Aaron Ford unplugged (a little)

Very stable genius update. ​Across the river in Bullhead City yesterday your president yet again marveled at his own miraculous capacity to remember five words (“hat, hair, logo, white, black,” he said, which totally do not sound like words that would just pop into his head). And thus he passed (yet another?) cognitive test, he proudly proclaimed. Accordingly, he also yet again declared himself a “genius.”

IN NEVADA CURRENT

The governor’s race. The governor’s campaign declined to make the incumbent available for an interview, which unfortunately is an increasingly common phenomenon in an age of hermetically sealed and over-managed candidates. (As someone once said, “C’mon, man.”) But the challenger, in an interview, provided some candid reflections. This overview of the contest is very nicely put together by Dana Gentry: Ford seeks to upset Lombardo, become Nevada’s first Black governor 

“The money isn’t driven by the faults or virtues of the candidates. Nor is it about their positions on issues over which the Nevada lieutenant governor wields power and influence. Because there are no such issues.” To anyone who hoped to get through the remainder of the election cycle without another column from me on the most preposterous elected office in this or any other state, my apologies. I saw the boasting about seven-figure campaign spending for a job with no inbox, and couldn’t resist: How spending $2.75 million on a campaign for a part-time job pencils out. If it does.

No, you can’t dismantle the Forest Service, a federal judge told the Trump administration. Via our friends up the road at the Utah News Dispatch: Federal judge blocks Trump administration from moving Forest Service headquarters to Utah

In more news about the genius… “Inflation has wiped out wage gains for 6 months now,” noted one economist. Via Stateline: Powered by spikes in energy prices, inflation surges to 3.7%

Good Luck