When former Marine Corps Lt. Col. Oliver North was hauled before Congress for violating federal law in the Iran-Contra scandal, he and his attorney, Brendan Sullivan, kept referring to a little card. Asked by reporters what was on it, North joked, "The answers." Really, North explained later, the card contained a Bible verse meant to comfort North while he explained to Congress how he thought it was "a neat idea" to violate their laws and whatnot.
Apparently, that back-to-the-80s trick is in vogue once again, with our own governor, Jim Gibbons. Dude is so totally retro.
In an interview this morning on KNPR-FM 89.5’s State of Nevada, the program’s Northern Nevada correspondent, Brian Bahouth, shared an interesting story. (Full disclosure: By invitation of host Dave Burns, we were also part of the Brady Bunch-sized interview panel, playing the somewhat obscure role of Sam the butcher.)
Bahouth was able to observe Gibbons, who was in a Reno radio studio, being interviewed by guest program host Mitch Fox, who was in the Las Vegas studio. And apparently during the interview, Gibbons constantly referred to a book of laminated pages. When Fox would ask a question, Gibbons’ press secretary, Melissa Subbotin, would point to a page, and Gibbons would respond.
What was on the pages? Clearly, the answers. (Then again, it may have been a pretty picture book full of delightful landscapes that Subbotin was using to calm her boss’ fragile nerves as he explained to Fox how it was the media that’s to blame for all gubernatorial problems.)
Now, we know everybody has a different style. But if we at Various Things & Stuff were accused of high crimes and misdemeanors, we’d like to think we know enough about our own conduct to be able to reply without an assistant pointing to talking points that we’d regurgitate like a bad Taco Bell burrito. But that’s just us. We’re funny that way.
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