Democracy for New Mexico

DFA-DFNM Meetup Tonight: Special Guest Diane Denish

It's that time again. Our DFA-Democracy for New Mexico Meetup is set for tonight, Thursday, November 7, at 7:00 PM, at the Social Hall of the First Unitarian Church at Carlisle and Comanche in Albuquerque.

We're very pleased to have Lt. Governor Diane Denish as our keynote speaker. She'll be leading an interactive discussion on party building, the upcoming elections and more. Don't miss it! You can learn more about Diane Denish at her , as well as sign up to support her incumbent candidacy for Lt. Governor.

If you want to join the group's email list and/or RSVP for tonight's event, please visit our Meetup group website.

New Blog: Protest ABC's Distorted "Documentary" on 9/11

A new blog, Open Letter to ABC, has been established for centralized information and protest actions about ABC's upcoming "documentary" about 9/11 that has been receiving scathing commentary from all parts of the sane world. Now's the time to act, so get over there, read all about it and do what you can to stop ABC/Disney in their tracks. In an election season like this one, we can't allow BushCo free propaganda on network TV, can we?

Hector Balderas Continuing His Run for State Auditor

Click for a PDF of the announcement released yesterday by State Rep. Hector Balderas (D-Wagon Mound) of his run for state auditor on the Democratic ticket. An announcement letter from Rep. Balderas to the State Central Committee will reportedly be arriving today or tomorrow in SCC member mailboxes. Rep. Balderas will continue to seek the Dem nomination for state auditor, after talking by phone and in person with many Democrats around the state.

Ken Sanchez has officially dropped out, but Daniel Ivey-Soto is still in the race. I haven't seen any additional info on what Jeff Armijo intends to do as the Saturday SCC meeting date nears. Clearly, the State Democratic Party intends to hold an SCC election to fill what they see as a vacancy in the state auditor race on the Democratic ticket. The office of the Secretary of State has stated the matter is now between Armijo and the Party.

Nailing Bush: The Videos

Wesley Clark nails Bush on terrorism and the Iraq War on Fox News (above). Excerpt:

The attack on 9/11 occurred on the president's watch. He took us into a war with Iraq we didn't have to fight. It's been used to incentivize recruiting in Al Qaeda. The number of people who are affiliated with Al Qaeda worldwide has more than doubled since 2001. Our armed forces are bogged down in Iraq. We haven't been able to effectively engage with North Korea. We're hearing the tom toms beating for war with Iran. I think the American people can judge. This administration's policy has been a mistake and he's not made us safer. He's left us more vulnerable.

Countdown's Keith Olbermann nails Bush on the administration's new Rovian tactic of conflating Nazism and its appeasement with terrorism and criticism of Bush's actions, trying the scare both the media and the populace (above). He asks Bush, "Have you no decency, sir?" Text version:

It is to our deep national shame—and ultimately it will be to the President’s deep personal regret—that he has followed his Secretary of Defense down the path of trying to tie those loyal Americans who disagree with his policies—or even question their effectiveness or execution—to the Nazis of the past, and the al Qaeda of the present.

Today, in the same subtle terms in which Mr. Bush and his colleagues muddied the clear line separating Iraq and 9/11 — without ever actually saying so—the President quoted a purported Osama Bin Laden letter that spoke of launching, “a media campaign to create a wedge between the American people and their government.”

Make no mistake here—the intent of that is to get us to confuse the psychotic scheming of an international terrorist, with that familiar bogeyman of the right, the “media.”

The President and the Vice President and others have often attacked freedom of speech, and freedom of dissent, and freedom of the press.

Now, Mr. Bush has signaled that his unparalleled and unprincipled attack on reporting has a new and venomous side angle:

The attempt to link, by the simple expediency of one word—“media”—the honest, patriotic, and indeed vital questions and questioning from American reporters, with the evil of Al-Qaeda propaganda.

That linkage is more than just indefensible. It is un-American.

Mr. Bush and his colleagues have led us before to such waters.

We will not drink again.

And the President’s re-writing and sanitizing of history, so it fits the expediencies of domestic politics, is just as false, and just as scurrilous.

“In the 1920’s a failed Austrian painter published a book in which he explained his intention to build an Aryan super-state in Germany and take revenge on Europe and eradicate the Jews,” President Bush said today, “the world ignored Hitler’s words, and paid a terrible price.”

Whatever the true nature of al Qaeda and other international terrorist threats, to ceaselessly compare them to the Nazi State of Germany serves only to embolden them.

More over, Mr. Bush, you are accomplishing in part what Osama Bin Laden and others seek—a fearful American populace, easily manipulated, and willing to throw away any measure of restraint, any loyalty to our own ideals and freedoms, for the comforting illusion of safety.

It thus becomes necessary to remind the President that his administration’s recent Nazi “kick” is an awful and cynical thing.

And it becomes necessary to reach back into our history, for yet another quote, from yet another time and to ask it of Mr. Bush:

“Have you no sense of decency, sir?”
*******

Editor's Note: this same question was asked famously by Special Counsel for the Army Joseph N. Welch of Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the Army-McCarthy red-baiting hearings broadcast live on CBS news in 1952. See https://www.historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6444/

Latest on Armijo Ballot Battle

This afternoon's Albuquerque Tribune has a story on Jeff Armijo's claim that he's still on the general election ballot as the Democratic candidate for state auditor. It mostly rehashes info that's already out there. However, the story does reveal that Albuquerque City Councilor Ken Sanchez, who was testing the waters for a run at replacing Armijo on the ballot, has decided to stop his efforts because of legal considerations:

Albuquerque City Councilor Ken Sanchez, who spent Labor Day weekend working to line up votes for Saturday's meeting, said his understanding is that he cannot run.

"Based on what I've heard, (Armijo) is officially on the ballot, so I can't run against him. He won the Democratic primary, and I don't think I would have any legal standing." +

Meanwhile, Hector Balderas, the much-liked progressive Dem who is the state rep from Wagon Mound, has said he's continuing his quest to replace Armijo on the ballot, at least for now:

At least one of several Democrats who aimed for the auditor's job after Armijo announced his withdrawal, state Rep. Hector Balderas, said he's still interested in running.

"I'm still planning on participating in the convention unless a greater authority tells me that's no longer the case," said Balderas, a Democrat from Wagon Mound.

"His representation was that he was withdrawing."

Here's the latest take on the legalities of the situation from the NM Attorney General's office, again quoting the Tribune story:

But Sam Thompson, public information officer with the New Mexico Attorney General's Office, said the law doesn't state that Armijo's announcement counts as a withdrawal.

Nor does the law require a written notice of withdrawal for a candidate to be removed from a ballot, she explained.

"The law does not state a requirement for how this process needs to be done," Thompson said. "The issue appears to be between the candidate and his party."

If there's a quorum at Saturday's scheduled State Central Committee meeting, the proceedings should be compelling indeed.

Join Elizabeth Edwards at Fundraiser for Madrid Campaign

Please Join Special Guest Elizabeth Edwards
For a fundraising dinner in honor of
Attorney General Patricia Madrid - Candidate for CongressTuesday, September 12th
7:00 – 9:00 PM
At the Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town
800 Rio Grande BLVD NW, Albuquerque, NMPlease RSVP to Amanda at (505) 242-6000 or
amanda.scott@madridforcongress.com

Armijo Announces He'll Stay in Race: Others Say He's Already Off the Ballot

UPDATE: KRQE News online has video of Armijo's press conference as well as their story about the reactions of Democratic Party Chair John Wertheim and Governor Bill Richardson.
*******************
In a late afternoon news conference, Jeff Armijo announced he's staying in the race as the Democratic candidate for State Auditor. According to an article on the Albuquerque Journal website:

Armijo said Tuesday he decided to stay in the race to keep his promise to his supporters. he said he'd received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls urging him to stay in the race.

"If that makes a select few politicians nervous, so be it,'' he said. He said the accusations from the women are false.

"I am the victim of a horrible political scheme,'' he said.

Armijo supposedly had until 5:00 PM today to formally withdraw his name from the ballot. Previously, he had issued a press release saying he'd withdraw but reportedly hadn't filed any legal paperwork. According to the Journal article, Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron is claiming Armijo's press release served as his formal withdrawal from the race:

Vigil-Giron, in a telephone interview, said she considered Armijo's Aug. 29 written news release as his official notice of withdrawal as a candidate.

"I accepted that withdrawal and the Democratic Party central committee has already been notified they will be meeting to select a candidate,'' said Vigil-Giron. "He is not on the ballot.''

Reportedly, a written copy of the news release was provided by Gov. Richardson's office to Vigil-Giron's office at their request earlier today, and Richardson agrees with State Party Chair John Wertheim statement that Armijo already officially withdrew:

Democratic Party Chairman John Wertheim contends that no matter what Armijo said Tuesday, "he already officially withdrew his name from the general election ballot for state auditor a week ago. ... His actions on that day created a vacancy.''

I certainly have no idea what would legally constitute a withdrawal of a candidate from a statewide election. But I think we'll all become familiar with New Mexico law in this regard if Armijo continues to fight to stay on the ballot.

Jeff Armijo Press Conference Set for 4:45 Today

I just got word that Jeff Armijo is holding a press conference at 4:45 PM today at Bataan Park near Lomas and Carlisle. If Jeff is going to officially remove himself from the ballot as the Democratic candidate for State Auditor, he must do so by 5:00 PM today. Joe Monahan reported this morning that Armijo may be having second thoughts about withdrawing from race. Given the timing of the press conference, I guess it could go either way. The plot thickens.

Democratic State Central Committee members were getting phone calls over the long holiday weekend from Dems trying to garner support for replacing Armijo on the ballot, including popular progressive Rep. Hector Balderas, Albuquerque attorney and County Party Vice Chair Daniel Ivey-Soto and Mayor Chavez's buddy on the Albuquerque City Council, Ken Sanchez. It was assumed Armijo was quitting the race when he made a statement to that effect after meeting with Governor Richardson last week. At the moment, however, nothing is certain and Armijo hasn't yet removed his name from the ballot officially. More to come.

Bush Dose

Every now and then I think it's important to let ourselves be reminded of just how goofy Bush is. Here's today's dose of Bush incoherence and bald-faced dishonesty. It's from an interview by Brian Wiliams in New Orleans last week: via Crooks and Liars.

Be sure to catch that he thinks Americans are sacrificing for the war(s) by paying high taxes. He doesn't mention the bodily sacrifices of the troops or anyone else. Just the high taxes, apparently his most vexing concern. Oh, and then there's his claims of having recently read Albert Camus and "three Shakespeares." Does anyone out there of ANY political persuasion really believe Georgie read any Shakespeare or delved into existentialism during his recent faux ranch vacation? I personally have trouble believing he can make his way through a comic book or that old favorite, "My Pet Goat," without encountering words he doesn't comprehend.

Be sure to read what Media Matters has to say about the false and misleading statements Bush made in the interview that, not surprisingly, were left unchallenged by Brian Williams. Wouldn't want to try and pin down The Decider on the fictions he's peddling as facts, now would we?

Speak Up For Your Health

From NM Voices for Children:
Part of Governor Richardson’s 5-point plan to increase health care coverage in New Mexico was the formation of the Health Coverage for New Mexicans Committee. This group is tasked with studying and recommending the best model for providing health care for every New Mexican. Universal health care has long been a goal of NM Voices, and is the focus of our work with the Health Care for All Campaign.

The Health Coverage Committee is holding hearings, one of which will allow for input from the public. Please consider attending this meeting (it’s on Sept. 27) to let the committee know how important universal health care is to you. If you can’t attend a meeting, please consider letting the governor know how happy you are to see the state taking steps to reform the health care system.

What You Can Do:

• Attend the Sept. 27 committee meeting, 3 to 7 PM, in room 322 of the State Capitol in Santa Fe.
• Contact the governor to let him know that you support universal access and the need to control the rising cost of health care, by sending an email via his website: www.governor.state.nm.us or calling 476-2200.
• Sign up to get on the email list to find out what is happening with the Committee, by emailing RubyAnn Esquibel at Rubyann.esquibel@state.nm.us

Editor's Note: More information about this initiative can be found at the website of Health Action NM.