Fools and 4th Degree Felonies

New Mexico Catch-Up Day

Too much has transpired in New Mexican politics this week. Let’s briefly go through the happenings of the state. The Governor made his final decision regarding the Red Light Cameras. Republicans have been caught stealing again. Congressional campaigns get ugly in all three districts and more and more and more.



Fool me once. . .

When you fool the Governor, you can’t fool him again. And if you try to, he’ll make you cry. After a year of promises of “don’t worry, we’ll take care of that,” Governor Richardson relieved Mayor Marty of his worries and took care of the excessively punitive Red Light Camera program.

“While I appreciate the Mayor’s concerns and the city’s last-minute effort to compromise, I believe the Legislature spoke loud and clear when it overwhelmingly passed this bill for the second straight year,” Big Bill explained as the state reclaimed lost revenue and lowered the fines for irresponsible motorists.

This can’t be the very end of Marty’s hit and miss political career. Will he re-re-kindle his dream of ruling the state from the fourth floor or has he tired of being everyone’s least favorite Democrat? We will be the first to bring you news of his next pet project designed to restore voters’ faith in him and reenergize his chances of being showered in enough votes to sit in another elected office.



4th degree felony allegations against Wilson and White

Usually parties try to keep their intra-party politics quiet and within the party. The Republican Party of New Mexico is working as hard as they can to keep the events of the Bernalillo County Pre-Primary Convention hushed. Unfortunately for Heather Wilson and Darren White, word is out about a scheme to pay delegates $35 per hour as well a cover the $30 registration fee.

First, a tip of the hat goes to the newly discovered political coverage of Dennis Domrzalski. Dennis has the connections and knowledge of Joe Monahan with a few expletives and honest critiques of the idiots we all assess each day. Check him out.

Also, before we discuss the felony charges, let’s highlight the desperation of RPNM. Democrats of New Mexico do not charge you to attend their convention to voice your opinion on candidates for office. Its sad to see a party be forced to charge people at the door in order to balance their books. Passing the hat is typical of ward and county level conventions, but still, no one drops $30 bills in.

Back to the business, Heather Wilson and Darren White stole a play from the Iowa Republican Presidential Straw poll last weekend. In Iowa, the state Republican Party runs a straw poll in the beginning of the primary season as a fundraiser for the party. Since there is no true significance of it, voters have to be bribed all the way around in order to win their vote. The entrance fee is paid (again, what's with the automatic charge?) and the campaigns spend copious amounts of money wining and dining their supportive voters.

So why can’t Heather Wilson and Darren White -- candidates for Senator and House, respectively -- do that too? Because it’s a fourth degree felony. . . and a pathetic sign of desperation. Heather is losing ground to southern NM congressman Steve Pearce in a race that was hers to lose. Why Darren White felt vulnerable enough to go along with the ploy is probably explained by his close ties to Wilson. Heather obtained her house seat thanks to Senator Domenici. In turn, as Heather departs to seek Domenici’s old seat, she is anointing White the heir to the Albuquerque House seat. And while White is in the clear in his primary campaign, he still owes support to Wilson and her illegal ideas.

Former Governor Dave Cargo leveled the accusations against the two campaigns. When he asked for their names and how they would like to get involved with the party, they told him directly that they would not be attending anything in the future, that they were paid to be at that meeting to cast a vote for Wilson and White and to go on their way. He saw 50+ people show up at a meeting that he usually expects less than a dozen and didn’t recognize any of them as normal activists.

Wilson’s campaign spokesperson Whitney Cheshire, author of the abandoned attack dog blog Wednesday Morning Quarterback, has denied the charges up and down and points the finger at an embittered Cargo that did not get elected as a delegate.



Self-Proclaimed “News Leader” 770 KKOB

Albuquerque lost a prominent political reporter through this scandal. Laura McCallum tried to adhere to 770’s moto as the “News Leader” of New Mexico as she broke the story. But Pat Frisch, Jim Villanuci, Pat Allen and all of the other RPNM apologists running the strongly conservative news station yanked the story claiming it had not be corroborated by enough blogs and other news agencies.

Add barackout to the list of sources crying foul and demanding a full inquiry into the allegations. Sloughing off the responsibility of hard-hitting reporting on to the backs of all of the other worthless television and print news outlets of the town is a pathetic excuse for a political bias. Take away their title of News Leader. Their ties to the Republican Party are as strong as the signal that reaches almost to Denver. Simply because they have the strongest signal in the state does not mean they have real reporting or information to provide to New Mexicans.

What about finding a balance? Clear Channel has been accused of not entertaining any idea of hosting a local drive time show on liberally inclined 1350 Air America. Why would they want to invest all of the money that goes into conducting comprehensive coverage any way?

Laura McCallum deserves multiple awards for her firm stance in defense of real, unbiased, uninhibited coverage of the news. None of the news stations or papers have covered this story in the least. Hopefully the gatekeepers will explore what transpired at the Bernalillo County Convention and not follow Pat Allen’s lead.


Best New Law

Before everyone pencils in SB 442 for “best new law” in the Best of Burque Survey, there are many, many more laws on the books. For those that believe politicians do nothing, time would be wisely invested reading through the lists of new legislation that will govern our state. You might even find a tax break in there for yourself! And as you're filing out your Best of Burque, don't forget to give a nod to barackout and its new angle on New Mexico politics.

It’s a gorgeous Friday. We’ll get to Wiviott’s big bucks and the tame commercials that they purchased on Monday. Get off the couch you bum!