I must admit that until just recently Governor Dave Heineman’s position on the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline baffled me.  He repeatedly said that he’s not taking a position on the pipeline because it’s a “federal regulatory” issue.  That left me scratching my head.  Since when has something being a federal issue stopped the Governor from taking a position?

Let’s take immigration for example.  Immigration is a federal issue.  Yet, Governor Heineman has not only made his strong opinions on immigration known, he effectively used the issue in the 2004 gubernatorial campaign.

My dad was a cool guy in an old fashioned sort of way.  A moderate Republican (do they even exist anymore?), he often commented on political matters of the day with some cute little phrase. One of his favorites was, “Why that’s enough to make a preacher cuss.”  I always got a chuckle out of it because I knew my pastors would never cuss, no sir, not those guys.

Ironically, I grew up to be a preacher which has altered my view of what preachers will and won’t do.  To be perfectly honest, we’re as human as the next guy with all of the faults and hiccups to boot.  But my dad, much more astute than I can ever hope to be, probably wouldn’t have been surprised at the expletive floating around in my brain as I read Sunday’s Lincoln Journal Star article about Senator Mike Johanns’ comments on “bipartisanship.”