With friends like these ...

Yesterday I briefly discussed the ongoing feud between the publishers of our cozy little burg's two daily newspapers, the Review-Journal and the Sun. To recap: the Sun is owned by the Greenspun family, longtime figures in the Las Vegas business and journalism communities, and though its publisher claims to be a Republican, it's got a decidedly liberal editorial bent. The R-J is owned by Stephens Media Group, a Las Vegas-based media conglomerate that was founded -- and still does much of its business -- in Arkansas. Its publisher -- Stephens Media Group CEO Sherm Fredrick -- says he's a Democrat, but he frequently attacks Democratic politicians and progressive causes in his weekly column and oversees an editorial board that is just slightly to the right of Fox News.

Today, the R-J gave us a perfect example of its editorial philosophy when it endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination in the upcoming Nevada caucus (the paper will endorse Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination in its Thursday edition). You can read this "endorsement" for yourself, but if you haven't got the time or the stomach for it, suffice it to say this is the most backhanded support for a candidate you'll ever see.

Basically, the R-J is just using this as another opportunity to slam right-wing boogeywoman Hillary Clinton, their favorite punching bag of the campaign. It "lauds" Obama as being ... well ... "likeable." What the paper really means is that he is not a Clinton, so if you're one of those pathetic liberals who hates America and wants to turn this great country over to al-Qaeda and illegal immigrants, at least give your support to somebody who doesn't remind us of the Great Republican Nightmare of 1993-2001.

Here's a excerpt that illustrates the R-J's disdain for the Clintons:

The Clinton campaign cites Sen. Clinton's "experience." In fact, she's a one-term-plus-a-year senator whose lackluster legislative record rivals Sen. Obama's. Other than that, the "experience" in question must surely refer to her presence as a witness and enabler during her husband's presidential terms.

Suffice it to say there are dozens of issues that Americans happily dismissed as "water under the bridge" as the Clinton era came to a close, but which would quickly ensnare Sen. Clinton and her party in a presidential race that would soon look like a struggle to escape the La Brea tar pits.

For starters, imagine Sen. Clinton and "co-president" Bill Clinton invited onto a "This is Your Life" talk show where they're joined by Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey, Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers and Monica Lewinsky.

And that's before we even get around to a HillaryCare plan that could have sent you to jail for offering to pay your doctor in cash to "get to the head of the line."

Keep in mind -- these aren't the fevered rantings of an op/ed columnist whose goal is to drum up readership and loves to tweak the opposing party in the process. This is coming from the official editorial voice of the newspaper, which at most professional journalistic organizations refrains from taking childish potshots in offering up its opinions.

Can't wait to see how the R-J spins its Romney endorsement. Surely it will dig up tired references to the disasters visited upon the country in the previous eight years of Republican rule in its effort to explain away its lack of support for the rest of the Republican field, right?

Right?