Democracy for New Mexico

Quick Hits

Believe it or not I've decided to do something other than work on this blog this holiday weekend. Like have some good old fashioned fun and relaxation. So I'll just offer a few quick hits and links today before heading out to greener pastures:

• If you haven't yet read them, check out two articles by James Scarantino in this week's Alibi related to the firing of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. One is a compelling interview with Iglesias and the other is a fascinating exposé of Albuquerque attorney Patrick Rogers, including his role in the purge scandal and his connections with the Republican front group, the American Center for Voting Rights. I'll be writing more about these matters after the holiday.
• Health Haussamen has a good piece on State Auditor Hector Balderas and how he's trying to strengthen the office. Balderas, a Democrat, says he's still contemplating entering the CD1 Congressional race against incumbent Rep. Heather Wilson. If so, I think he'd better start moving on it as Martin Heinrich is beginning to build up a head of steam in his effort to be the Dem's candidate.
• Memorial Day started out as Decoration Day, which has its roots in the wake of the American Civil War. After World War I, it became a day of remembrance for all those who had died in the nation's wars. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America organization (IAVA) has put together a resource list of ways you can show your support for veterans this Memorial Day weekend. You can also watch a short film that explains IAVA's critical mission in service of veterans, which you can also support with a donation.
• I watched Charlie Rose's in-depth, hour-long interview with Al Gore last night. Rah! If you missed it, you can watch a video of the show on Rose's website.
• The photos that bookend this post were taken during a sunrise on the Atlantic Ocean at North Carolina's Outer Banks, where Mary Ellen spent time at a family gather this week. Click on the photos for larger versions. I'm glad she got to reconnect with the sea and I'm glad she's back here in the high desert.

Adding Insult to Injury on the Iraq Betrayal

Total U.S. Troop Deaths: 3,441 (104-April, 90 so far-May)
Total U.S. Troops Wounded: 25,242 (thru 5/10)
Untold Thousands of Iraqis Dead and Mutilated
$94 Billion More War Dollars Appropriated

It's difficult to write anything original about passage of the Iraq Occupation Capitulation Act yesterday. A myriad of passionate responses and pointed analyses dominate Dem sites all over the web. We all know in our hearts what a calculated betrayal this was.

In the House a majority of Dems voted against the capitulation, including Pelosi and Obey, the bill's sponsor. In the Senate, only 10 Dems (and Sanders) voted against the funding bill. Once again way too many Dems chose to protect their political hides from "scary" criticism by the rightwingos, and vote with the Republicans. Some opposition party. They couldn't or wouldn't muster the nerve to vote for what is right -- to protect our troops from further exploitation in a boiling cauldron of bloody chaos. Our own Senator Bingaman is one of them. The only NM member of Congress to vote to end this failed and bloody experiment in 21st century imperialism was Rep. Tom Udall (NM-03). At the moment, he's the only NM member of Congress I respect. The rest are either deluded or lacking honest conviction in my book.

As bad as the vote was, the explanation being offered to the media and the base by Dems is worse -- exhibiting the lowest form of cynical manipulation. As is so often the case, I think David Sirota has it exactly right in this post, which I hope you'll read. His bottom line:

This is what we're dealing with folks. A party that runs to the press to brag about the brilliance of using their majority not to end the war, but to create a situation that makes it seem as if they oppose the war, while actually helping Republicans continue it.

You can check out the roll call votes to see who caved and who didn't:

• Senate
• House

As I'm sure you know by now, Obama and Clinton both ended up voting against the funding bill at the very last possible minute. All during the debate, both of them had indignantly refused to reveal how they would vote. I guess they were each in the process of psyching the other out to make sure their rival didn't get away with a yes vote if they dared to vote no. It's clear what's most important to these two "frontrunners," and it isn't supporting the troops or ending their futile bloodshed. They did nothing to urge their fellow Dems to vote against the cave in.

A number of Dems were very critical of those voting to issue another blank check to Bush while pretending to do otherwise. Go Google Bill Richardson, Russ Feingold, Chris Dodd or John Edwards for starters. And check out what Keith Olbermann had to say about Dems and Repubs alike in his latest Special Comment.

But the fact remains that a large contingent of Dems believes it's safe to pretend to be representing the will of the people while voting primarily to protect themselves from criticism from the right. This despite abundant polling results showing a growing majority of Americans want Congress to stand up against the madness and mean it. When will that fact penetrate their pointy little heads? They'd have to get out of the Beltway Big Donor Bubble long enough to give the real world a chance to seep into their conciousness. Don't hold your breath.

Do something, anything, to express your sorrow and anger publicly this Memorial Day weekend in response to the indefensible continuation of this unjust, illegal, deathly occupation.

New Blog Debuts on Healthcare in NM

Speaking of healthcare in New Mexico, Terry Schleder, MPH, an epidemiologist who's involved with the Community Coalition for Healthcare Access and operates Community Health Consulting Services in Albuquerque, has started a blog on the topic at Healthcare is a Human Right NM. She'll try to demystify health policy and financing issues and provide a public forum for exploring effective solutions to our pressing health coverage problems. In her first post she explains she intends to "slay sacred & corporate cows in the service of healthcare justice for all in New Mexico." Go say hi.

Learn More On Results of NM Health Coverage Study at Health Action NM Community Meeting

From Health Action New Mexico:

HEALTH ACTION NEW MEXICO COMMUNITY MEETING

• WHAT: Progress on Mathematica Study comparison of three models of health coverage
• WHEN: Tuesday, May 29, 2007, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
• WHERE: Compass Bank NMSU Foyer
  2444 Louisiana SE (just south of Menaul)
  Park in the lot in the back of building
• WHO: Panelists - Judith Espinosa, Chief of Staff for Lt. Governor Diane Denish, Chair of Health Coverage for New Mexicans Committee; Nandini Kuehn, Health Policy Consultant; Charlotte Roybal, Health Care for All Campaign

Editor's Note: If you care about New Mexico's severe problems with health care coverage and how best to solve them, you need to get informed on what Mathematica determined from its recently completed study of three models of coverage. Mathematica's preliminary findings have been released and this community meeting will focus on reporting and explaining them so that ordinary people, as well as those in the health care field, can understand what's at stake.

The Health Coverage for New Mexicans Committee was appointed by Gov. Richardson to come up with recommendations on how best to expand health coverage to all our citizens, and the results of the Mathematic study will figure prominently in that decision. Our 2008 Legislative Session will be dealing with this issue and now is the time to get informed so we can be active in advocating on behalf of the best option. You can start now by contacting Committee members and FAIR BlogGovernor Richardson and urging them to take bold action to provide health care coverage for all. If we want real change, we have to keep the pressure on.

Visit the Health Action New Mexico website for an abundance of information on this issue.

Goodling Testimony Prompts DPNM Chair Colón to Query Domenici on U.S. Attorney Firings

An article in today's Albuquerque Tribune reports on the testimony by Monica Goodling at yesterday's House Judiciary Committee hearing on the U.S. Attorney firings. Bottom line: She doesn't remember much of anything either. Seems everyone at the Alberto Gonzales DOJ has amnesia. Amazing how not one person in the Department of Justice will take credit for putting the names on the U.S. Attorney firing list, even though the firings were, you know, just routine and based on poor job performance.

Goodling's testimony did raise more issues about Sen. Pete Domenici's involvement in the firings:

Goodling testified she did not know who put Iglesias on the list of U.S. attorneys fired Dec. 7. But she did reveal that Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty covered up Domenici's involvement in a private briefing McNulty had with the Senate Judiciary Committee in January and in a public hearing Feb. 6.

"He thought the senator would prefer to address those concerns privately with his colleagues, and he wanted to give him (Domenici) the opportunity to do that," Goodling said.

At one staff meeting prior to the briefings, one official - she could not remember who - suggested to McNulty that somebody should call Domenici's chief of staff, Steve Bell, "and see if he wanted to address the concerns with his colleagues before the briefing took place."

Goodling did not say whether the call to Bell was made.

In response to Goodling's testimony, the new Chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, Brian Colón, asked Domenici and his chief of staff, Steve Bell, for some answers about their contacts with the DOJ and Rove. Click for page 1 and page 2 (pdf) of his letter to Senator Domenici. Excerpts:

This scandal has quickly spun into an indictment of the entire Department of Justice and its ability to fairly administer the nation's laws, and you stand squarely in the middle of the vortex. There is no longer any doubt that you were singularly responsible for Mr. Iglesias' firing - the only thing still in question is the manner in which you secured that firing and whether you crossed any ethical or legal lines in the process.

... The Senate Ethics Committee will weigh the legal questions surrounding your role, but in the meantime, you have a larger obligation to the people of New Mexico to finally explain your actions in detail. To that end, I request that you:

1. Detail any contacts between you and your staff, including your chief of staff Steve Bell, and Monica Goodling or other Department of Justice officials such as former Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson.
2. Detail any contacts between you or your staff, including your chief of staff Steve Bell, and Karl Rove and his staff.

If there are emails between your staff and the Department of Justice or White House office of Political Affairs, you owe it to the public to release them. If your executive assistant maintains call logs, a common practice in Senate offices, please release any such call logs noting calls either from or to the Department of Justice or White House.

As reported in the Tribune article:

McNulty had told the senators that Iglesias and the other U.S. attorneys were fired for poor performance, prompting Iglesias to reveal the phone calls from Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, also a Albuquerque Republican, and leading to the subsequent admissions by Domenici that he had pressed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and McNulty to fire Iglesias.

During one meeting, Goodling said she wrote down that "Domenici says he doesn't move cases," presumably referring to Iglesias. She said she didn't remember who made the comment.

Committee member Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat, asked if that "referred to the Aragon investigation." Goodling said she only knew about the Aragon case from press reports.

"Certainly, I knew that Senator Domenici had concerns with public corruption cases," said Goodling.

For information on other aspects of Goodling's testimony, see these AP and Washington Post articles.

Rey Garduño First to Qualify for Public Campaign Funding in ABQ City Council Race

Suzanne Prescott has the story over at . If you can, remember to link up with the new web radio show, New Mexico Blog Radio, today at 4:30 PM. Rey, who's running for Albuquerque City Council in District 6, will be joined by Debbie O'Malley, who's running for reelection in District 2, to discuss their experience with Albuquerque's new public campaign finance law. Listeners can call in and ask questions during the half hour show by dialing (718) 664-9717. I'll be joining Suzanne, who produced the radio show Insight New Mexico that aired on 1350 AM during the Legislative Session, as a co-host for today's show. Visit https://www.blogtalkradio.com/nmblogradio at 4:30 PM today to listen in. And cut me some slack if I come across on the show as a bit nervous -- I'm a rank amateur in the radio hosting department, internet or otherwise!

For more info, see our previous post on New Mexico Blog Radio, as well as our post archive on the 2007 Albuquerque Municipal Elections, which will take place this coming October.

Iowa Dem Prez Polling: Top 3 Tight As A Drum, Richardson Gaining

Democratic Iowa Polling, 5/12-5/20

Poll	Edwards	Obama	Clinton	Richardson
Strategic Vision	29	24	16	9
Research 2000	26	22	28	7
DM Register	29	23	21	10
Zogby	26	22	24	6
Mean	27.50	22.75	22.25	8.00

Hat tip MyDD

Edwards Rejects "War on Terror" Frame

John Edwards gave a major policy speech on foreign relations today in New York. Although, like every Democratic presidential candidate except Kucinich, he advocates increased military spending -- he does come out strongly against Bush's politically useful and calculated framing of a "global war on terror." Like the damaging and deceptive "war on drugs," this construct does nothing to solve the real problems afoot in our world, but works quite well as a fear-making slogan. Click to read an outline of Edwards' remarks or a complete text of his speech. Excerpt:

Moving Beyond the "War on Terror"
“The core of this presidency has been a political doctrine that George Bush calls the ‘Global War on Terror.’ He has used this doctrine like a sledgehammer to justify the worst abuses and biggest mistakes of his administration, from Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, to the war in Iraq. The worst thing about the Global War on Terror approach is that it has backfired—our military has been strained to the breaking point and the threat from terrorism has grown.”

“We need a post-Bush, post-9/11, post-Iraq American military that is mission-focused on protecting Americans from 21st century threats, not misused for discredited ideological pursuits. We need to recognize that we have far more powerful weapons available to us than just bombs, and we need to bring them to bear. We need to reengage the world with the full weight of our moral leadership.”

“What we need is not more slogans but a comprehensive strategy to deal with the complex challenge of both delivering justice and being just. Not hard power. Not soft power. Smart power.”

Wouldn't it be refreshing -- and effective -- if we started approaching problems as complex situations that require wise and nuanced long-term strategies instead of labeling each as another "war" on something? To me, what these "war on whatever" assaults do is create more chaos, fear and hysteria so that huge sums of money can be pumped into the hands of special interests. Oh, the DEA and Halliburton and arms merchants love all the "wars on whatever." Then again, they don't have to keep paying for them for generations as the real causes of the problems are left to fester. What a merry-go-round for well connected war profiteers and corporatists.

'We The People' Thursday: Eric Griego

Here Ye! Here Ye!

WE THE PEOPLE

Eric Griego 

A visit from former City Councilor who spearheaded
Clean Elections for Albuquerque

May 24, 2007 - 6 PM

Albuquerque, Channel 27
Worldwide On The Net!
call in - 505-346-1633
Click for Streaming Media
https://quote-unquote.org/

WE THE PEOPLE is an innovative television show looking for TRUTH and TRANSPARENCY in local, state and federal governments. THANKS FOR WATCHING. Mickey Bock/Judith Binder - Hosts

Memorial Day: Democratic Party of Bernalillo County Picnic

Can you surrey? Can you picnic? Okay, I'm showing my generational origins by harkening back to that old Laura Nyro song, but you get the idea. The DPBC is hosting a Memorial Day picnic for all Democrats at the Raymond G. Sanchez Community Center at 9800 Fourth Street NW in Albuquerque. (Click for map.) Bring a blanket, bring a picnic basket and meet fellow Dems on Monday, May 28th, from Noon to 3:00 PM for food, fun and games. Click for a flyer (PDF) and spread the word. For more info call the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County at 830-3650, Ext. 22.