Barbwire by Barbano: The greatest political figure of 2020

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BARBWIRE BY ANDREW BARBANO
Expanded from the 11-4-2020 Sparks Tribune / UPDATED 11-6-2020 GMT / Expansions in blue

The greatest political figure of 2020

This newspaper will be on the street before the first vote counts are released but the Barbwire not only fearlessly predicts the clear results, but herewith names the 2020 politician of the year.

Drum roll, please for Marina Udgodskaya, the new mayor of Povalikhino, Russia, a farming hamlet of log houses, wood-burning stoves and rutted dirt roads 300 miles east of Moscow.

In Russia, as in all dictatorships, maintaining the illusion of democracy is critical to retaining power. That's how President Trump's buddies Czar Vladimir and Chairman Xi Xin Ping stay in power.

The Communist Party mayor needed a patsy to defeat in this year's rigged election but no one would file, so he ordered the city hall janitor to do so.

Marina, a 35 year-old mother of two teens, is a day laborer's wife ("I like farming"). She did not campaign. And kicked Mayor Nikolai Loktev's ass. The new mayor more than doubled her salary to $380 a month and is now planning to (gasp!) do things for the people. For a change.

The citizenry's number one desire is for that new-fangled invention called street lights. Their new mayor is working on it. She's now a superstar throughout the country.

She should avoid toasting her victory with any libations offered by someone she doesn't know as some of Czar Putin's detractors like Aleksei Navalny have learned the hard way.

Marina Udgodskaya has my vote as the most inspiring pol of this bastard year.

ATTACK OF THE ORANGE CRUSHER. My Big Apple correspondent, high-rise union ironworker Steven Gulitti forwarded a meme which now dominates the front page of NevadaLabor.com. Some very skilled artisan sculpted a very scary Trump-O-Lantern, noting that the "Trumpkin is orange on the outside, hollow on the inside and should be thrown out in November."

So it will. Here's how.

Last week, I offered semi-knowledgeable bar bet odds on Nevada's close races from local elections up to the top. I made Biden an 11-10 favorite to win here, slim odds because union members vote twice as frequently as most other categories and four in 10 of my brothers and sisters are Republicans. Nationally, it will be a different story.

POLLYANNA'S PEERLESS PREXY PREDIXION. I don't think the presidential thing is going to be close and that we will know the winner by midnight Pacific Standard Time or shortly thereafter. Czar Donaldov has never tried to expand his 40 percent base. Those who were charmed by his brutishness went all-in four years ago and they will show up with a few stragglers this week. The pie has gotten bigger but they bit off more than they could chew and the Democrats will eat their lunch.

Humongous nationwide early voting turnout was fueled by the formerly lackadaisical who have now tasted the bitter fruits of apathy.

Of the blue wall northeastern rust belt states, only Wisconsin and Michigan offer same-day voter registration. It's likewise not available in North Carolina or Florida.

Ex-wrestler Jesse Ventura was elected Minnesota governor in 1992 because one in six voters registered on election day. Still, it was a multiple candidate race and he won with about 37 percent.

I will relish seeing what cockamamy reason Trump and his lawyers come up with to challenge the results when his own phony deadline has been met and the election has been called on election night. (His deadline is midnight but he doesn't adjust for time zones. He's not a detail person.)

UPDATE 11-6-2020 GMT—> WEST WING REDUX: LIFE IMITATES ART

SIR SEAN CONNERY, 1930-2020. Some media giants become such a part of our lives that living or dead, they will always be with us. So it will be with the handsome kid who grew up poverty-stricken in Edinburgh, Scotland, and became one of the most recognizable figures in the world.

When he got a break, he made the most of it. He refined Ian Fleming's James Bond character and imbued the screen legend with his own sense of humor.

In 1989 when People magazine named him sexiest man alive, Connery noted that not many men are sexy when they're dead.

Married to his second wife since 1975, the once-divorced superstar long ago asserted that often "a man owes his success to his first wife and his second wife to his success."

I quoted that bit of wry wisdom to a small roomful of women and the temperature therein immediately dropped about 40 degrees. Never said it again.

Connery once said that author Fleming wanted either Cary Grant or Trevor Howard to play his creation. Years ago, I read a story that the deciding factor was the producer's wife. Mrs. Albert Broccoli viewed screen tests and advised her husband to go with the lesser-known Scotsman.

"The women will love him," she advised. The rest is history.

Thomas Sean Connery was no blushing violet. His knighthood was postponed for years because of his support for Scottish independence.

"There is no more creative act than creating a new nation," he stated in 2014. Maybe Brexit will finally make that dream come true. Here on this side of the pond, we have to reinvent America anew. Too bad 007 won't be around to help us figure it out.

Requiescat in pace.

GIVE AND GET. YOU'LL FEEL GOOD. As the town locks down again because the virus has turned the corner and is hurtling straight at us, the Reno Cigar Lions Club is still collecting working computers for distance-learning kids. PCs and laptops are needed but anyone with an extra laptop or desktop PC can help. Call (775) 453-0307 or e-mail RenoCigarLions@gmail.com.

Grassroots Books on E. Grove Street (behind the Scandinavian Designs furniture store on Reno's Kietzke Lane), continues its free books for kids campaign.

"We're giving 1,000 local kids (ages 2-8) a chance to get 50 free books. All they have to do is sign up online to reserve a time slot and get free tickets. It's outside so it's safe and kids love it," sez store manager Aline Polikalas. Sign up at GrassRootsBooks.com or call (775) 828-2665. Tell 'em you heard about via the Barbwire

Instant Home Library Giveaway UPDATE: Grassroots has had almost 1,400 responses thus far but continues to accept reservations. "That's over 68,000 free books infused into the area," reports Ms. Polikalas, adding that "owner Zoe Miller ranks early literacy high on our mission list."

Take care of each other and be careful out there.

¡Sí se puede!

Be well. Raise hell. Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)
être bien, élever l'enfer (And my French.)
Stammi bene. Scatenare l'inferno. (And Italian.)
___________________
NevadaLabor.com/CesarChavezNevada.com Editor Andrew Barbano is a 52-year Nevadan whose reputation remains impervious to further augmentation or denigration. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Sparks Tribune since 1988. E-mail <barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us>

BARBWIRE BY ANDREW BARBANO
Expanded from the 10-28-2020 Sparks Tribune / Expansions in blue

FREEBIE ALERT! FREE election bets. NEW!

"Never fail to take advantage of the word free" advised one of my first bosses in the advertising business.

I remain amazed at how many retailers fail to push that simple button on human nature. Politicians sure learn it early.

Czar Donaldov is nothing if not the incarnation of Dire Straits' observation "money for nothin' and the the chicks for free."

In most election years, I make book on selected races. So here's my bettors' bible, which usually produces for those who follow, especially after a few beers. Alas, bar bets are another endangered species in this year of strange life forms.

RENO CITY COUNCIL WARD 1. Incumbent Jenny Brekhus 7 to 5 over developer-backed realtor JD Drakulich. (His ancestors, Steve and Bette, would blush knowing that he's a fence-sitting non-partisan with heavyweight Republican backing.) Brekhus, the adult supervision at Reno City Hall, is buoyed by an almost plus-3,000 Democratic edge in her formerly establishment-Republican central/old Reno district.

RENO CITY COUNCIL WARD 5. Ditto, which is why incumbent Republican Neoma Jardon has been hustling Democratic endorsements in her northwest Reno district. Newbie Darla Fink enjoys a 3,000 Donkeyite registration edge in what used to be a rollover GOP district. As in just about every race this year, non-partisans can make up the difference but my longtime polling experience teaches that the NP's generally bend with the prevailing winds. Fink 11 to 10.

COUNTY COMMISSION WARD 1 pits another Democratic novice, Alexis Hill, against two-term Republican incumbent Marsha Berkbigler, a retired Charter/Spectrum cable exec. Hill has a plus-3,500 D registration advantage in the northwest Reno area. As in all of the above races, NP's are about 20 percent of registrants. Even money tossup.

RENO CITY COUNCIL AT-LARGE. Used car dealer heir Eddie Lorton's bomb-throwing is scary. He has raised a few good issues against incumbent attorney Devon Reese but has also played demagogue on many others. Negative campaigns work and I'm afraid he can tar other good council candidates with his hysterical advice. Reno now sports about an eight percent D registration edge, which will help both Reese and Joseph Biden. Reese in a citywide squeaker, 11-10. As I cautioned last week, Lorton looks like a destructive force quite similar to Jeff Church, speaking of whom...

SCHOOL TRUSTEE DISTRICT A. Republican Church faces embattled twice-elected former school board member Scott Kelley in a district with a huge Republican registration edge. I thought Church could very possibly beat current trustee Jacqueline Calvert in 2018 and was pleasantly surprised when the soft-spoken Gold Dust West foodserver won. Why? "You ever meet Jeff Church?" asked a dour voter of my acquaintance. Church 9 to 5.

SPARKS ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 31 pits incumbent union Democrat Skip Daly against former Assemblymember Jill Dickman who unseated him in the 2014 red wave. Daly returned the favor two years later and has held the seat since. The northeastern Sparks/Spanish Springs district puts Daly at a plus-2,000 GOP registration disadvantage. The district has been the most competitive in the state for a decade. Daly has been unable to implement his vaunted ground game due to the Trump virus but demonstrably knows how to win elections. Dickman's minions have gone from running an above-board campaign in 2018 to no-slurs-barred this year. Daly's record as an effective lawmaker will prevail. Daly 11-10.

SPARKS CITY COUNCIL WARD 1 Wendy Stolyarov over one-term incumbent Donald Abbott. She has a strong D edge in registration. Four years ago, Denise Lopez won the primary within the ward but lost citywide. Now that the race is ward-only, it's Stolyarov's to lose. Her answers to Reno Gazette-Journal reporter questions are singularly the best of ANY candidate running this year, all the way to the top. She proved both knowledgeable and original in her perspecive for the Rail City's future. Wendy wins 2-1.

THE OTHER WENDY, JAUREGI-JACKINS, for the District 15 state senate seat vs. incumbent Heidi Gansert: tossup at best in the now-slightly Democratic district. 6-5 and pick'em.

WASHOE DISTRICT COURT DEPT. 10 pits equestrienne personal injury TV lawyer Kathleen Sigurdson against incumbent Judge Elliott Sattler. This race was tame until veteran journalist Jon Ralston published an exposé last week linking Sigurdson with union-busting Grand Sierra Resort owner Alex Meruelo as "the primary financial backer...challenging a sitting judge who has ruled against his properties in the past...amid a complex, expensive and longstanding legal fight between the Grand Sierra Resort and a group of condominium owners in the hotel," journalist Riley Snyder wrote on Ralston's Nevada Independent website.

On one TV spot, Ms. Sigurdson says "courts should not be owned by one person or group." If you say so, ma'am. She's spending lots of money in what may prove a banner year for female candidates. Even money.

BALLOT QUESTION 1 which would remove the Nevada university system from its semi-autonomous position in the state constitution. Somebody is paying for a ton of TV supporting it, making allegations of out-of-control personal slush funds. (Something I exposed in this column as far back as 1996, my Pulitzer nomination year.) Former Washoe Democratic Chair Jim Richardson, longtime UNR professor and union leader, has called Q-1 a danger to academic freedom. Indeed, both the executive and legislative branches have in the past sought vengeance against educators they didn't like. I went to an expert I trust.

"I voted No!" states former university regent Nancy Price who retired to Sparks more than a decade ago and led a one-woman crusade against abuses in the system during her tenure.

"The legislature can and should audit the system," she says, cautioning "(but) they haven't done it except for one time when I asked (Assembly Speaker) Joe Dini to do so. He said he never got more pushback on anything but they did it...sort of.

"Oversight would be a tremendous job. So the argument doesn’t hold water. Just like some donors want to make policy, so do some legislators. It’s in the Constitution for good reason. This biannual legislature can’t do its oversight responsibility now. Adding the system would be tragic."

Amen, sister. I'm worried because there's no TV in opposition, at least in these parts. Bet Q-1 to win by a whisker, 11-10, unless somebody's running contra-TV in Gomorrah South.

NOW THE BIGGIE. The only poll that shows Nevada close comes from Trump backer Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Review-Journal. The New York Times average sez Biden has a seven-point lead. As always, Washoe is the swing county in the swing state. As the Barbwire reported three weeks ago, a lot of union members are closet Trump cultists. The giant Culinary Union is pulling out all the stops statewide. Biden, 11-10.

Sorry if I've missed your favorite race. The above are the ones I see as interesting and perhaps profitable bar bets. Anybody who makes money on this semi-knowledgeable advice owes me a drink sometime in 2023 when it may be safe to saloon again.

FREE! FREE! FREE! Grassroots Books on E. Grove Street (behind the Scandinavian Designs furniture store on Reno's Kietzke Lane), is offering FREE! books for kids.

"We're giving 1,000 local kids (ages 2-8) a chance to get 50 free books. All they have to do is sign up online to reserve a time slot and get free tickets. It's outside so it's safe and kids love it," sez store manager Aline Polikalas. Sign up at GrassRootsBooks.com or call (775) 828-2665. Tell 'em you heard about via the Barbwire.

Take care of each other and be careful out there.

¡Sí se puede!

Be well. Raise hell. Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)
être bien, élever l'enfer (And my French.)
Stammi bene. Scatenare l'inferno. (And Italian.
___________________
NevadaLabor.com/CesarChavezNevada.com Editor Andrew Barbano is a 52-year Nevadan whose reputation remains impervious to further augmentation or denigration. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Sparks Tribune since 1988. E-mail <barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us>

BARBWIRE BY ANDREW BARBANO
Expanded from the 10-21-2020 Sparks Tribune / Expansions in blue

Suede-shoe salesmen sucker city hall

Only the names of the towns change. The elected officials are interchangeable. The tune is always the same. And they always dance.

In my half-century kicking around these parts, I've noticed a formula for hogging whatever you want out of the taxpayers' treasury.

First, have representatives fly in from out of town. Everybody knows that big city guys know more than any of the local hicks. The newbies have to wear $2,000 suits, thousand-dollar shoes from some country you can't pronounce and carry briefcases right out of a James Bond movie.

The suede shoe city slickers promise permanent prosperity and jobs-jobs-jobs. Just sign here and don't pay any attention to the fine print about the deed to your soul.

It doesn't matter if the town fathers are rich or poor. The late Reno Mayor Bob Cashell, a Democrat-turned-Republican millionaire and natural-born leader, fell for the same siren songs as any yahoo from Yerington.

Flattery means never having to say you're sorry. And it's bi-partisan. There is no better example in the current election cycle than a mailer I just got from my Reno City Councillor, Neoma Jardon, a Republican running for another term.

She's been endorsed by two of her Democratic colleagues, Devon Reese and Oscar Delgado.

Reno and Sparks city council races are technically non-partisan but that only works one way — if the party name can be used to help the candidate. Otherwise, it's a non-issue, so ignore the label, right? Sure.

These fine folks have violated one of the oldest rules of follytix: Never get involved in another campaign if you are on the ballot. That rule gets trashed a lot these days, an indication of the power of money.

I voted by mail for Mr. Reese because his opponent is a nutso bombthrower just like school board candidate Jeff Church. In the Age of Trump, I've had quite enough of candidates out to tear down the institutions they purport to serve.

Regular readers know of my serious issues with Ms. Jardon and Mr. Delgado. Both sit on the Regional Transportation Commission which runs the three local mass toxic...er, transit... systems. The local bus line has never enforced Gov. Sisolak's mask order. As a result, upwards of 20,000 passengers a day, their drivers and support crews, all risk Coronavirus infection. Some have fallen.

My friends at the Teamsters Union have called and written the five RTC commissioners and have been stonewalled to this day.

No wonder Reno-Sparks-Washoe now tops the state in skyrocketing COVID-19 infections. The Reno-Sparks NAACP is the only other organization that has advocated for the average folks on the bus. President Lonnie Feemster came aboard as soon as he heard of the dangers.

The transit system largely serves the politically powerless, those of humble means: minorities, the poor, the young, the disabled, the elderly, the homeless.

Once you get on the Reno City Council, you're making a lot of money and can keystone the position to enhance your career. I have been especially rankled at Mr. Delgado who springboarded to political power by launching his first campaign at the home of the late and legendary Reno-Sparks NAACP matriarch Dolores Feemster. (I attended.) Anyone endorsed by Dolores carried northeast Reno, Delgado's district.

When her daughter-in-law, distinguished educator Dr. Debra Feemster, ran for re-election to the school board, Delgado refused to help. She lost to an unqualified Sharron Angle anti-public education Republican.

Of all the RTC commissioners, I would have expected the friendliest reception from Oscar whose district mirrors the demographics of the transit system. I break out in a rash when I see Oscar's re-election TV commercials touting how he's helped build crosswalks to keep kiddies safe while crossing the street. Great, as long as they haven't breathed the air on the bus they just rode.

Incumbent Reno Councillor Jenny Brekhus, a Democrat, has been the adult in the room at city hall for eight years. Needless to say, the developer establishment is gunning for her big time. Mayor Hillary Schieve's designated hitter lost in the primary, so the juice simply moved to the last guy standing in the central old Reno district, registration in which has gone surprisingly Democratic for the first time in memory.

The result of this perpetual miasma of well-dressed, perma-pressed penury-perpetrating power plays: Cities and schools which cannot meet the needs of their citizens due to hundreds of millions in corporate welfare giveaways. The RTC bus system is managed by a foreign-owned behemoth paid hundreds of thousands a year to abuse workers and passengers while spreading disease.

For a little shop of horrors detailing who's doing what, with which and to whom, access the NevadaLabor.com corporate welfare archives which will be linked to the expanded web edition of this column. It will go a long way toward explaining why our parks, roads, schools and first responders are chronically underfunded.

Ms. Jardon's mailer asserts that "I have put political games aside to focus on how our city's policies affect lives. I've worked alongside community members and forged bonds with my Democratic colleagues who have praised my cooperative efforts."

Gee, why is she now saying nice things which would have gotten her called a RINO (Republican in Name Only) in bygone years? Democrats now outnumber Republicans in her northwest Reno district.

Take care of each other and be careful out there.

¡Sí se puede!

Be well. Raise hell. Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)
être bien, élever l'enfer (And my French.)
Stammi bene. Scatenare l'inferno. (And Italian.
___________________
NevadaLabor.com/CesarChavezNevada.com Editor Andrew Barbano is a 52-year Nevadan whose reputation remains impervious to further augmentation or denigration. He currently serves as first vice-president of the Reno-Sparks NAACP. As always, his comments are strictly his own. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Sparks Tribune since 1988. E-mail <barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us>

BARBWIRE BY ANDREW BARBANO
Expanded from the 10-14-2020 Sparks Tribune / Expansions in blue

Bigotry means never having to say you're sorry

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The Dean of Reno Bloggers could very well be Andrew Barbano, self-described "fighter of public demons," who started putting his "Barbwire" columns online in 1996 and now runs 10 sites.

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TOP SECRET— HushHush!

Remember those pointy-headed pseudo-intellectuals who told us that we were at the end of history in a post-racial society?
They should subscribe to my Barbwire Confidential e-mail list. A week or so ago, I put out a bulletin from Reno-Sparks NAACP President Lonnie Feemster recruiting volunteers to make calls motivating infrequent voters.
Well, you got trouble, folks, right here in River City. Endemic racism is alive and well in the formerly former Mississippi West.
Apparently doing anything to get people to vote threatens macho or somesuch. Here is verbatim from the best of the closet Klansmen responses.
FROM MR. COURTEOUS: "Totally shameful to care more about black lives terrorists that care more about black lives than all Americans. Please take me off your email list. you are not the man I thought you were. I am for all Americans and this tells me you are not. You surely don't think for one minute they care about you. You are like all the rest. UNAMERICAN ! Shame on you. They have already changed America but all their rioting-stealing-killing and wasting billions of dollars just to show their black power. Yes the corrupt ballots are coming and what follows? Corruption. Thanks a lot! '"
AB: I'll take him off my e-list when he takes me off his.
FROM MR. MOGUL: "How can you possibly think what you are standing for is right? The democratic party no longer exists and you should know that. Do not send this propaganda to any American and you should be ashamed of yourself for supporting it !!"
BARBANO RESPONSE: Long time, old friend. Hope you and yours are well. I'm just encouraging people to vote. Stay positive, test negative. — Andrew
MR. MOGUL REPLIES: "Andrew — By this action you are continuing in the same old tradition that Blacks need to follow the same old ways and vote democratic and that's not true. President Trump has moved to help develop a strong family base and promoted job creation for Blacks and did more for Black education than Black Obama ever did when he and Biden were given the chance.
"Obama played to the 'White' Hollywood crowd, as if 'he' was, and he spent more money and did more traveling than all the other US Presidents combined," the onetime consumer lobbyist groused, adding "His wife Michelle had around 47 hand slaves as well as her mother stayed in the White house too. She took her own planes on trips costing the taxpayers millions.
"Don't think for one minute that the NAACP is any different now than it has ever been. They will have to get real jobs if we get President Trump re elected. I pray that the Black voters do wake up and see these bureaucrats for the deceivers they really are and that the Republican Party is truly trying to raise them up out of welfare -- to have self respect for themselves and each other and gain a belief in their own abilities that in this great nation, thru all it's (sic) faults, offers them equal opportunities to achieve greatness. The NAACP doesn't teach them that does it Andrew??
"You are a strong voice - let it work for this nation and democracy as we know it Please !!"
Mr. Courteous is a member of a local clean up the community group. Mr. Mogul and I met when we lobbied on behalf of similar consumer interests at a long-ago legislative session. I was particularly disappointed in his narrowness. Guess you never really know anyone.
The most surprising thing was both saw only "NAACP" which called up Trumpian dog-whistle Pavlovian responses and blinded them to what I actually wrote. They perceived something like "NAACP equals lazy uppity blacks making mischief for benevolent white America."
They never addressed what's so bad about trying to get people to vote.
I pray for their enlightenment.
CONEY ISLAND. Thanks for the compliments about my exclusive Interview with Judge Amy Coney Barrett, which could only have been written by a former all-star altar boy. ("Superspreaders, homotextuals & hall of famers" Barbwire 9-30-2020) You might refer to it as U.S. Senate Republicans administer the holy sacrament of confirmation this week.
JOHNNY, WE HARDLY KNEW YE. In recent decades, former Sparks City Councilmember John Mayer was just about the only voice at City Hall for hiring local labor at area-standard wages. He stood alone in voting for future Assemblymember Skip Daly's advocacy that local workers on public construction projects should get decent pay. (See NevadaLabor.com/). Five years ago, Mayer's successors on the Sparks Council removed all journeyman standards for electricians, plumbers and pipefitters so that a non-union contractor could turn Victorian Square into rabbit warrens on the cheap.
John was likewise one of the few sensible members on the Regional Transportation Commission (bus system) where his successors continue to ignore the governor's mask mandate as COVID-19 infections surge.
In his dotage, John has taken to endorsing anti-union Republicans. I am disappointed.
ABBOTT AND PAVLOVO. Incumbent Sparks Councilcritter Donald Abbott is using dog-whistle codewords against challenger Wendy Stolyarov. He asserts that he is "one of us." He stole that slogan from the late Republican U.S. Senator Paul Laxalt's 1974 campaign against then-Lt. Gov. Harry Reid who was from (gasp) Las Vegas.
Fear of the other sells in today's Confederate follytix. If you meet Ms. Stolyarov, you cannot help but be impressed at the danger — to Mr. Abbott's re-election.
Similar bigotry is on display in the campaign literature of Councilman Paul Anderson, a smear to inform voters that his opponent, Quentin Smith, is (gasp) black. Zounds.
State Sen. Julia Ratti, D-Sparks, issued a scathing denunciation of the above low-life tactics. One Facebook post even called for Anderson's resignation. See NevadaLabor.com for smoking guns.
"Powerful words at the right moment," commented local attorney Henry Sotelo, whose attention should be focused on the Reno City Council right now. The top gun lawyer has applied for a vacancy on Reno Municipal Court, a very demanding job. Send endorsements to Mr. Sotelo at <henry@henrysotelolaw.com> and carbon-copy me. Details with the expanded Barbwire web edition at NevadaLabor.com/
SUICIDE IS PAINLESS DEPT. I can't figure out why Czar Donaldov continues to encourage his lemmings to pretend the Coronavirus is nothing to worry about. If you're already behind, why try to infect and perhaps assassinate your dwindling base of supporters? Hell, I get sick just seeing him so I wear a mask watching the news.
CONGRATS TO US. In this year's Nevada Press Association competition, the Tribune won best editorial page among smaller newspapers, which most Nevada broadsheets are. I am proud to be the sole liberal sandwiched between semi-respectable reprobates.
Take care of each other and be careful out there.
¡Sí se puede!
Be well. Raise hell. Esté bien. Haga infierno.
___________________
NevadaLabor.com Editor Andrew Barbano is a 51-year Nevadan whose reputation remains impervious to further augmentation or denigration. He currently serves as first vice-president of the Reno-Sparks NAACP. As always, his comments are strictly his own. The nation's oldest civil rights organization (unless you count the Ku Klux Klan), the NAACP is non-partisan and does not endorse candidates. The Barbwire is a different breed of cat. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Tribune since 1988. E-mail <barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us>

BARBWIRE BY ANDREW BARBANO
From the 10-7-2020 Sparks Tribune / Updated 10-20-20

Intervention Mayday! Suicidal Nevada union workers

Donald Trump is within striking distance of winning Nevada and if he does, union members may well be the deciding factor.
Zounds!
For decades, one of the deep dark secrets of organized labor has been that roughly four in 10 union members are registered Republicans. Look no further than retired Southern Pacific/Union Pacific workers in the Rail City known as Sparks.
Union election canvassers learned years ago not to knock on their doors. If they see you're campaigning for Democrats, most are likely to slam a door in your face
To use an old Texas football term, they've done forgotten how to dance with who brung 'em. They are very upper middle class and financially quite secure due to their union jobs and now suffer a common affliction: Brain damage from pulling the ladder up behind them.
"As polls are beginning to show that Biden’s advantage over Trump gets narrow in key states, Democratic union workers are worried about Biden’s chances of victory. Biden had a five-point advantage or a 'likely Democrat' odds of seizing Nevada over Trump, according to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Lee Business School poll and the Cook Political Report, respectively. As time goes on, however, the very same Cook Political Report went from 'likely' to 'lean Democrat.' Florida, another battleground state with more delegates, went from leaning Democrat to a toss-up. For battleground union workers in Nevada, the state’s local election is shaping up to be in favor of Trump," wrote Christian Spencer in TheGrio.com
“I think Nevada could end up very much like Michigan did in ‘16,” said D. Taylor, the head of Unite HERE, the powerful Culinary Workers Union’s national organization, Bloomberg News reported last month.
This explains why my old union has dispatched precinct canvassers north and south in the past few weeks.
"Hispanic Democratic voters in Nevada make up about 17 percent of the state’s eligible voters, Bloomberg reports. Former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders defeated Biden in the Nevada caucuses after his Vermont challenger won half the Hispanic vote, according to CNN’s entrance polls of the (February) caucuses," Spencer wrote.
Last Sunday, NBC News reported about Nevada Latinos worried that their mailed ballots won't count and are thus uptight about voting in person.
In must-win Ohio, a poll released Sunday shows Trump and Biden tied. Zounds.
"Labor leaders have worked for months to sell their members on Biden, hoping to avoid a repeat of 2016 when Donald Trump outperformed among union members and won the White House. But despite a bevy of national union endorsements for Biden and years of what leaders call attacks on organized labor from the Trump administration, local officials in critical battleground states said support for Trump remains solid," Politico reported on Sept. 22.
" 'We haven’t moved the needle here,' said Mike Knisley, executive secretary-treasurer with the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council, who estimated that about half of his members voted for Trump in 2016 and will do so again. 'Even if given all the information that’s been put out there, all the facts — just pick an issue that the president has had his hands in — it doesn’t make a difference,' ” he stated.
"Among members of North America’s Building Trades Unions, there is a dead heat in six swing states, with Biden receiving 48 percent of the vote and Trump 47 percent, according to an internal poll shared with Politico.
" '(Trump) has a very, very, very solid foundation of our members,' said James Williams, a vice-president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, whose surveys of members painted a similar picture.
" 'They connect with his messaging and a lot of the fear-mongering going all the way back to when he was first elected with "Be afraid of the immigrant. The immigrant’s here to take your job."
" 'That resonated with our membership. They feel like their way of life and their way of living is under attack and without really understanding the dynamics at play. I mean, the immigrant worker is being abused by employers.'
"Trump’s support in some unions could provide an opening for him in the Midwest, particularly in the key Rust Belt states that powered Trump’s victory in 2016 — Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — where union voters have a sizable impact. Roughly one in six voters nationwide is either a union member or comes from a union household, according to a (September) Gallup Poll, and that number rises to more than one in four in states like Michigan.
"Those voters, historically a bedrock of Democratic support, shifted away from the party in 2016, according to exit polls. Hillary Clinton won union voters by less than half as much as former President Barack Obama had four years earlier — and that swing alone may have been enough to account for her losses in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, one analysis found. Even if Biden takes back the White House, there could be far-reaching impacts on the Democratic Party and labor movement if that trendline persists.
"The question this year is whether Biden can win those union members back, and by how much. Some labor leaders said there is cause for hope for Biden: While many Trump voters remain firm in their support, they said, Biden is winning over more of their members than Clinton did. They attributed that in part to Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“ 'We’re seeing a whole different attitude toward Joe Biden than we saw mostly because Trump has a record of failure. Biden has a record of being there for us,” said Rick Bloomingdale, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO.
“ ' It’s just a different feel out there. Obviously, we still have members who support Trump. ' ”
So what's the temperature here in the High Desert Outback of the American Dream? Look no further than Carson City, home to a huge number state workers, many now unionized. Former U.S. Sen. Dean Heller and current Congresscritter Mark Amodei , both Republicans, graduated from Carson High. With the exception of revered ex-teacher Bonnie Parnell, Carson hasn't elected a legislative Democrat for more than two decades.
Some Nevada unions are hanging tough, others are split and their leaders are worried.
Why Trump? Well, he's a guy, for starters. To use NBC reporter and author Katy Tur's reasoning as to why Trump won in 2016: "He entertained people and he looked strong."
The fake news NYTimes just did a long piece about Trump supporters who actually believe he will protect Obamacare's pre-existing condition mandate once it's repealed. Mama mia.
Union members supporting Trump are like any other Americans, easy to spook into voting against their own interests. Corporate America has invested billions to overturn Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and they've done one helluva job.
Just keep the lower classes fighting for the crumbs that fall off the fatcat table so that they won't look up at who's eating their lunch.
Remember the old saying: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Somebody cue The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again."
It's crunch time. Which side are you on?
Take care of each other and be careful out there.

¡Sí se puede!

Be well. Raise hell. Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)
être bien, élever l'enfer (And my French.)
Stammi bene. Scatenare l'inferno. (And Italian.
___________________
NevadaLabor.com Editor Andrew Barbano is a 51-year Nevadan whose reputation remains impervious to further augmentation or denigration. E-mail <barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us> Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Tribune since 1988.

BARBWIRE BY ANDREW BARBANO
From the 9-30-2020 Sparks Tribune

Superspreaders, homotextuals & hall of famers

As longtime readers expect, the legendary Barbwire investigative team spared every expense in obtaining an exclusive interview with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's replacement, Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

BARB-Q: Judge Barrett, you have seven children. What does your husband do?
ACB: Dishes.
BARB-Q: I hear you have matching bathrobes. What color are they?
ACB: You're kidding, right?
BARB-Q: You are a deeply religious person. Who's your favorite Catholic?
ACB: After last week, Mitt Romney, at least for awhile.
BARB-Q: What's your favorite movie?
ACB: "Hang 'em High." Clint's a great Republican.
BARB-Q: Any others?
ACB: "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" and, after last week, "Fast & Furious."
BARB-Q: What's your favorite book of the Old Testament?
ACB: You're kidding, right?
BARB-Q: Who's your favorite Disney character?
ACB: Well, it used to be Donald Duck.
BARB-Q: Your mentor was Justice Antonino Scalia, for whom you clerked?
ACB: He is the father of modern textualism, basing decisions on the meaning of the words when the law in question was passed.
BARB-Q: So any word not in use before 1800 is suspect?
ACB: Cowabunga!
BARB-Q: Do you still go to confession?
ACB: No. My parish priest got really pissed off that I kept invoking attorney-client privilege or the Fifth Amendment.
BARB-Q: Do you think women should be ordained as priests?
ACB: Hell, no. Why open the door to another low-paid, long-hour job? I think Justice Ginsburg might agree on that one.
BARB-Q: If she wuz alive, she'd be turning over in her grave. Thank you, Mme. Justice-designate. Let's do this again soon.
ACB: Not if I can help it.
BRIGHT SHINING LIE DEPT. This tweet went out last Friday from Regional Transportation Commission bus system management: "Safety is everyone's responsibility." Except theirs.
"RTC and its contractors are doing their part and transit riders are urged to do theirs," the tweet chirped. "Follow the 3 Ws: Watch your distance, wash your hands and wear a mask."
Do lying tweeters grow longer beaks like Pinocchio with chicken feathers?
RTC sez they are enforcing Gov. Sisolak's mask mandate. Also a lie. Drivers who push masks get written up or fired. See the evidence for yourself at NevadaLabor.com/ The three Washoe County transit systems carry upwards of 20,000 passengers a day. Without masking, they are little more than rolling ocean liners, super-spreading deadly disease. And they're doing it on your dime, including buying expensive TV ads. Maybe they should change their name to the Regional Propaganda Commission.
RTC is currently comprised of County Commissioners Vaughn Hartung and Bob Lucey, joined by Reno Councilmembers Neoma Jardon and Oscar Delgado (the only Democrat on the board). The Sparks seat held by the late Mayor Ron Smith has been filled by Councilmember Kristopher Dahir (R). Moral obtuseness is a bi-partisan affliction.They won't lift a finger without you pushing. So push. Contact info at NevadaLabor.com/
Because government at all levels has failed to protect drivers and riders, the Teamsters Union has filed charges in federal court. Stay tuned.
SPEAKING OF UNION BUSTERS. The Reno Gazette-Journal ran a front page spread last Monday about "longtime northern Nevada builder Dianda Construction" changing its name to Plenium Builders.
Actually, they haven't been around very long at all. Longtime construction mogul Norm Dianda's sons started it a few years ago as a non-union, low-wage, questionably skilled enterprise. Dianda's Q&D Construction has been around for decades and is mostly unionized. Plenium fits right in to the anti-union bias of Sparks City Hall today. Five years ago, the city council loosened up skilled labor requirements to turn the failing Victorian Square into apartments on the cheap.
DONALD'S DUNCE DAY. Donald Trump, Jr., will campaign at Peterbilt Trucks in Sparks today. Feel free to attend if you want to catch your death during death-defyin' speechifying. Last week, Trump2 packed more than 800 into a 500-seat room in Chandler, Ariz. Almost all were maskless as well as clueless, like the guest of honor.
The speakers parroted every conspiracy theory in the book save for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tejas, assassinating President Lincoln, or somesuch.
An 18-year-old Republican finance student from Tucson, one of the few heretical mask wearers, expressed disappointment, describing the Trump re-election campaign as having the maturity level of a teenager. He was disappointed to see that the event was just a live trolling session.
Jonathan Gross wanted to hear about Trump policies. Nada.
"I came to hear about what Trump is planning to do with his re-election but it felt like just a slander of the left," he told the fake news New York Times.
ONE FOR THE GOOD GUYS. I am the only campaign manager I know who will close 2020 batting a thousand. I'm officially 1-0 after former Tribunite Dennis Myers was voted into the Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame. Dennis' nomination last year came a bit too close to his August 2019 death. He collapsed from a stroke at his Sparks apartment and never regained consciousness.
I submit that he was and remains the greatest journalist in Nevada history. Mark Twain, also in the NPA HOF, only lived here about three years. I was further delighted that longtime RGJ columnist and internationally noted auto critic and motorsports writer Cory Farley made it in while he is still around to enjoy it.
I got RGJ columnist/editor Guy Richardson into the HOF on my first try a few years back. Next up, a couple more immortal Trib vets: UNR journalism Prof. Jake Highton and world class photographer Don Dondero.
You will find bios of all of my nominees at NevadaLabor.com/ My labor of love memorializing Dennis remains his only formal obituary. It's worth reading because it links to so many of his greatest hits and was excerpted in the press association announcement.
We worked — ahem — independently together in knocking now-Sen. Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, out of the 2015 Nevada State Assembly speakership. (See the website for sordid details.) The story went viral from the Maui News to the Times, Post and Journal, then crossed the pond to The Guardian of London/UK.
ADVICE FROM ON HIGH. "Stay positive. Test negative," sez CBS news anchor Norah O'Donnell. RTC, are you listening?
Take care of each other and be careful out there.

¡Sí se puede!

Be well. Raise hell. Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)
être bien, élever l'enfer (And my French.)
Stammi bene. Scatenare l'inferno. (And Italian.
___________________
NevadaLabor.com Editor Andrew Barbano is a 51-year Nevadan whose reputation remains impervious to further augmentation or denigration. E-mail <barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us> Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Tribune since 1988.

Margaret Dumont and Groucho Marx
Still crazy after all these years.

BARBWIRE BY ANDREW BARBANO
From the 9-23-2020 Sparks Tribune

Messages from the gods: Ignore at your peril

Blasphemy, defined as mocking someone's god, is the most popular capital sin in most religions. I prefer keeping my head by promoting presumption instead.
The preachers who irritate me most are those who presume and thus purport to speak for whatever god or Olympus they are selling.
Well today, I'm joining the rogues gallery of presumptuousness.
Look around you and tell me that whatever concept of the almighty you prefer is not sending serious telegrams by whatever means are available to omnipotent spirits.
Fire, ice, water, pestilence, disease, winds, storms, murder, mayhem, reality TV, carrier pigeon. God has even sent Donald Trump to us because She's fresh out of locusts.
We are now without both Rep. John Lewis and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Czar Donaldov may have nominated a Scaliante homotextual to Mrs. Ginsburg's seat by the time you read this.
The Notorious RBG's best bud on the court was her polar opposite, Antonino the Ancient. (He was apparently a good comedian, so they got along.) La Scalia's method of judicial activism was to get out the dictionary, look up the meaning of words, and consider those the gospel according to the framers. Easier than working.
Indiana Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who has apparently grabbed the president by the presumption, believes that Chief Justice John Roberts has betrayed the commands of textualism. Zounds. Call out the dragoons and have the blackguard flogged, drawn and quartered.
I wonder how a fundamental homotextual like her could bear to live in the same town where Pete Buttigieg served as mayor. I also wonder if she voted for him. Probably not. No self-respecting Notre Dame professor would commit such blasphemy.
Theocracy has made a big comeback in recent years and the wave has yet to crest.
As poet e.e. cummings might say, this monster mannunkind is devolving.
Our shaky democracy might shortly devolve into national breakup or civil war. At least the National Rifle Association's clients will continue to profit.
THE PROBLEM. As always, control by the wealthy, whether in the flesh or in legal fictions called corporations, who rape and pillage the body politick.
THE SOLUTION. As always, expanding economic opportunity with a healing dash of human respect for this magical little place we've been given for just a little time.
John Lewis and Ruth Bader Ginsburg lived their lives that way.
Remember the end of e.e. cummings greatest line: "pity this monster mannunkind...not."
RNR REDUX. Former Reno Gazette-Journal investigative ace Frank X. Mullen now helms the online reincarnation of the Reno News & Review. Glad to see it. His latest scoop about local Q-Anon moonhowlers seeking out sex trafficking where it doesn't exist is a-must read. See the expanded web edition of this column at NevadaLabor.com/
CITY HALL HIJINX. Economic Development Authority of Washoe County (EDAWN) Executive Director Mike Kazmierski is actively campaigning for the defeat of Reno City Councilmember Jenny Brekhus, D. That's dumb politics, especially when your outfit is knocking down a cool $100,000 a year in cash support from both the cities of Reno and Sparks.
GOVERNMENT WASTE R US. Within a few days of being sued by the Teamsters Union, the Regional Transportation Commission and its bus system subcontractor Keolis-19 are paying for slick TV spots selling the bright, shining lie that they are complying with Gov. Steve Sisolak's mask mandate.
See all the evidence to the contrary for yourself at NevadaLabor.com/ The three Washoe County transit systems carry upwards of 20,000 passengers a day. Without masking, they are little more than rolling ocean liners, spreading deadly disease. And they're doing it on your dime.
The Sparks seat held by the late Mayor Ron Smith still needs filling. RTC is currently comprised of County Commissioners Vaughn Hartung and Bob Lucey, joined by Reno Councilmembers Neoma Jardon and Oscar Delgado (the only Democrat on the board). Doesn't matter. Moral obtuseness in bi-partisan. They won't lift a finger without you pushing. So push.
DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN. I've been on this beat for 50 years and nothing has changed. People of average means get elected to local government and are quickly surrounded by sycophantic buzzards who pick the public's pocketbook clean. It's called economic development by its supporters, corporate welfare by its detractors. (See the NevadaLabor.com corporate welfare archive.)
If you ever wonder why local schools, parks, roads and first responders are underfunded, now you know one big reason.
ETHIX, EFFLUENT AND AFFLUENCE. Lemmon Valley activist Tammy Holt-Still has filed a complaint with the Nevada Ethics Commission about Reno Councilmember Bonnie Weber, R, but that's not all.
Did you know that University of Nevada researchers would not test that open cesspool in Lemmon Valley (euphemistically called Swan Lake) for Coronavirus and other gremlins, but does so with sewage effluent in more affluent areas? Did you know that developers want to subdivide Swan Lake for sale when it dries up, just like the scam they pulled in the southeast Reno flood plain
Stay tuned and keep your waders handy.
Take care of each other and be careful out there.

¡Sí se puede!

Be well. Raise hell. Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)
être bien, élever l'enfer (And my French.)
Stammi bene. Scatenare l'inferno. (And Italian.
___________________
NevadaLabor.com Editor Andrew Barbano is a 51-year Nevadan whose reputation remains impervious to further augmentation or denigration. E-mail <barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us> Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Tribune since 1988.

Diabolical Déjà Vu: Fire is the Devil's only friend
Barbwire accurately called 2016 presidential result 9 months out & stands behind 2020 prediction made four years ago
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 9-2-2020 Sparks Tribune

History foreshadows a GOP November win
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 2-16-2016 Sparks Tribune / Updated 2-19, 3-1, 3-8, 5-19 and 11-19-2016, 12-24-2019

President Donald Trump as Andrew Jackson? So opined a plethora of prestigious, highly-paid expert pundits on election night. The Barbwire warned of exactly that last March. Twice.
And that ain't all. Read 'em and weep, pilgrims.

Nobody knows nothin'
By David Horsey, Staff Cartoonist / Los Angeles Times 11-9-2016
BARBWIRE SEZ the awesome Mr. Horsey's assertion that only the LAT/USC poll was accurate ain't necessarily so.

Those with crystal balls shouldn't throw stones
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 3-15-2016 Sparks Tribune

Remembering the first female U.S. presidents
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 3-8-2016 Sparks Tribune

"Any system of prolonged political paralysis and failed liberalism vomits up monsters. And the longer we remain in a state of political paralysis — especially as we stumble toward another financial collapse — the more certain it becomes that these monsters will take power." — Christopher Hedges at NationOfChange.org 17 Oct. 2016.

All the more reason to subscribe to Barbwire Confidential.

Donny & Jimmy's Most Excellent White Castle Adventure
Barbwire by Barbáno / Expanded from the 9-16-2020 Sparks Tribune

Margaret Dumont and Groucho Marx
Still crazy after all these years.

Barbwire Confidential —>HushHush!
Donny & Jimmy's Most Excellent White Castle Adventure
BARBWIRE EXCLUSIVE 9-12-2020

The world class Barbwire investigative team has spared every expense to obtain a secret internal memo from an inside GOP source, DeepGLOP:

TO: Chairpersons, both Nevada Republican Parties (you know who you are)
FROM: Strategery Dept.
RE: Presidential visit this weekend in the Douglas County Alabaster Bastion

Greatest Hits Dept.

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Barbwire nominee Dennis Myers elected to NPA Hall of Fame

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The Dean's List

The Dean of Reno Bloggers could very well be Andrew Barbano, self-described "fighter of public demons," who started putting his "Barbwire" columns online in 1996 and now runs 10 sites.

RENO NEWS & REVIEW, 11-9-2006

Tomorrow's news today —> Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential
TOP SECRET— HushHush!

As you are aware, our leader will descend hereabouts this weekend, flying thru hellfire and damnation into Reno, then driving — driving! — an hour each way to get to the postage-stamp Minden Airport. Such an indignity was foisted upon him by frightened Nevada liberals because polls show the state in almost a dead heat (treasonous liberal by 4, +/- 3, adjust for fake news bias).

We believe we have solved the transportation situation. We have suggested that he fly from Reno to Minden aboard a Nevada National Guard helicopter – on the same day that his cutting the guard's COVID-19 budget has Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak screaming like a stuck donkey. Revenge is a dish best served cold, eh, fellow Klingons?

Please turn out your die-hards (and I mean that literally, see below). Tell them not to wear masks as it just pisses off the old man. You can wear your cammos but please leave your machine guns at home. Oops, I forgot — we're talking Douglas County. Bring the heat. And your babies.

I hope they don't invite that treasonous library director who's trying to pervert the minds of our children with sympathy for black and brown terrorists. Does anybody know if Nevada Assembly Minority Leader Jim Wheeler can attend? The president would like a guy who says he'd vote for slavery if his constituents want it. That's true back-to-the-future democracy, not that wussy booklearning stuff.

We can turn defiance of Nevada's Antifa pro-mask governor into a net positive while cutting our losses. Make sure to keep detailed records of everyone who shows up. Some may exhibit COVID-19 symptoms from the rally shortly before insecure vote-by-mail ballots are sent in about two weeks.

Follow up and instruct them to get their ballots early if at all possible, then fill out a straight GOP ticket and promptly return them to their voter registrar's office.

DO NOT trust the postal service. We can't let word get out that Republicans know how to mail letters.

This is a win-win situation for the president. Dead or alive or hospitalized, all of the rally attendees will have voted, so their votes will count.

If some of them die before election day, the party will have proof positive that dead people are voting by mail, proving the president correct, as always.

What's not to like?

Yours in victory should you live long enough,

Luther Lovelace
Deep State Covert Consultant and freelance pet and birthday photographer
(You know how to contact me via the Dark Web. Today's user name is KochAin't )

ps: Hyper-liberal California Antifa thugs have rigged it so that the skies will look like the 7th circle of hell on Saturday. To keep our attendees safe until they can vote, please inform them not to breathe unless absolutely necessary.

END OF LEAKY MEMO. DISTRIBUTE AT WILL. OR NOT.

###

Andrew Barbano is a 51-year Nevadan whose reputation is impervious to further augmentation or denigration. For unparalleled coverage of the August 8 Black Lives Don't Matter mashup in Minden, go to NevadaLabor.com (unless you are easily offended because much offense was offered thereat). You will also be treated to the 2016 world champion political 'toon and the 2020 frontrunner. HOT TIP: Monitor NevadaLabor.com for major union news breaking within 48 hours.

9-16-2020 Sparks Tribune add-ons

THE AWFUL TRUTH. The above went out to a few hundred thousand of my e-mail co-conspirators in advance of Czar Donaldov's sojourn to the whitest part of Nevada last Saturday. It received the usual range of comments from the usual suspects.

One freedom loving racist in Gomorrah South trashed me for obviously defending George Floyd, the Minneapolis black man who died of a drug overdose.

Except he didn't. The coroner ruled it a homicide by cop and four fired officers now face felony charges. Obviously a Fox News fan.

The most curious result came from people I'd confused. I apologized, as creating confusion is one of my few talents. (Damn...I could'a been president.)

Some people actually wondered if the letter from "Luther Lovelace" (son of a famous movie star, perhaps?) was authentic.

I didn't think about it as I worked on it, but it really shows how hard it is to lampoon a real-life cartoon. The essence of a joke is stretching reality till it's funny. For the most part, El Presidente has already pushed it about as far as it can go. He tries to put us comedians out of work, then brags about job creation. What a guy.

There is justice in the world. Trump actually had to drive the 60+mile route both ways. I guess the guv wouldn't let him use a chopper.

Oh, the humanity!

HAT TRICK. I guess now I've done it all. The above hit on Trump was my third bruise on a president. Back in 1982, when Ronald Reagan was on his way to UNR to speak, I placed "None of Above" billboards on his motorcade route. (See NAGPAC.org)

In 1988, I accompanied some clients to hear then-VP George HW Bush speak at Reno High. While standing in line, I spoke with reporters from the Reno Gazette-Journal and Associated Press. I asked if they might have that morning's Wall Street Journal in their newsrooms. Affirmative.

I then called their attention to a front page story about how Bush the Elder was giving boring speeches filled with "cliches and bromides" and that his handlers were worried about his presidential campaign.

Sure enough, in addressing the crowd at the Reno High gym, he used some of the tired items the WSJ had noted. So the spin nationwide the next day was all about Bush giving another tired, hackneyed speech.

The above potshot at the Orange Crush gives me a hat trick. Keep lobbing up the softballs, guys. I'll swing for the seats, but only if the fans are masked.

SUE THE BASTARDS. Go to NevadaLabor.com to read the latest volley in the war to protect local bus passengers and drivers. My friends at Teamsters Local 533 have sued the operators of the local transit system for refusing to comply with Gov. Sisolak's order to wear masks. They filed last Friday in federal court.

I have built an entire website about the dereliction of duty by the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County. Call 'em, e-mail them, text them, tell them they are falling down in their most basic duty to the public.

The Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County is comprised of Washoe County Commissioners Vaughn Hartung (R) and Bob Lucey (R); Reno City Councilmembers Neoma Jardon (R) and Oscar Delgado (D). The City of Sparks seat is vacant. Sparks Mayor Ron Smith's (R), passing was announced on August 19. Requiescat in pace.

Some 20,000 people a day are potentially exposed to COVID-19 on those rolling ocean liners.

Read "No pants? No service. No mask? OK" at NevadaLabor.com/

Once again, that's not a put-on. You can't ride the bus naked (like the trouserless Sparks guy who was refused boarding), but you can with a naked face.

Take care of each other and be careful out there.

For all the news you never knew you needed to know 'til now, subscribe to Barbwire Confidential at BallotBoxing.US —> Cheap. (HushHush!)

SITE NAVIGATION TIPS: When all else fails, read the instructions (A favorite John Hanks aphorism I've been using for decades)