* Yes, Ron DeSantis’ coming out party left a lot to be desired. But don’t write him off yet.
* Yesterday, DeSantis struck a chord with many GOP primary voters in going after Trump for essentially giving carte blanche to Fauci during COVID. Heck, Trump even gave Fauci an award instead of getting rid of him!
* This is a serious Achilles heel for Trump. For all the good things he did for the country as president, his term was also marked by multiple and serious lapses in judgment when it came to appointments.
* Remember Anthony Scaramucci?
* Recognizing the mass conspiracy against Trump while in office, many conservatives simply bit their tongues and said nothing rather than criticize Trump’s mistakes and give fodder to the media and his opposition (but I repeat myself).
* Those tongues are wagging now – led by DeSantis. No more free passes.
* Will it be enough to overtake Trump and win the nomination? Don’t touch that dial. This race has only just left the gate. Lots of twists and turns ahead.
* Nevada Gov. Joe “Don Veto” Lombardo threw down the gauntlet this week, warning legislative Democrats that he “will not sign any budget bills until my priorities are addressed. Period."
* One leftie Twitter troll responded thusly: “The people of Nevada hired all the Democrats in the assembly and all the Democrats in the Senate to do the people's work.”
* Derp. Legislators don’t run statewide. As such, they have no statewide mandate.
* However, they do have the majority – and you would otherwise think that’s an arguable point in the troll’s favor. However…
* As conservative activist Mateo Portelli pointed out in response, the D’s only have the majority thanks to gerrymandering the legislative districts following the 2020 Census.
* Portelli notes that when you cumulatively add up all the votes for GOP legislative candidates statewide, Republican candidates actually raked in 56% of the popular vote – which is exactly how Dems now want our presidential elections decided.
* The United States Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the government couldn’t take a 94-year-old woman’s property for an unpaid tax lien, sell it off, and keep the profits.
* Not a good decision for the City of Las Vegas, which has taken the shuttered Badlands golf course, zoned for residential housing, and converted it into a park without compensating the developer for the loss in value.
* The city has lost three separate cases over the taking and has appealed those decisions to the Nevada Supreme Court where, if justice is served, the developer will win yet again.
* You’d think the city would see the writing on the wall and settle the matter. Alas, you’d be thinking wrong. You can’t fix stupid.
* In criticizing GOP opposition to SB133 – which deals with the non-issue of “fake electors” in a presidential election, The Las Vegas Sun editorialized today that “Elected officials of all political stripes should want to prevent election fraud.”
* Fair enough. Can’t wait to see the Sun’s editorial supporting Gov. Joe Lombardo’s reasonable election reform bill, which Democrats have refused to give even a hearing, let alone a vote.
* Don’t hold your breath waiting. Feigned righteousness and double-standards are the Sun’s stock in trade.
* April Becker, GOP candidate for the Clark County Commission, has filed an ethics complaint against her opponent, Democrat Commissioner Ross Miller, for various violations of Nevada’s campaign finance law.
* Miller is accused of accepting multiple donations in excess of the $10,000 limit, accepting multiple donations from “Unknown” individuals or companies, and failing to itemize expenses charged to his personal credit cards.
* Such complaints are not unusual. The government’s reporting requirements and procedures can be confusing. HOWEVER, Miller served eight years as the state’s Secretary of State. Ignorance of the law is absolutely no excuse for this guy.
* On Thursday, FOX News reported that Seattle plans to test “prospective fire lieutenants on woke ideology, critical race theory.”
* Thank goodness they didn’t pull this kind of crap 50 years ago, or my Baltimore City firefighting dad never would have gotten his promotion to lieutenant.
* And when I shared this story with my family, my younger brother, Greg – who has a wicked sense of humor – replied…
“Sample question: If in a fire and your choice is to save either the oppressed minority man OR the transgender woman, which do you choose? And please explain how you factor in your viewpoint as a white supremacist if you are white.”
* Like I said, wicked sense of humor.
* Sticking with the family theme, today would have been my baby brother Mark’s birthday. He passed away at 52 years young in 2020, but it was not COVID-related.
* Here’s Mark is doing his best “Cousin Eddie” imitation at Christmas a few years ago…
* “Shitter’s full.”
* Happy Birthday, Baby Bro’!
Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views and blogs at MuthsTruths.com. His views are his own.