Friday Fish Wrap: July 23, 2010

We lost two really good men this week, and I’m sad about both.

Kenny Guinn, the two term Republican governor of Nevada fell off the roof of his home in Las Vegas, Nevada while attempting some repairs. Guinn was the last Republican that I voted for. Hear that? I do vote for Republicans when they’re as decent as Kenny Guinn was. They don’t make Republicans like that anymore.

Guinn was the only governor in recent memory that had guts enough to be realistic about the budgetary needs for Nevada. He put forth the largest tax increase in the states history. For that he left office with an astounding 66% approval rating. He also declined to support Jim ‘No taxes’ Gibbons, who later won. Jim is going out with an embarassing approval rating of a negative percent. I jest, although it isn’t really very funny.

Republican who taxed is beloved. Republican who is a stubborn anti-tax horses’ behind is hated. You’d think Nevada Republicans would get a clue here.

Daniel Schorr, that familiar and authoritative voice on NPR, doing news analysis, passed today at age 93. I hung on his every word, for common sense, historical perspective and the last vestige of the Edward R. Murrow style of journalistic excellence.

Daniel Schorr rose above the likes of Andrew Breibart with quiet grace, integrity and a wealth of real world experience that few could ever hope to match.

With Breibart, Americans get cheesy, manufactured stories like the one that nearly took down a woman of integrity - Shirley Sherrod. There’s a world of difference there, and we are the poorer for it as consumers of reliable information. Kudos to the Atlanta Constitution-Journal for taking a deep breath and swinging back to the rational side of the truth meter - finally calling Breibart out for his obvious fraud. Hell, even Ann Coulter - long the right’s reigning queen of ‘the truth is what I say it is’  - said the heavily edited video was a sham. But you can still find Patrick Buchannan tap dancing around the facts, as a Breibart apologist.

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Some things have changed ... a lot

There is a woman up at the retirement home where my Mother lives, here in Reno, who feels the need to tell Mom that our African ‘daughter’, Natacha just isn’t welcome up there, and we’re all very misguided and wrong to bring her up there for the community meals.

I wish my Mom could tell this woman what to do with her bigotry, but it always seems to blow right past Mom and catch her unawares. That happens when you’re in your nineties, I suppose.

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