Gov. Jim Gibbons record of appointments is pretty dismal. He kicks the only McCarran International Airport rep off the state’s Homeland Security commission, but appoints the lawyer for a bankrupt subprime lender to oversee mortgages in Nevada. We once joked that he’d probably put Dr. Jack Kevorkian on the state’s Commission on Aging, but now we wonder if that’s so much of a joke.

Why? We’ll let fellow bloggers (and newsbreakers) Myrna the Minx and Hugh Jackson tell you all about how education activist Joe Enge got himself appointed … wait for it, wait for it … deputy director of the Nevada State Office of Energy.

You read that right: Energy. Not education.

It would be funny if it was a sitcom, but none of us actually wanted to live under the governor from that one show Benson.

We’ve scanned the paper so you don’t have to, people, which is really a much more difficult task than you can possibly imagine. But we do it to come up with Quick Hits! Here we go!

• Hey, Gov. Jim Gibbons. We found $105,000 that you can put toward cutting the state budget! It’s squirreled away in the Clark County budget, under the heading "discretionary spending." We’re totally sure the commissioners would be willing to give up their $15,000 (per commissioner, per year) slush fund. Right, commissioners? Or do you think that luaus for seniors should come before, say, child welfare?
  
• "I love it and this is kind of my way of giving back to my community," says Commissioner Larry Weekly of his slush fund. Please, commissioner. Your noble service is quite enough, thank you very much. We have no need of even more taxpayer money tossed at our feet. No, seriously, we insist.
  
• Partners is lawmaking: U.S. Sens. Harry Reid and Larry Craig, R-Men’s Room. Hey, they both share a distaste for reforming the Mining Law of 1872. Why can’t we give it just a little more time to work, people? It’s only been law for 135 years!
  
• Partners in lawmaking, separated by sorrow. U.S. Sens. Reid and Trent Lott, who announced his resignation today. We’re not really sad, but Reid is, saying in a statement: "Senator Lott has been a true friend, consistently reaching across the aisle to serve the interests of the people of Mississippi and to help me serve the interests of the people of Nevada.  He and I have also served proudly together as leaders, ensuring that the Senate serves the nation’s interests.  Senator Lott is one of the strongest defenders of the institution of the Senate and one of the most pleasant senators I have ever worked with. I am proud to have worked side-by-side with such a distinguished public servant as Trent Lott and I wish him well as he leaves the Senate." (emphasis added)
• Quotable, Part I: "It’s (the Taser) certainly a safe device to use to bring someone into compliance." — Dr. Joe Heck, medical adviser to Metro Police and a state senator in his part time.
  
• Quotable, Part II: "The bodies keep piling up." — Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, on the number of people who have died in Nevada after being shot with a Taser.
  
• So the police camera at 15th and Fremont streets is cutting down on crime? But crime has moved six blocks away, to 21st Street? No problem: Just put a camera there, too. Oh, hell, let’s skip the Christmas rush and put police cameras at EVERY intersection in town. That will cut down on crime, right? So what are we waiting for, Metro? Oh, that’s right: We’re going to need another bond issue to buy all that stuff. Well, let’s get to work.
  
• State Sen. Warren Hardy loves people. No, really, you can’t tell from this story, but he does. Sure, it might look like he uses his position in state government to advance the private interests of the organization he heads for $210,000 per year, the Associated Builders and Contractors, but that glosses over his essential humanitarianism. And conduct that might appear on the surface to be a rather clear-cut ethics violation really is nothing more than what Nevadans know simply as "government." Plus, he loves people.
  
• Where is Review-Journal political reporter Molly Ball’s favorite pizza place? Click here for another installment in the R-J’s long-running autobiographical series "Molly Ball Trivia for Those Who Love Molly Ball, And Don’t We All?" 

So apparently Gov. Jim Gibbons saw a recent uptick in the number of people who think he’s doing a good job, i.e. the mentally retarded. According to a poll in the Reno Gazette-Journal reported by our friend and colleague, Anjeanette Damon, 40 percent of people approve of Gibbons’ job performance.

That’s right: 40 percent. If it was an academic test, he’d get an "F." If it were a line of 10 people, four would say Gibbons was good. If it was a house, we’d only be looking at a foundation and a couple walls.

And, by contrast, 45 percent of people disapprove of Gibbons’ job approval. And whenever more people don’t like you than do like you, it’s not a good thing. (By the way, that also applies to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, who was liked by 39 percent and disliked by 49 percent, or almost half the people surveyed. Ouch, baby.)

So, the extent to which Gibbons should be happy about approval ratings that have stayed between the high 20s and 40 percent is questionable. And the fact is, his nearly unbroken string of political pooch screws isn’t likely to end, if past performance is any indication. So we’re talking The Base here, people. They’d like Gibbons even if he tried to assault a drunken cocktail waitress. You know, hypothetically speaking.

Then again, according to Damon’s blog, 57 percent of the people say Yucca Mountain will be a big factor in their vote for president, so you know this survey has to be wrong.