MUTH'S TRUTHS 08/10/2012

THE SWEETEST QUEEN OF MEAN EVER!
 
Please pardon a father’s pride, but I think my 12-year-old daughter, Kristen, is the prettiest “Queen of Hearts” ever.

And that handsome young “2 of Clubs” sitting in the background is her 5-year-old brother, CJ.  Not shown in the photo is their 10-year-old sister, Jenna, who played “Petunia.”

The trio performed together for the first time Friday night in the Hollywood Kids Academy’s production of “Alice in Wonderland.”

And as for those not happy with me taking this space to brag a little about my young ‘uns, I have just four words:

“Off with their heads!!”

THE CASE FOR RYAN
 

1. The Wall Street Journal weighed in on Thursday with support for Rep. Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running mate:

"More than any other politician, the House Budget Chairman (Rep. Paul Ryan) has defined those stakes well as a generational choice about the role of government and whether America will once again become a growth economy or sink into interest-group dominated decline. 

“Against the advice of every Beltway bedwetter, he has put entitlement reform at the center of the public agenda-before it becomes a crisis that requires savage cuts. And he has done so as part of a larger vision that stresses tax reform for faster growth, spending restraint to prevent a Greek-like budget fate, and a Jack Kemp-like belief in opportunity for all. 

“He represents the GOP's new generation of reformers that includes such Governors as Louisiana's Bobby Jindal and New Jersey's Chris Christie. As important, Mr. Ryan can make his case in a reasonable and unthreatening way. He doesn't get mad, or at least he doesn't show it. Like Reagan, he has a basic cheerfulness and Midwestern equanimity."

THE RETURN OF MIDNIGHT BASKETBALL

Twit-tweet from Democrat congressional candidate Steven Horsford yesterday:“Great 2 visit Walnut Rec Ctr last night - they offer needed comm srvcs: gang intervntion, night hoops & more.”

I guess it all depends on your definition of “needed.”

“Gang intervention”? Isn’t that what we used to call “parental involvement”?

And “night hoops”? Seriously? That’s so…so…so Clintonian.  And so yesteryear.

Do taxpayers really need to fund midnight basketball rather than cops on the street and teachers in the classroom and…dare I say it…putting hoodlums in JAIL?  And do we really need another liberal 90’s retread in Congress?

POLITICAL POTPOURRI

* A lot of conservative fence-sitters have now climbed down off the fence with Mitt Romney’s choice of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate.  The contrast between Obama/Biden and Romney/Ryan could not be starker.  Americans haven’t seen this clear of a choice since Carter/Mondale vs. Reagan/Bush in 1980.

* If you want to fully appreciate why Paul Ryan was chosen as Mitt Romney’srunning mate, Jonathan Collegio of American Crossroads directs you to this C-SPAN clip of Ryan back in 2009 when he “went toe to toe with President Obama and completely obliterated the fiscal gimmicks of Obamacare before Obama’s very eyes.”

* A gaggle of unhinged social conservatives have launched a futile and desperate last-minute effort to deny Mitt Romney the GOP nomination in Tampa (“DUMP ROMinee: Why Tampa’s Republican Delegates must Dump Romney to Defeat Obama”) in part because of “his embrace of an enduring Mormon subculture of pedophilia, polyamory and homoeroticism.”  And some people say it’s the Ron Paulpeople who are nuts?

* Desperate times for desperate candidates call for desperate measures.  Thus, Democrat senatorial candidate Shelley Berkley’s lame-a** new campaign ad accusing Sen. Dean Heller of being a “co-conspirator” in a diamond scam while he was Nevada Secretary of State.  This from a woman presently under investigation by the House Ethics Commission.  Gimme a break.

* The teachers union is circulating a petition to impose a new business income tax in Nevada because supposedly we’re not spending enough on education.  Then you pick up the newspaper and learn that the Clark County School District is going to spend $225,000 this winter to establish a new varsity flag football program for girls.  Gimme a break.

* From the Boy Who Cried Wolf Department: The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on Friday that “The 419 teachers who were laid off at the end of the last school year will be rehired in time to start the new school year on Aug. 27, confirmed Clark County School District officials on Friday.”  Amazing how they ALWAYS seem to find the money when they want to, isn’t it?

* It’s not every day that Las Vegas Sun columnist Patrick Coolican and I agree on an issue, but he nailed it in his column this week that the Las Vegas City Council shouldn’t step in and try to protect downtown restaurants from competition from mobile food trucks.  A good read. Catch it here

* The Nevada Supreme Court ruled unanimously this week that when Nevada voters voted overwhelmingly in the 1990s to impose term limits on the state’s elected officials, they didn’t mean county elected officials such as district attorneys, sheriffs, county clerks, county recorders and public administrators.  I beg to differ.  Yes, we did.  We really, really did.

* A sad note: Longtime Clark County GOP activists will remember Cordova Hicks, a black Republican before being a black Republican was cool.  He was one of the nicest men and gentlest souls you’d ever want to meet in politics and it was his wife, Dee – now retired from Sunrise Hospital - who referred us to our obstetrician for our first daughter back in 1999.  Godspeed, Cord.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“President Obama has failed because he really is a wuss.” – John Sununu

“Mitt Romney presents one enormous problem for Barack Obama’s campaign: No divorce records.  That’s why the media are so hot to get their hands on Romney’s tax records for the past 25 years.” – Columnist Ann Coulter

“Hiding spending does not reduce spending.” – Rep. Paul Ryan, September 2009

“No one understands the dire consequences we face by continuing to ignore our spending problem better than Congressman Ryan, and no one can do a better job of articulating a vision of how to fix it. Most importantly, this pick sends the message that Governor Romney is interested in bold reforms to save America from fiscal collapse. For the future of America, we hope that they are successful.” – Club for Growth on Romney’s pick of Congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate

“Mayor (Michael) Bloomberg is saying now that he has banned large sodas in New York City, his next target is going to be alcohol.  Once that’s out of the way he’ll start his crusade against the laughter of children.” – Conan O’Brien