Jim Gibbons, Nevada's dilettante governor, evidently has better things to do than listen to his constituents. Although the Legislative Committee on Health Care was willing to face hundreds of angry Las Vegans, many of them at risk because of Third World medical practices recently uncovered, The Gibber contented himself with delivering a few platitudes via videolink, then "left before public testimony began."

What a jerk. Worse still, he let it slip that the state epidemiologist was aware of the hazardous goings-on at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada as early as Jan. 2. "So the governor must have known of this a month and a half* before the Southern Nevada Health District news conference disclosing the practices," writes Jon Ralston. But that may be giving the Buffoon-in-Chief too much credit.

(*-- emphasis added)

Meanwhile, Gibbons' press office, otherwise known as the Las Vegas Review-Journal, reports that Gibber the Fibber, having been flipped off by three members of the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners, is engaged in a face-saving move. He's trying to work out an exit strategy for them whereby "they can resign their positions without carrying the stigma that they are in any way responsible for the hepatitis C crisis."

Uh, sorry Governor: It's a little too late to un-ring the bell you clanged so loudly, in your sole substantive response to this health crisis. But it is sweet of you to worry about the reputations of toothless watchdogs Daniel McBride, Javaid Anwar and Sohail Anjum, while being too busy to listen to the concerns of potentially infected Nevadans. (I guess he couldn't afford to miss "Dancing with the Stars.") In fact, he'll even volunteer as a character witness for the threesome: "Gibbons said Monday he was willing to state publicly that the three doctors were in no way responsible for the health care crisis," writes the R-J's Ed Vogel.

Having skulked away from 150-plus angry Nevadans last night, Gibbons finally bestirs himself to visit Las Vegas -- but only for some ribbon-cutting and photo-op posturing. Wow. A whole nine hours or so out of his oh-so-busy schedule. If nothing else expresses Gibbons' manifest disinterest and irrelevance to the public health crisis unfolding in Southern Nevada, that fluffy meet-and-greet schedule sure does.

Mayor Oscar Goodman, meantime, continues to demonstrate by example what leadership is. He's having the owners of the Endoscopy Center subpoenaed, calling them in on April 7. They'll probably lawyer up but it's a a public hearing, which means that Goodman is at least trying to make them leave their gated communities and face their victims.

Until then, they can take a few master classes from Jim Gibbons on ducking accountability. Apparently being a decorated Gulf War veteran doesn't mean you can't degnerate into a cowardly wuss further along in life. Something for our kids to aspire to, I guess.

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