Las Vegas Sun

As a woman, I agree wholeheartedly that John McCain's selection is an insult to women. There were other, more qualified Republican women he could have chosen; instead, he went for a trophy VP to match his trophy wife. In addition, the fact that she is under investigation demonstrates a clear lack of judgment by McCain. What if the allegations are true? What if they impeach her? Or could that be McCain's strategy? If they win the election and then she is impeached, obviously she would gracefully step down leaving him the opportunity to name her successor -- probably Joe Lieberman who he wanted to name in the first place. This is first-rate sleaze ball tactics. And, as women, we should be highly insulted because she was not chosen for her qualifications but for her looks.

So, how will this affect other petitions? Or for that matter, will this decision also have an effect on resolutions that are adopted by the Legislature to amend the constitution or the ballot question that follows when the proposed amendment is adopted during two consecutive sessions? I think the Court has gone down a slippery slope, and appointed Justices are beginning to sound more reasonable to avoid political decisions such as this one.

The Sun acts like this is a recent decision. The court denied the petition on June 8, 2008, and a certified copy was either delivered or mailed to the parties on June 19, including the Legislative Counsel. So, who knew what and when? Andy why the delay in reporting the court's decision? If the court denied the petition BEFORE the Special Session, why did the Senate kill AB 2, clarifying the Legislature's intent that comped meals were to be taxed? These are the questions that journalists should be asking.

I was with a friend earlier this week who had earned enough points at a local casino that she treated my daughter and me to lunch. Funny thing is that she was required to pay the tax for the meal. And her sister, who lives in New Jersey, earned enough points that she was comped a room for two nights, but she had to pay the room taxes. So, if the casinos are collecting the taxes for things that are comped, why wouldn't those taxes be submitted to the state? Are casinos going to get refunds from the state for taxes that customers already paid?

What a wonderful tribute to Tim Russert, Jon. This weekend watching MSNBC, I heard similar comments from people. And this morning, MSNBC had clips of an interview with his son, Luke, that was done shortly after Sunday's Meet The Press memorializing Tim. Luke was so composed and gracious. He made his father proud. I am saddened by his death although I never met him. But I enjoyed his broadcasts and enthusiasm. Maybe that's the Irish in me. Thanks, Jon, for the touching story!

I thought Senator Reid's appearance on The Daily Show was refreshing. His book has received favorable critiques. Surprisingly, Senator Reid did not attack the Republicans when Jon Stewart accused the Senate of being in a holding pattern. He briefly explained that neither house holds a majority large enough to override a veto (although I find that a lame excuse -- pass legislation and let the President take the heat for vetoing it). Yet, he admitted and accepted that the Democrats have not been able to push its agenda forward. Given the posturing from most politicians, Senator Reid's remarks were, as I said before, refreshing.

I'm not a lawyer, but I just read both Halverson's pleading and the constitutional articles regarding the Judiciary. The constitution clearly allows the Legislature to amend the districts and to set the terms and the seats of Supreme Court Justices and District Court Judges. Regarding the Supreme Court Justices, if the Legislature increases the number of seats on the Supreme Court, the constitution specifically requires the Legislature to stagger the terms of the newly-created seats. Although this specific language does not appear in the articles for district court judges, there is a blanket statement that the terms are set by law. Therefore, I think Elizabeth Halverson's pleading is nothing more than a frivolous pleading and I hope the Supreme Court slaps her accordingly.

I think he's trying to ship his ASSETS out of the country where they can't be liened by an order of the court. In addition to "flagging" his passport, the DA's office should be freezing his assets to ensure they are available for liquidation once the legal wrangling is finished.

I've given this situation a lot of thought, and I keep thinking about policies regarding car chases. Let me explain: many police departments have instituted policies regarding car chases to lessen the deaths of innocent people. Too many deaths resulted from chases for minor traffic infractions and the public reacted strongly. In this instance, I cannot help but think: why didn't the Henderson Police Department just back down? We hold police officers to a higher standard, and in this situation, the police officers held the key to defusing it simply by walking away. They had the driver's name, address, etc. Why didn't they say, "hey, this is for a minor traffic offense. Let's do this by mail or have the DA's office issue a summons." They should have risen above the fray and walked away. I understand this woman was frantic, and perhaps there were some language misunderstandings. Still, there was a better, less violent way to address this traffic violation other than to kill this woman. And we, as a society, need to stress to all officers that killing someone over a traffic citation is never acceptable. While I understand that refusing to sign the ticket is cause to arrest a driver, why bother? Under no circumstances should an officer be so rigid during a minor traffic stop that he or she actually aggravates the situation to the point that it ends as this tragedy did. I'm tired of hearing police officers defend what the HPD's actions. There were alternatives but it would have required the HPD to back off and find another way to cite Mr. Selimaj. But the problem with my theory is that it requires these proud, and often arrogant, officers to take the higher road by walking away, and that's something these officers would consider weak.

As I recall, the media predicted this when Dawn lost her campaign for her husband's congressional seat. It was said rather sardonically, but there were questions about whether the happy couple just did not want to live in the same state. I guess we have the answer now.