Las Vegas lawmaker Harry Mortensen has too much time on his hands.
That's what happens when a lame-duck legislator has been termed out of office. With the state suffering through its worst economic times since the Great Depression, Nevadans worry about jobs declining and the economy not rebounding like it should.
But here comes Assemblyman Mortensen, taking a page out of the Democrats' playbook on tolerance. He believes the "Ne-VAH-da" pronunciation should be equally accepted along with the short-a usage of Ne-VAD-da.
Nothing much stirs a native or longtime resident like mispronouncing the name of this state. To all those west of the Continental Divide, the pronunciation since this state became a territory has been Ne-VAD-da.
Still, our brethren to the east continue to struggle with their vowel sounds. But we think Mortensen should use more of his idle time to correct other East Coast injustices.
Just last week MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, a native son of New Yauk, was busy lampooning Ne-VAD-da U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle about a stand she had taken when serving on the Nye County School Board in the early 1990s.
Note to Mr. Olbermann: Pah-rump is not pronounced Pair-ump, and the county seat and once famous mining camp is Tone-oh-paw, not To-NO-o-pay. (We'll give him points for his correct pronunciation on the state's name.)
Those heading across the northern tier of our state may spend the night in E-Lee, not E-Lie; heading west across the Sierra to Gov. Schwarzenegger's Cal-ee-FOR-nee-a, motorists skirt by Ver-DIE, not Vair-DEE, and one of the most picturesque communities along the Sierra Range is Ge-NO-a, not GEN-oa.
So, Mr. Mortensen. We don't need a bill to remind people of what is acceptable and not and how tolerant Nevadans should be.
• A version of this opinion also appeared in the Wednesday LahontanValley News.