Barbwire by Barbano: Devouring their own

Devouring their own
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-12-2024 / Updated 6-13 & 6-19-2024 GMT / Expansions in blue

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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

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TOP SECRET— HushHush!

The Orange Crusher's Nevada klan is ravenous for the blood of their own.

In their latest public relations coups for the Silver State, Republicans increasingly resemble the reviled mascot of their hated rivals: GOP true believers look like true dumbasses.

The fake news New York Times ran a front page above-the-fold embarrassment last Sunday about MAGA Moonhowler Religionauts imposing a Kafkaesque pogrom against one of their own. I fully expect nooses will soon be clandestinely hung at the Esmeralda County courthouse. (It was good enough for Mike Pence, wasn't it?)

If any of them know how to read, they are researching the mechanics of burning a witch at the stake. In almost three full Times pages of sheeple-people insanity, a wide swath of Nevada's 14 Cow Counties come off looking like Mississippi 1861.

The sinner of the moment is Esmeralda County Clerk Cindy Elgan, 65, a Republican who for 20 years has held the post in Nevada's smallest county (registered voters 620). One of the lowest-paid elected officeholders in the state, she has a "Trump 2024 — Take the Country Back" flag flying in front of her house. (Justice and Mrs. Samuel Alito, take note.)

Because of the witch hunting spawn of the felonious Orange Crusher, people Mrs. Elgan has known for decades are calling for her head. They circulated a recall petition against her. As inept as their narcissistic godhead, they failed despite driving hundreds of miles thru the desert to recruit registered Republicans to sign onto their crusade.

T-Rump carried Esmeralda by 82 percent while losing Nevada in 2020. Nonetheless, many folks down Goldfield way believe any and all wacko conspiracy theories. The Times printed an extensive list, some of which even I have never heard about and follytix is my favorite sport.

Mary Jane Zakas, Eglan's principal accuser, a retired teacher and old friend, "came to believe that Covid was a creation of the federal government used to manipulate the public and steal elections," the Times reported.

Ms. Zakas is further sure "that Trump's election in 2024 was pre-ordained by God, that he would return to power with hoards of gold collected from other countries...that Americans would have free electricity, zero income tax, and 'medbeds' powered by a secret technology to heal diseases and extend human life." (Muscular Marjorie Taylor-Greene, call your office.)

The only thing standing in the way is the vaunted "deep state," the Times noted.

It has apparently never occurred to them that if Trump is that powerful and anointed by God, why can't he pull a Harry Potter, wave his magic wand and smite his enemies unto the eternal Fires of Gahenna without a pesky election?

"This is actually insane," remarked deputy Esmeralda clerk Angela Jewell. "This is how democracies end. There must be some way to reason with these people," she added.

Dream on, blithe spirit.

"They're too busy chanting their mantras to stop and listen," Elgan noted.

"The only thing we have to give in return are facts," Douglas County Clerk Amy Burgans told the Times. She added that she believed all the election fraud rumors until she was appointed, then "did a complete 180" after learning the job.

"Our elections are more accurate and secure than ever before in American history. The reality is Trump lost," she added.

Alas and alack, we now live in the post facts, post rule-of-law era where only media image matters. The full Times piece will be linked to the expanded Barbwire web edition at NevadaLabor.com/

[UPDATE: Times reporter finds trust and empathy still exist in Esmeralda and Goldfield.]

GUILTY AS CHARGED! Times commentator Michelle Goldberg recently noted that when Trump is ranting, "every accusation is a confession." AMEN.

TRAVUS T. HIPP GOT IT RIGHT DECADES AGO. "Soft shoe fascism is afoot in the land," the late Tribune multiple hall-of-famer often said. The only thing missing has been the jackboots which are now being polished at conservative DC think tanks.

Can tanks with cannons be far behind?

The game is to keep the lower classes fighting with each other so they won't look up at the corporate overlords who have so very successfully bought all aspects of our democracy to serve their bidding. Result: the gap between the mega-rich top 10 percent and the rest of us now stands at its widest ever.

Never let the facts get in the way of a good tall tale.

TIPOFF. In Gomorrah South last Sunday, Czar Donaldov rustled a crowd of about 6,900 braving heatstroke to worship their godhead. Some were hospitalized.

Both the aforementioned Rep. Taylor-Green and indicted Nevada GOP Chair Michael MacDonald equated the prideful apostate in the red baseball cap with Yeshua of Nazareth.

Pandering under his usual divine streetlight, Trump promised Las Vegans he'd make tips non-taxable.

Culinary Union leader Ted Pappageorge immediately put Trump's latest pie-in-the-sky promise into the bulging bilge file.

"For decades, the Culinary Union has fought for tipped workers' rights and against unfair taxation. Relief is definitely needed for tip earners, but Nevada workers are smart enough to know the difference between real solutions and wild campaign promises from a convicted felon," he stated.

RIGGING THE GAME. Probably after seeing an inside poll and wanting a piece of a win, T-Rump endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Sam Brown after the event. Publicly published polls were showing Brown and Dr. Jeff Gunter in a close race among eight GOP primary contenders.

Democratic incumbent Jacky Rosen used her mentor's playbook and spent big bucks trashing Brown.

She obviously identified Gunter as the weaker opponent.

The late Nevada U.S. Sen. Harry Reid did the same thing by getting madcap Sharron Angle thru the 2010 primary and easily defeating her in November. Reid even secured strong Repuoblican support. Rosen's gamble appeared to have turned the GOP race into a dead heat. [UPDATE: Brown won, Gunter is screaming election fraud. What else is new?]

GOLD HILL NEWS 50th. This Saturday or Sunday, hie thee to the Comstock to celebrate the golden anniversary of the legendary Gold Hill News, founded by another Tribune alum, David Toll. Bank of California building, Main Street, Gold Hill. Info: Robin Cobbey, <goldhillnevada@gmail.com> 775-843-6217. Full details with this Barbwire at NevadaLabor.com.

Vaxx up, stay safe, pray for Ukraine and almost 100 other currently war-torn lands as we once again fail to learn the hard lessons taught on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944 or at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery outside Paris on June 9, 2024.

¡Sí se puede!

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)
être bien, élever l'enfer (Pardon my French.) Stammi bene. Scatenare l'inferno. (And Italian.)

_________________________

Andrew Quarantino Barbano is a 55-year Nevadan and editor of NevadaLabor.com, SenJoeNeal.org, DoctorLawyerWatch.com, BallotBoxing.US, ConsumerCoalitionv.org, ChantalCoalition.org, Rentvolution.org, MIssissippiWestNV.org and CesarChavezNevada.com among others. He is a longtime member of the Reno-Sparks NAACP andSparks-based Communications Workers of America Local 9413/AFL-CIO. As always, his comments are entirely his own. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Sparks Tribune since August 12, 1988.

The Northern Nevada Central Labor Council/AFL-CIO inducted him into the César Chávez Nevada Labor Hall of Fame on April 5, 2024.

Breaking News —> Masks work!

President Donald Kardashian
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-5-2024 / Updated 6-7-2024 GMT / Expansions in blue

Would you vote for an Oprah-Trump or Trump-Oprah ticket? Oprah Winfrey actually floated such an idea to the Orange Crusher in 2000.

She has since seen the error of her ways.

Nonetheless, she was onto something.

I have been saying for decades that the secret of success in short-attention-span America lies in getting famous by any means necessary.

It does not matter if you are a saint like Mother Theresa of Calcutta or an insane mass murderer like Charles Manson. Get famous, get a book deal, sell the movie rights, get your own TV show.

More than a century ago, legendary Boston Mayor James Michael Curley famously asserted that "I could elect Judas Iscariot. The name is familiar."

Curley served as a state legislator, congressman, governor and four-term mayor.

He also went to jail in 1947 in the middle of his fourth mayoral stint. He did 18 months in federal prison for mail fraud. (Sound familiar?)

Yes, people went to jail for "paper crimes" even back then.

He made a career of running against the elites and upper crust. (Sound familiar?)

Curley was sometimes compared to Louisiana Gov. Huey P. Long.

Both Curley and Long had slightly fictionalized versions of their careers become Hollywood films. (Sound familiar?)

Curley threatened to sue the producers of the Spencer Tracy film "The Last Hurrah." (Sound familiar?)

Long was long dead before the movie version of Robert Penn Warren's bestseller "All the King's Men" hit the silver screen.

It won a bunch of Oscars, including the best actor trophy for Broderick "Highway Patrol" Crawford.

The Orange Crusher has been threatening to file a defamation action about the "The Apprentice," a new flick about hisself and his mentor, Sen. Joe McCarthy's (R-Wisc.) Red Scare lawyer Roy Cohn.

It proved quite popular at Cannes this season. Unlike the earlier two productions, today's lead actors don't play fictionalized characters.

Trump should send flowers. He's the walking embodiment of the old country boy politician motto, "Call me a sumbitch, just spell my name right."

Any publicity is good publicity. Still.

With Ms. Winfrey having seen the error of her youthful indiscretions, I thus predict that the most famous American who is famous just for being famous will become Trump's vice-presidential running mate: Kim Kardashian.

Trump's kinda girl.

I visualize Czar Donaldov secretly fuming that presidential pretender RFK the Lesser has already named a foxy billionaire as his number two.

Which means that should Trump lose this fall, Ms. Kardashian becomes the automatic GOP 2028 frontrunner.

T-Rump, always the master rapper, just tried to polish his self-anointed outlaw image by chilling with accused criminals. He also said he'd be OK with prohibiting contraception, then walked it back, just like he told Fox Noise that he never said "lock her up" about Hillary Clinton.

He also mumbled he would not order the release of sealed records about his party hearty buddy Jeffrey Epstein. ("I like them young, but not as young as he likes them," Trump said before Epstein punched his own ticket outta here.)

UPDATED 6-7-2024: T-Rump's next underwhelming Whopper of a running mate.

NIXON, PART DEUX. Perhaps most chilling is T-Rump's latest vague promise to end wars.

"I get along very well with Putin and I get along with Zelensky, and I would put them in a room and I would get it ended and I have an exact plan as to how but I can't tell you that." (Sound familiar?)

And whatever happened to that other "plan" to repeal Obamacare with something better?

In 1968, Richard Nixon and his future secretary of state, war criminal Henry Kissinger, pimped another "secret plan," aimed at ending the Vietnam War.

Actually, Kissinger clandestinely subverted President Lyndon Johnson's negotiations to end the bloodbath.

Kissinger held a 1972 press conference to announce, in his best Dr. Strangelovian growl, "peace is at hand."

Richard the Rotten thus defeated anti-war WW2 hero George McGovern. The Vietnam debacle lingered until 1975 after Nixon had resigned.

WISEST WORDS OF THE WEEK. Last Saturday, the fake news New York Times ran a stellar piece by triple-Pulitzer winner Thomas Friedman, one of the wisest people out there in these trying times.

I will link it to the expanded web version of this column at NevadaLabor.com/

Friedman started off lamenting mankind's destruction of mangroves, thickets of trees which protect coastlines and nurture life.

"Our society has lost so many of its social, normative and political mangroves —- all those things that used to filter toxic behaviors, buffer political extremism and nurture healthy communities and trusted institutions for young people to grow up in and which hold our society together," Friedman lamented.

His checklist of lost mangroves is chilling: Shame. Civil discourse. Universities "whose first impulse these days is to seek cancellation and not conversation."

It's worth noting here that the smallest Ivy League university, Dartmouth, avoided all the conflagration which has engulfed so many by promptly getting factions talking with each other.

Imagine that.

Friedman's list of mangled mangroves includes religion, membership in which has fallen below 50 percent for the first time in Gallup's eight decades of tracking it.

H.P. Inc. CEO Enrique Lores once told Friedman "Today we have the power to part the Red Sea...but too often without the Ten Commandments."

Amen.

"Small town newspapers used to be a mangrove, buffering the worst of our national politics," Friedman noted. Alas and alack, more than 200 US counties are today "news deserts."

"More than half of all U.S. counties now have limited access to reliable local news and information," he quotes from a Northwestern University study.

Nevada has lost many of its small town papers, widening the gap between the Cow Counties and the metros (Clark, Washoe-Carson).

"Our republic and its press will rise or fall together," legendary newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer famously remarked.

Brace yourself for a very bumpy Fall 2024.

¡Sí se puede!

Vaxx up, stay safe, pray for Ukraine and almost 100 other currently war-torn lands as we once again fail to learn the hard lessons taught on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944.

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)
être bien, élever l'enfer (Pardon my French.) Stammi bene. Scatenare l'inferno. (And Italian.)

_________________________

The Northern Nevada Central Labor Council/AFL-CIO inducted him into the César Chávez Nevada Labor Hall of Fame on April 5, 2024.

Breaking News —> Masks work!

The shrinkflation of democracy
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 5-29-2024 / Updated 5-30-2024 / Expansions in blue

"Our republic and its press will rise or fall together." — Joseph Pulitzer

Last week, the Reno Gazette-Journal announced its own funeral.

Democracy will go down with it along with the hundreds of newspapers already lost and those who have caught the RGJ disease.

Why should you care? After all, we can get daily news 24/7 for free someplace, right?

You get what you pay for and corporate America is making you pay dearly every day: At gas pumps, grocery stores, restaurants, your school and your job.

I have been railing against America's creeping monopolies for decades.

They continue to encroach a little at a time.

Kids pumping their own gas or sweating thru voicemail hell instead of talking to a human think it's OK because that's the way it's always been.

Abuse and erosion become embedded.

"Starting Monday, June 24, the U.S. Postal Service will be delivering the Reno Gazette-Journal to optimize resources amidst increasing digital readership demand," Executive Editor Peggy Santoro wrote last week.

"The Reno Gazette-Journal will utilize a (postal service) program called Exceptional Dispatch, which allows time-sensitive periodicals including newspapers to be locally distributed. RGJ print editions will enter the mail locally, in Reno, and not be affected by the USPS's recent announcement that it will move Reno's mail-processing operations to Sacramento," she stated.

That, dear readers, is one serious sin of omission.

"Exceptional Dispatch" (AKA Second Class Mail) is mostly for mail that has three days to two weeks for delivery, like magazines.

Mrs. Santoro continued "The Sunday edition will be delivered on Saturday...This change will make a big impact on the consistency of delivery, which is great news for our print readers...Readers can also visit RGJ.com...Subscribers with questions or concerns can visit help.sitename.com/contact-us," she concluded.

OOPS DEPT. The above help-site name does not exist, even with prefixes added such as https:// and https://www/

RGJ.com subscriber info lays likewise devoid.

I don't blame Peggy. She's a great journalist and the senior employee at the Incredible Shrinking RGJ, having put in more than 30 years at hard labor.

She's seen it go from force to flat-line and is now the designated ICU nurse on death watch.

I've been in some form of the newspaper business since I was about 10 years old, a kid hawking the "greenstreak" afternoon final edition of the Fresno Bee on the streets of old downtown.

For all its flaws, the Reno Gazette-Journal remains the central news dissemination source for all of eastern California and northwestern and north central Nevada.

Making the system so user-unfriendly that the company can justify its elimination is an old corporate trick going back almost a century.

Make no mistake, it's coming. At minimum, this "upgrade" will make worse the forcible fracturing of citizen consensus and community cohesion into splintering silos of suspicion.

We've seen this show many times before.

Railroads made passenger service so bad that they could kill it due to "lack of interest." (TRANSLATION: Not enough profit.)

They kept passenger revenue by starting Greyhound, which is why bus terminals popped up next to railroad terminals all across the country, including Sparks-Reno.

After World War 2, Detroit auto barons took over cheap and efficient southern California mass transit, then made service so bad that citizens had to buy cars.

Gridlocked freeways were built along former rail rights-of-way.

Mrs. Santoro states "The Sunday edition will be delivered on Saturday, giving readers a head start on weekend features..."

Today, the Sunday RGJ goes to bed at 4:00 p.m. Thursday.

There are NO newspapers now printed in northwestern Nevada. From Fallon to Carson/Douglas/Tahoe to the RGJ, ALL are produced in California save for the Sparks Tribune which is printed in southern Nevada.

Killing home delivery might make collateral damage of the San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal and New York Times.

When the RGJ eliminated Saturdays, it killed Saturday delivery for all, scrambling all Saturday, Sunday and Monday deliveries.

In my experience, the "Sunday" paper would now have to close Wednesday (or earlier) to be on California presses Thursday, get trucked to Reno's Vassar Street post office by Friday to hit Washoe households on Saturday — in a perfect world. (Everybody knows that presses, computer systems and vehicles never break down and Donner Pass will never be closed again as a personal favor to Postmaster Louis the Clueless Dejoyless and his favorite president.)

As the Washoe County Registrar of Voters Cari-Ann Burgess told the RGJ after Dejoyless announced the January 2025 move of most mail processing to W. Sacramento, first-class mail, which is supposed to get anywhere in Washoe in two days, currently sometimes takes as long as seven.

Mme. Registrar added that if the change goes ahead, it means the end of mail-in voting.

Thus, the shrinkflation of democracy.

Triple hall-of-fame journalist and Tribune alum Dennis Myers once noted that voter registration is the best system yet devised to keep citizens from voting.

Add that to all the other hassles, mix in a little corporate propaganda as news, and you end up with government by monied corporations, the very definition of fascism.

I write this feeling two emotions, sorrow and anger.

The republic is in bad enough shape without placement of further inhibitors to inform the body politic and let them vote.

Did I mention that the ad accompanying Mrs. Santoro's corporate statement last Sunday ignored whether or not the paper would continue Monday and Tuesday publication?

The icing on this crummy cake is that subscriber prices, in print and online, will more than double.

The shrinkflation of news and thus democracy.

Stay tuned if you can.

It ain't over 'til it's over.

¡Sí se puede!

Vaxx up, stay safe, pray for Ukraine and almost 100 other currently war-torn lands.

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)
être bien, élever l'enfer (Pardon my French.) Stammi bene. Scatenare l'inferno. (And Italian.)

_________________________

Andrew Quarantino Barbano is a 55-year Nevadan and editor of NevadaLabor.com, SenJoeNeal.org, DoctorLawyerWatch.com, BallotBoxing.US, ConsumerCoalitionv.org, ChantalCoalition.org, Rentvolution.org, MIssissippiWestNV.org and CesarChavezNevada.com among others. He is a longtime member of the Reno-Sparks NAACP and Sparks-based Communications Workers of America Local 9413/AFL-CIO. As always, his comments are entirely his own. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Sparks Tribune since August 12, 1988.

The Northern Nevada Central Labor Council/AFL-CIO inducted him into the César Chávez Nevada Labor Hall of Fame on April 5, 2024.

Breaking News —> Masks work!

Cheesily pickled politics
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 5-22-2024 / Updated 5-23-2024