, but the economic cataclysm here is real, sustained and devastating. The story of how the state that grew so fast and so free but is now handcuffed by slow growth and inexorable constraints is one that will dominate the landscape here for a long time.
But we are used to that. Nevadans are used to ridicule, lampooning and hard times. So:
—“Whenever the sun at the close of day,
Colors all the western sky,
Oh my heart returns to the desert grey.”
—
I came from the East Coast to Nevada in 1984, disdainful of the state and knowing I would be here for two years. I would soon be winging my way back to civilization, garnering some experience in this unreal place before returning to reality.
But my first chance in the land of second chances became the only chance I wanted. The news, the people, the life.
Mock us if you will, outsiders — and you will. But after 27-plus years, home means Nevada to me, and I don’t care what the rest of the world thinks.
So I happily give up. I guess this is what they call sweet surrender.
Well John, I guess all the hype and blather about how "important" and "game changing" the GOP caucus would be for the state turned out to be, well, a load of crap. Romney wins, and the whole herd of "candidates" is long gone. Even the turnout by the GOP here was a real snooze. The democratic party machine will pulverize whoever the eventual nominee is, if this farce was any indication.
Pulvarize: To reduce by crushing, or grinding - We'll see.
Nice column, Jon. I would add that the craziest elements in the state come mostly from rural and northern Nevada. Angle, Gibbons and many others are products of the far-right politics that dominate outside Las Vegas and Clark County.
In the Nevada family, Las Vegans are the saner, less screwed up relatives.
The whole process was a wreck of the Republican clown car, right off the cliff like Thelma and Louis. The whole world is watching! All you can do is make light of the downfall of the free world as typified by the Republiklan cacaasses? SHAME!
I demand an investigation!
Is Inspector Clouseau available?
Thanks Jon-Now I know why I'm a big fan of yours." Nevada is Beautiful!" Thanks for reminding me that sometimes you just gotta give up. You guys always get up, dust yourselves off, and get on with life. You can spot fluff a mile away. You know snake oil hawkers. Just these days you can't hang em.
No need to- let em spend their money, and invite em back anytime. Just stay away from Yucca.
Nevada State inspires awe. Nevada has incredulous and wonderous beauty at every turn, and is vast.
I love my ranching lifestyle in Northern Nevada, and my working life here in Southern Nevada, wishing it all will last.
Nevada has imperfections that never ends, as its politics.
But the Heavens above Nevada, always brighten up my day!
How's that for a new song?
Blessings and Peace,
Star
Bertha Rafetto, who wrote "Home Means Nevada" in 1932, and who probably never ventured to southern Nevada, is herself a minor caricature of our great state. She moved to Nevada from somewhere else (Iowa). After securing a divorce from her 1st husband, she married her Reno, NV divorce attorney. "Home Means Nevada" was composed almost completely in 18 hours on the Saturday before it was due. Imperfectly perfect.
Nevada, like each of its inhabitants (and like every other state), is imperfect. We should not have to apologize for being Nevadan. And, it is great timing for your use of the Nevada State song (intentional?), as it became so by legislative act on February 6, 1933, 79 years ago tomorrow. Well, almost great timing, but nobody's perfect.
Nicely done, Mr. Ralston. We are who we are, and those who mock us, or, worse, try to undo us from the inside out, are wasting their time. Welcome home.
Like a fingernail on a small itch, this article was a small effort on showing the true Nevada or WHY Mr. Ralston really calls this place home. Why DO you call it home Jon? Could it be that there's more to you than the never ending political junk you focus on? One might truly like to see just WHY you call this place home. My burning question is: IF "Home means Nevada to you", then WHY? Do tell!
WELCOME TO FABULOUS LAS VEGAS !!!.... Where we are number one in home foreclosures; where we have a higher unemployment rate than the rest of the nation; where our Metro police will only give you one warning before they open fire; where we are known as the Sin City ......open for gambling, flowing with booze, showgirl women, five star hotels and restaurants, Broadway shows and 24 hour open town.
AHHHH!!!! What a life we have in Vegas. If this is what they call "Sin City", let me enjoy life and not have it any other way.
Nevada is a Great Place, Now change it! Here, where Pedestrians are blamed for being out of a crosswalk, yet the nearest one may be a mile away. Where the Police shoot to kill unarmed citizens. Where every strip center has a "SPA", Nail Place and PayDay Lender. Where Builders have little regulations and houses are zoned close enough for an Imaginary Mass Transit System. Where Billionaires like to live to avoid Taxes, while having one of the least educated workforces in the U.S. Don't change a thing, everything is fine is the Republican Mantra, and you know what - they might be right. The Highly Educated workforce of Northern California comes at a High Price. Taxes, Traffic, Accountable Politicians, Transit Systems, Medical Research Facilities,Top Notch Universities, Parks, Museums and much more. Just look how fortunate we are not to have those problems.
I, too, am a transplant like Jon. I have no desire to change Nevada, but rather embrace it for what it is. This is Vegas, baby!
That said, given this state's libertarian streak, there are some items that make me wonder why they still exist here.
1. Why don't we have same-sex civil unions and capitalize on being the marriage capital of the world?
2. Why don't we have a state lottery?!? There are NO moral arguments against it here.
3. Why is mining given special protection in the state constitution? That goes against everything that libertarian thought stands for.