Gubernatorial defender, and now-sure-to-be-lifetime-tenured UNR professor Eric Herzik was taking up Gov. Jim Gibbons cause once again, this time in a Canadian National Post story helpfully linked by our colleague Hugh Jackson at the Las Vegas Gleaner.

To our neighbors to the north, Herzik said this when asked about state law that requires Gibbons to reside at the seat of government:  “This whole situation’s odd. What’s he going to do, call the state police and have her tossed out? The home that he can live in Reno is 30 miles away from Carson City. Many state employees commute.”

Ah, yes many state employees do commute. But how many of them are subject to the provisions of NRS 223.040, which says they must “…reside at the seat of government”? Um, that would be one. Guess who? The governor! So while Herzik might like state law to say the governor shall reside at the seat of government, “…except in situations classified as ‘odd’ in which event he may live 30 miles away,” it actually doesn’t say that. So, no go, Mr. Professor. (BTW, the NRS is on computers now. Anybody can look it up!)

Now, we’re not saying Gibbons should call the state police and throw his wife of more than two decades, Dawn Gibbons, out on the street. But since the mansion has 23 rooms, according to the National Post piece, perhaps they could share until their sure-to-be-nasty divorce is complete?

Of course, Herzik also says the governor’s divorce case should remain sealed. “There is no public policy interest in whether he was a good husband or she was a bad wife. That has nothing to do with the state budget,” he said.

Pardon us, but we disagree. There could be a great deal in those divorce filings that’s of interest to the public, given the reports of Gibbons being under investigation by the FBI. And while we have maintained consistently that Gibbons (and other politicians) ought to have some zone of privacy with it comes to purely personal matters that have no bearing on their administration, when it comes to the courts, we think the papers should be open, for every public figure.

Oh, and what makes Herzik think that Gibbons was a “good husband” or Dawn Gibbons was a “bad wife”? Oh, that’s right: Herzik is in love with Gibbons.

State Sen. Joe Heck is returning from his tour of duty in Iraq, having been the subject of one hagiographic profile in the Review-Journal and the author of two dispatches from the war zone (neither of which disclosed the little tidbit about him being on the ballot this year!). What more does he need to frustrate Democrats and easily win re-election than that?

How about a welcome-home fundraiser at the Bellagio?

Heck will be feted May 28in the Bellagio’s Caramel Lounge in a invite headlined by Gov. Jim Gibbons, the man who has fallen to pieces with his response to the hepatitis C crisis while Heck has calmly made intelligent, thoughtful suggestions from 10,000 miles away. (Heck for governor in 2010? Who knows, people?)

Also on the invite are Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki (no photo, however; wonder how that happened?); Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio; the Senate and Assembly Republican caucuses and Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert.

Oh, don’t forget MGM Mirage.

Co-hosts include the Nevada Bankers Association; Nevada Franchised Auto Dealers Association; Nevada Motor Transport Association; Retail Association of Nevada; Sig Rogich; McDonald Carano Wilson; Kummer Kaempfer, Bonner, Renshaw and Ferrario; and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. Mmmmm, capitalistic-y.

Lobbyists Trevor Hayes, Alfredo Alonso and Mike Alonso are also on the invite list.

Since it’s $500 per person, and $1,000 per corporation or PAC, we probably won’t be able to attend. But we’re sure that if Heck’s re-election weren’t already sealed (it was) this should put him over the top.

Oh, important safety note: The e-mail address to RSVP, dcherry@J3Strategies.com is not our friend David Cherry, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley. It’s someone named Danielle Cherry. So, just keep that in mind.

Reader Scott Duran writes:

Thank you for the article on the Million Marijuana March. I attended it, and it was a very enlightening event. And while Mr. Whited’s article was pretty accurate, spending two paragraphs on the fact that a local convenience store was indeed receiving consumables didn’t leave much room to talk about another issue discussed at the march: the U.S. Government’s ongoing criminalization of growing ‘Industrial Hemp’ (the stuff you can’t get high on).

The irony of our Government making hemp growing a crime is that the original drafts of our Constitution– the basis of our Nation and its laws– were written on hemp paper.

We have to import this material from other countries, instead of allowing our farmers to grow it. At the march there was a demonstration of the properties of a hemp “particle board” that is naturally fire proof and water-resistant (consider how New Orleans and Southern California could have used that material to rebuild after the recent floods and fires). Too bad we can’t grow the material on our own soil. “Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere,” George Washington once wrote.

Under current law, Mr. Washington would be arrested for doing that. I’d gladly march to protest that, just like I am glad to march for all the other reasons, too.