• Congratulations to Navy SEAL Matt McCabe who was cleared yesterday of charges that he gave a captured terrorist – the mastermind behind the Fallujah murder of those Blackwater employees – a fat lip and a punch to the stomach. Two other SEALs in the incident had already been cleared.
• And while we’re happy with the results of these trials, those men never should have been charged in the first place. The military’s top brass who put them through this ordeal ought to be ashamed of themselves.
• Congratulations, also, to Nevada Newsmakers host Sam Shad for a very successful fundraising dinner for his foundation at the M Resort last evening in Las Vegas. The honorees for the dinner were former Nevada Gov. Bob Miller and former presidential advisor and ambassador to Iceland, Sig Rogich. As they say, a good time was had by all.
• That said, I spoke with a couple of candidates at the dinner who advised me of some pretty serious arm-twisting they’ve gotten from some Carson City lobbyists over signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. These lobbyists – including some purportedly conservative business types – are falsely telling first-time GOP candidates that if they sign the Pledge, they’ll be “irrelevant” during next year’s legislative session. What a crock.
• But folks, these people give money….and they’re threatening our candidates with what some might even call “reverse blackmail”….don’t sign the Pledge or no money. The candidates with strong backbones are standing up to the pressure, but some who haven’t quite gotten their political sea legs under them yet have caved.
• The only way to stiffen the spines of the wishy-washy ones is for each and every one of you to ask each and every legislative candidate you run across whether or not they’ve signed the Pledge. They’ll then have to weigh what their constituents want vs. what the Carson City lobbyists want. If they don’t hear from you, they’ll go with the money every time.
• Which reminds me, although Brian Sandoval has not yet signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, at least he’s now joining me in pointing out that Gov. Jim Gibbons has broken the Pledge he signed in 2006. SlashPolitics has Sandoval’s new commercial pointing out, among other things, Gibbons’ duplicity on the tax issue, along with some commentary about the ad by Steve Sebelius HERE
• http://slashpolitics.lvcitylife.com/2010/05/1810/
• Meanwhile, Mike Montandon, Republican candidate for Nevada governor, will hold an Online Town Hall on illegal immigration at 1:30 p.m. on the front page of his website where he will contrast his position on immigration with Governor Jim Gibbons, Brian Sandoval, and Rory Reid. Go to: www.MikeMontandon.com
