Biggest little surveillance city

Republican-on-Republican acrimony update. Former Nevada Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons, who was the U.S. representative of Nevada’s 2nd congressional district before he was governor, authored a column in the Reno Gazette-Journal in which he sings the praises of Republican congressional candidate David Flippo.

In the process Gibbons also blasts Republican Rep. Mark Amodei, the current occupant of CD2 and the guy Flippo hopes to replace.

“Mark Amodei has decided that his personal grudge is more important than his party, more important than this district and more important than the Constitution he swore to defend. He is handing a Democrat her best chance in the history of this seat because he did not get his way,” Gibbons writes.

How crushing and humiliating it must be for Amodei to be dressed down by such a beloved Nevada political figure as Jim Gibbons on behalf of valor-stealing carpetbagger David Flippo, surely said no one anywhere.

Gibbons was such a successful and beloved Nevada governor that when he unsuccessfully ran for reelection in 2010, three fellow Republicans ran against him, and Gibbons garnered only 27% of the vote.

As an incumbent governor.

In a primary.

Let that sink in.

Flippo, for his part, is a charlatan. Gibbons, though a tragic figure, is also a creepy one. And yes, Amodei is absolutely a smartass. It’s the most (only?) endearing thing about him. 

So yippee! Or whatever.

While Amodei and other Republicans denouncing the thoroughly denounce-able Flippo is mildly entertaining, it also makes one wonder…

Since Flippo won the primary, Democrats appear to have had very little trouble digging stuff up, feeding it to media outlets, and demonstrating if there were a Wikipedia entry on “candidate quality problem” it could appropriately be accompanied by a photo of Flippo.

Amodei and Gov. Joe Lombardo both backed (picked?) James Settelmeyer in the CD2 primary that Flippo, endorsed by Trump, won. So why didn’t the “Lombardo machine,” including the high-powered political hit squad running the Lombardo-backing PAC, take a few minutes to bury Flippo in the primary? Not really a machine, I guess.

IN NEVADA CURRENT

Biggest little surveillance hub. People said they didn’t want to be spied on. The Reno City Council responded by contracting with the snoop-industrial complex for even more — and more intrusive and exhaustive —spying on people. Micheal Lyle reports: Out of the Flock and into the Axon: Asked to dump license plate readers, Reno just switches brands

Can’t they all just get along? Catherine Cortez Masto is one of the most Republican-adjacent Democrats in the U.S. Senate. Elizabeth Warren is one of the most progressive. They appeared together in Las Vegas the other day to tout that recently enacted housing bill (that became law without Trump’s signature because he was in one of his moods). Which just goes to show that yes, they all can just get along … at least for now, and within limited parameters. Here’s a look at how things might shake out under the Democrats’ big tent after the midterms. The D.C. bureau’s Jacob Fischler reports: Why the new progressive Democrats in Congress might unite with the old Dems, for now

Nevada was at the top of this bad list for decades, until Obamacare came along. Now of course Trump and Republicans are deliberately trying to destroy Obamacare, while offering nothing in its place except searing financial burdens on people who can’t afford them. Shalina Chatlani with Stateline reports: The percentage of people without health insurance is growing

Good Luck