» The longer Gov. Jim Gibbons is in office, the more people who put him there have buyer’s remorse. This time, it’s university system Chancellor Jim Rogers, who wrote to Gibbons objecting to the governor’s requested cuts in the higher education budget. (The letter, along with a bunch of other cool stuff, is on Jon Ralston’s blog.)

"The impact on our economy and literally our future is predictable, obvious and dire. For my part, I will not be the chancellor who offers up this destruction," Rogers wrote. (Oh, no. Is he threatening to quit again?)

Of all people, Rogers has the least room to complain about our governor. He correctly called it last year when he told Ralston (on Face to Face with Jon Ralston) that "I don’t think he’s [Gibbons] very bright." (Rogers has been given more than one opportunity to amend that statement, and he’s declined every chance.) And Rogers was mentioned as a credible candidate for governor many times before deciding to drop out.

But instead of using his political action committee to campaign against Gibbons, or for his gubernatorial rival Dina Titus, Rogers instead became a Gibbons donor! The two seemed to mend their fences, and Rogers has said since that Gibbons understands education and agreed that it was a high priority for his administration. (Gibbons and his wife, first lady Dawn Gibbons, did circulate an initiative called "Education First" after all.)

Alas, Gibbons must have forgotten whatever it was that convinced Rogers not to a.) run for governor himself or b.) back somebody else for the job. Because the governor’s letter back to Rogers said everything but what was not-so-subtly written between the lines: "Screw you, buddy."

Oh, and the saddest thing? Rogers is absolutely right in his position, and not just that part about Gibbons not being very bright. Higher education shouldn’t be cut in the way the governor plans to cut it. And the only reason it’s even an issue is that somebody took a "no new taxes" pledge out there on the campaign trail. That was most definitely — what’s the phrase? — not very bright. But, sad to say, neither was backing somebody who would take such a pledge in the first place. That we’d end up here was predicable, obvious and more certainly dire.

» A quick Jon Porter update: We disagree with the congressman about the need to build toll roads along Interstate 15 to California. Toll roads are a continuation of the "ownership society’s" campaign to privatize all public space, not to mention an assault on the philosophy that we should all pitch in to meet communal needs.

We also disagree with this notion that if U.S. troops withdraw from Iraq, the enemy "…will follow us here." These are insurgents fighting to get the infidels out of their homeland, not the ghosts at the end of the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. They won’t follow us anywhere. Plus, the terrorists who really are plotting attacks on U.S. soil should be the next target of our military, which won’t be tasked with policing a civil war.

But Porter is totally right on when he calls for the state’s retirement fund to divest itself of money invested with companies doing business in Sudan. Nevada’s PERS system has $58 million in four companies doing business with that nation, which has become famous for its genocide. "Everyone needs to find a way to make a difference there," Porter says. And withdrawing state-controlled money is a good first step. Kudos to Porter for raising this issue.

» So it appears that Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson is after the Tool of the Week award, after proposing a series of industry-sponsored changes to the way billboards are regulated. His bill, AB 438, would affect the way local governments can regulate billboards, as well as crazy-ass things like measure the height of a billboard from the ground to the bottom of the sign. Why, that’s like measuring Atkinson’s career from the time he was first elected to the time he introduced this bill; there’s surely another chapter or two left to be written. Let’s hope the theme of those chapters isn’t shame.

» We see the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association has changed its name to the Nevada Justice Association. Now, we like trial lawyers as much as the next good doctrinaire liberal, but please: Who do they think they’re fooling? Even a first-year law student knows that trials and justice have about as much to do with each other as global warming and peanut butter. We think a better name (albeit slightly longer) would be the Nevada Association of Lawyers Standing Up for the Little Guy Against Huge (and Deep-Pocketed) Corporations and Governments, At Rates Now As Low As 22 Percent! (Not Valid in All Cases).

» "Gray skies are going to clear up, put on a happy face…" That is totally the theme song at the state Capitol these days among staffers to Gov. Gibbons. Despite the mean reporters who are constantly asking about recalls, impeachments, indictments or resignations, the governor’s staff is turning their frowns upside down!

"We will not be distracted. We’re moving forward with our legislative agenda. Partisan politics will always exist; we’re moving forward, leading the state," said Melissa Subbotin, Gibbons’ press secretary.

Partisan politics? We thought this was an FBI investigation?

"It seems like everyone else is consumed with these rumors but us. We will not allow them to distract us. As long as we are in office, those rumors will exist. But rumors only affect the lives of those who allow them to," she added.

Rumors? We thought a grand jury was issuing subpoenas. And isn’t hiring Jack Abramoff’s ex-lawyer a little extreme to deal with rumors? Shouldn’t Gibbons just call his agent? But she’s right about one thing: The "rumors" are sure to stop when Gibbons is out of office!

Anyway, as good as that book The Secret might be, we suspect that perhaps just pulling the blankets up over your head isn’t the best way to deal with that monster that may or may not be lurking in the closet.

Or maybe it is. Gibbons’ chief of staff Mike Dayton told the Las Vegas Sun that things are rosy, too, despite losing the governor’s liaison to the Legislature mid-session. "I think we’re holding up quite well. The governor has asked us to focus on the legislative agenda, and we believe in him, and know he’s an honest man and we believe in his ideas," Dayton said.

» No matter what else, however, Gibbons is moving forward with his agenda. Or maybe sideways. Well, he’s running in place, at least. See he’s appointed a task force to look at public-private partnerships for road building, and it includes his former rival, Dina Titus.

Impressive. But perhaps it would have been more impressive had Gibbons not had the results of two other groups’ work to review on the exact same subject. A blue-ribbon panel on transportation produced a comprehensive report, and a transition team (also appointed by Gibbons) weighed in with its own recommendations. Perhaps things would be easier if Gibbons told us the answer he wants to hear before this new group goes out and does all the same work over again?

Otherwise, well, Task Force 4: You’re in the on-deck circle!

But apparently the state Republican Party got involved in trying to unseat Hafen, a 20-year incumbent. According to the Review-Journal, an e-mail went out to Republican voters the day before balloting, reminding them that Hafen was the father of Tessa Hafen, who came within 3,921 votes of unseating U.S. Rep. Jon Porter in last year’s elections.

Oh, that Andy Hafen! Now we remember!

For his part, Hafen says introducing partisanship was wrong. "There’s no room for partisan politics at the local level. The last thing we want is a street or a sewer line put in for partisan reasons," he said.

On that, however, we have to disagree. We think there are some legitimate differences between liberals and conservatives (notice we didn’t say "Republicans" and "Democrats"). And those differences in philosophy can find their expression at the local level just as much as if a person was running for president. (Think about it: A conservative might be more inclined to vote for a zone change to allow for a new subdivision, because he believes in the free market, while a liberal might be more concerned about the environment and thus vote against it. The list goes on.)

Granted, city councils are not state legislatures, and partisanship doesn’t play as big a role as it does in Carson City or Washington, D.C. But it does play a role.

And our friends at the GOP are not at all ashamed about sending the letter.

"No shame or embarrassment there. For us not to support him [Wagner] would be ridiculous," says Zac Moyle, executive director of the state Republican Party. The party’s job, Moyle says, is to elect lots and lots of Republicans. "I don’t give a crap whether it’s City Council or comptroller," he said.

Um, actually Zac in Nevada it’s called "controller," and the last Republican we elected to that job ended up getting impeached for using state equipment and resources for her campaign. Then she allegedly got murdered by the creepy guy who she married three weeks after her former husband’s death, possibly also at the creepy guy’s hands. (Geez, no wonder Moyle didn’t want to mention the title!)

Moyle, the kind of guy who occasionally has to stand up to gun-waving nuts who drop by party headquarters, also said the reference to Tessa Hafen was in no way meant to punish Andy Hafen for his daughter’s strong candidacy. "We won that race. Why would we have hurt feelings in a race we won? That’s just a ridiculous statement," he said.

Is it? Tessa Hafen did run a surprisingly strong race, and that’s not the kind of thing that’s quickly forgotten in politics. (Porter did write a nice letter for Wagner, but didn’t really do much else to help out his strong challenge to the elder Hafen.)

When you think about it, however, state Republicans have a good reason to play for keeps. They are definitely on the outs right now. Consider:

– On the national level, their party is in shambles. President George W. Bush has terrible approval ratings, Vice President Dick Cheney has been proven wrong on nearly every war-related utterance he’s ever made, Republican congressmen like Bob Ney and Randy "Duke" Cunningham have been forced from Congress and into prison for Jack Abramoff-related corruption. (And that doesn’t even count former Congressmen Tom DeLay, who’s facing money laundering charges, or Mark Foley, attempted pederast.) As a result of the war and general dissatisfaction, Republicans lost both the House of Representatives (decisively) and the Senate (barely).

– On the state level, their party is in shambles. Gov. Jim Gibbons is facing an FBI investigation of his dealings with defense contractor Warren Trepp, from whom he took unreported trips and, according to an ex-Trepp employee, other gifts and cash. Meanwhile, first lady Dawn Gibbons likely broke ethics laws while working for another defense contractor at the very same time that then-Congressman Jim Gibbons was working to get that company a hefty federal contract. And that doesn’t count the chaos that has enveloped pretty much anything resembling a gubernatorial agenda. It’s gotten so bad that recall talk is bouncing off the walls of the legislative building, stayed only perhaps by the fact that gubernatorial successor Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki is embroiled in his own scandals, having given a nice contract renegotiation to a company that featured him in ads for a state-sponsored tuition program, using money that should otherwise have gone to the state. And that’s not even considering his alleged destroying of public records on the way out of office, which he petulantly tried to stay in despite being elected to a higher position with quarters elsewhere in the Captiol building. (That last one isn’t really a scandal. We just wanted to remind everybody that Krolicki’s kind of a dick.)

– And still on the state level, their party is in shambles. It’s former chairman, Paul Adams, resigned after wading into intraparty squabbles only when he wasn’t attacking U.S. Sen. Harry Reid. The current interim chairman, Paul Willis, has changed his mind more than Britney Spears has changed hairstyles. Party officials struggled to move up the GOP caucus date, finally realizing the only date that made sense was Jan. 19, a date the Democrats picked for their caucus long ago, which means the Republicans are playing serious catch-up. Perhaps as a result of these leadership challenges, and a lack of election planning, the Republicans in 2006 lost four constitutional offices and one seat each in the Assembly and in the Senate. And Democrats have the majority of seats on the two most high-profile local governments in Nevada, the Clark County Commission and the Las Vegas City Council.

– In Congress, a Democrat (U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley) is the dean of the delegation, and will be re-elected to the seat for as many years as she wants it. Up in the 1st Congressional District, poor Republican Dean Heller was recently rated at the bottom of almost the entire Congress in terms of effectiveness, even coming in behind delegates who have no voting power. And, as we saw in last year’s election against Tessa Hafen, Porter will always have a tough race in his almost evenly-divided district.

– In the Senate, there’s John Ensign, who went to Washington pledging to get fellow Republicans to vote against Yucca Mountain, yet managed to change not a single mind. These days, he’s known mostly for his suntan, low golf handicap and other athletic pursuits rather than for any serious political chops. And he’s been put in charge of electing Republicans to the Senate in a year (2008) when the party could see big-time losses thanks to Bush fatigue and the dreadful consequences of the president’s foreign policy misadventure in Iraq.

So, we can understand why the state Republican Party would want to get Republicans elected to pretty much any office they can. It’s not a pretty picture.