CARSON CITY — What does the Legislature do in the early days of the session, when there’s not many actual bills in the system to work on? Well, they pass resolutions and stuff. And today, there was a doozy.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 1, requested by Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, was written to proclaim Feb. 6 as “Ronald Reagan Day.” We figured it would be your usual GOP political necrophilia, given that their more recent presidents haven’t been all that.

The resolution passed both houses, and in the Democrat-controlled Assembly, not a single person made a peep or voted “nay,” the way Assemblyman Ty Cobb did when Speaker Barbara Buckley was nominated on Monday. The difference is, this resolution had plenty with which to argue. Let’s take a look at selected passages.

• “Whereas, in 1981, when Ronald Reagan was first inaugurated as president, he inherited a disillusioned nation shackled by rampant inflation and high unemployment…”

Yes, no look back at Reagan is complete without a shot at President Jimmy Carter, who everybody associates with gas lines, hostages and malaise. What they forget is that Carter became president because a Republican predecessor — Richard Nixon — just happened to have committed crimes in office and was forced out by threat of impeachment. His successor, the late Gerald Ford, gave Nixon a pardon that likely doomed his own chance to win election to the White House. Hence, President Carter.

• “Whereas, the election results that initiated Ronald Reagan’s second term as president demonstrated that he earned the confidence of three-fifths of the electorate and awarded him the victory in 49 of the 50 states, a record that is unsurpassed in the history of American presidential elections….”

Two words, people: Walter Mondale!

• “Whereas, during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, he worked in a bipartisan manner to enact his bold agenda of restoring accountability and common sense to government, which led to unprecedented economic expansion and opportunity for millions of Americans….”

Oh, really? A bi-partisan manner? Restoring accountability? By deficit spending like a drunken sailor? Leading to economic expansion and opportunity that left even more millions of Americans behind? Like the homeless, the mentally ill and the working poor? That bold agenda?

• “Whereas, President Reagan’s commitment to our armed forces contributed to restoration of pride in America, her values and the ideals cherished by the free world, and prepared America’s armed forces to meet the challenges of the 21st century….”

Yes, all Americans can be proud of Reagan’s secret wars in Central America, or the Iran-Contra scandal, or the original cut-and-running after the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, were blown up by a suicide truck driver in 1983. (Gee, we wonder how our current president feels about how Reagan’s action emboldened our terrorist enemies?)

But that’s hardly the point: Pride in America and her values and ideals comes not through a strong military, but through the commitment of Americans to uphold the principles that make this country great, no matter what. Our strength, diplomatic, military and economic, flows from that, not the barrel of an M-16A1 rifle.

• “Whereas, President Reagan’s vision of ‘peace through strength’ led to the end of the Cold War and the ultimate demise of the Soviet Union, guaranteeing basic human rights for millions of people….”

Yes, but a series of presidents, starting with Harry S. Truman (Berlin airlift; Korean War) and continuing through John F. Kennedy (Cuban missile crisis) and including Ronald Reagan, maintained a policy of confronting the spread of communism around the world, it eventually went belly up. But isn’t the Republican ideal that socialist economies never work? And that totalitarian regimes eventually yield to the power of personal freedom? So, would not the Soviet Union have eventually collapsed no matter who was president? We’re just wondering if perhaps the military buildup under Reagan that contributed mightily to the national debt (which is now a national security issue, we think) was totally necessary.

Anyway, we don’t mean to be mean to Reagan on what would have been his 96th birthday. We just want to point out that Reagan was not the saint that this resolution – and other GOP hagiography – paints.

Reagan was a gifted communicator, an inspiring speaker and a principled conservative. He should get credit for advocating what is good about America, just as he should be criticized for uttering the most cynical line in American political history: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” It marked the formal burial of the Kennedy philosophy – “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” – and the beginning of the GOP envy that has lately afflicted the Democratic Party.

So, let’s not go too far in declaring Ronald Reagan Day. And let’s not feel that speaking up to point out the problems of his administration isn’t all right.

CARSON CITY — Not all Republicans are dicks.

Granted, it’s a controversial statement in this age of phony weapons of mass destruction, faith-based disaster relief, “pro-family” policies that ignore the plight of real working-poor families and an erotic fixation on giving tax breaks to the richest folks in the land.

But we’ll stand by our statement: Not all Republicans are dicks.

But Assemblyman Ty Cobb sure was on Monday.

No sooner had Republican Assembly Minority Leader Garn Mabey seconded the motion for Democrat Barbara Buckley to be elected the first female speaker in 142 years of state history did Cobb blurt “nay.” His breach of protocol was followed by (and suffered in contrast to) Buckley’s acknowledging former co-speaker Lynn Hettrick, a Republican who she said had taught her to work across the aisle.

Sounds like Hettrick needs to have a sit-down with Cobb. Or maybe Mabey should do it.

What’s the big deal, you ask? In Nevada, the leadership votes are considered pro forma. We already knew who was going to be speaker, even before Majority Leader John Oceguera made the nomination (with a history lesson about past speakers – Republican and Democrat – who’d come to share in Buckley’s moment. Everybody knew Assembly Democrats had the votes necessary to install Buckley before Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie made a concurring speech about the import of the moment to women.

The fact is, the Buckley vote was an opportunity for Republicans and Democrats to come together and strike an opening note of bipartisanship. The motion was made by the No. 2 Democrat and seconded by the No. 1 Republican. So why would Cobb vote against it, when every single other lawmaker – of both parties – voted “aye.”

You guessed it: Dickishness.

Now to be fair, Cobb told reporters immediately afterwards that he was following separate protocol: In Washington D.C., he reportedly said, Republicans vote for their choice for speaker, while Democrats vote for theirs, along party lines. And if there’s anything we need more of in Carson City, it’s a heaping helping of Washington-style partisan politics!

Buckley handled the situation with her usual class: She first said she hadn’t heard a nay, but if one was uttered, it was the result of “bad judgment and poor taste.” (We, sitting behind thick glass in the press row, didn’t hear the “nay” either and were frankly doubtful until Cobb confirmed it.) Later, having confirmed that Cobb had done it, Buckley lamented the fact that one of the Assembly members had broken with tradition and showed a lack of cooperation on the first big vote of the session.

Translation: We at Various Things & Stuff have a better chance of getting a bill passed than Cobb, and we weren’t even elected!

But wait, there’s more! Some other highlights of the very first day of the Assembly:

• Pomp and circumstance. The scene on the Assembly side was august (we didn’t make it over to the Senate, although we did steal a few glimpses via a colleague’s computer which was able to show a video image of what was happening down the hall thanks to the magic of this thing we call the Internet).

Although the proceedings got started late (about 12:15 p.m. instead of noon), that was actually early for legislative time.

Trust us on this: If you ever want to have a color guard for an event, the North Las Vegas Fire Department’s color guard is the way to go. Not only did they cut a very sharp appearance (and anyone with a polished silver axe will do that) but they had a bagpiper! Our favorite!

The UNR Chamber Chorale did a great job with the national anthem, but they totally brought down the house with “Old McDonald.” No, that’s not a joke, although when Secretary of State Ross Miller announced the song, dedicated to the many small kids in the audience accompanying their elected parents on the Assembly floor, we thought it was. Hey, cut us some slack. We don’t know Ross Miller’s sense of humor. Anyway, total standing-O for “Old McDonald.”

• The big moment: After Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Maupin administered the oath of office to the 42 officials, it was go-time. Oceguera stood to nominate Buckley with a speech about the history of the speakership, and a nod to each of the seven previous speakers who attended, including longtime speaker Joe Dini, now called “speaker emeritus.”

“These men were larger than life to me, and I considered myself fortunate to serve with some of them. I feel the same way about Barbara Buckley,” he said.

“But we all know they shared one fundamental characteristic,” Oceguera said. “They were all men. Until today.”

Republican Mabey seconded the motion: “She represents the poor, those on the margins of society and those whose voices are not often heard in these corridors of power,” Mabey said. (We’d ask why he doesn’t do more to fix that himself, but that would be “pulling a Cobb,” which is to say, being a total dick instead of going along with decades of bipartisan tradition.)

And, in a break with protocol, Leslie made a few remarks, too. “We should recognize the historical and societal implications of what we’re about to do,” she said. Women have served in office, but have been frustrated “at not being invited to the inner circle, where the real decisions were being made, by men.”

“While this election will be applauded by men and women alike, this moment holds a special joy for the women in this chamber,” she said.

The vote was held, and aside from Cobb, Buckley was elected. “I declare Barbara Buckley to be speaker of the Nevada Assembly,” said Miller, who’d been presiding over the chamber because the newly elected officials hadn’t taken their oath of office or designated a leader yet.

Buckley’s standing-O was even longer than the one for “Old McDonald,” if you can believe that.

As a gift, Buckley got a really nice piece of Nevada history: An oversized gavel signed by all the living governors and all the living speakers.

“I am honored to be standing here as Nevada’s 57th speaker,” Buckley began. She noted Nevada was ranked highly for women in public office, at 33 percent. But she said the fact that we focus on it shows there’s more progress to be made.

“I think we all look forward to the day when we’re not celebrating any more firsts,” she said.

• The gauntlet, thrown: Buckley’s opening day speech focused on the priorities she’s been touting since the election, most recently on our show on KNTV Channel 13, Political Insiders. (It airs at 11:35 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday, in case you were wondering.)

She talked about education (pay every teacher more; smaller “learning communities” within bigger schools, and, oh yeah, full-day kindergarten). You may remember full-day kindergarten from such hits as former Gov. Kenny Guinn’s budget, and not being in current Gov. Jim Gibbons’ budget.

“And we need full-day kindergarten. National studies show it works, our own studies show it works,” she said. “It seems pretty clear to me that a child who receives all-day instruction will do better than one who receives two hours of instruction.”

The remarks were a direct, and blunt, assault on Gibbons, who declared in his state of the state speech that more study is needed to see if full-day kindergarten is a prudent way to spend money. (His preferred alternative is a decentralized model in which principals can make most decisions at the school level without having to conform to district mandates in most cases.)

By saying that it’s obvious and putting it in such simple terms, Buckley made this her first hill to die for. Will the Gibbons people dig in? (It is, after all, an awfully expensive program.)

Buckley also mentioned health insurance (helping more working people, especially pregnant women, get it), renewable energy (wind, solar and geothermal power; oddly, she said nothing about importing coal and using acre-feet of water to make jet fuel, which is something Gibbons wants to do) and ethics (no using taxpayer-paid staffers on campaigns, learning who is behind limited liability corporations that give to political candidates and greater lobbyist discloures). She ended her speech on that note, encouraging lawmakers to serve with “honor and integrity.”

Buckley didn’t mention the looming deficit in the public employees medical plan, which experts put at $4 billion or higher, but she did say afterwards that Democrats have some plans to deal with that thorny issue, too.

• Celebrity status: You know who’s a celebrity in Carson City? Harvey Whittemore, that’s who! The uber-lobbyist appeared in the building on Day One, sans the blue badge that identifies a registered lobbyist. He was greeted by fellow lobbyists the way we ink-stained wretches would greet Bob Woodward or Edward R. Murrow. And he was asked repeatedly if was going to get back in the game.

But Whittemore demurred, saying he’d only register if he had to, because these days, he’s focused entirely on Coyote Springs, the golf resort community he’s building in the desert on the Clark County-Lincoln County line between Las Vegas and Mesquite. Under regulations, Whittemore doesn’t need to become a registered lobbyist if he speaks with lawmakers only in public (i.e. at committee hearings) and only on behalf of himself and his project.

But that doesn’t mean he’s not the man in the halls of the legislative building.