Democracy for New Mexico

Tonight's 'We The People' Features Discussion on Elected vs. Appointed State Treasurer

WE THE PEOPLE: February 22, 2007, 7 PM, Live - Albuquerque Cable Channel 27! Lively discussion with Doug Brown, former Interim State Treasurer, New Mexico. Should the Treasurer be an elected or appointed position in state government?

Also Worldwide On The Net! Click for Streaming Media https://quote-unquote.org/
Second and Fourth Thursdays 7-8 PM Mountain
Call-in: (505) 346-1633, Hosts Judith Binder & Mickey Bock

KUNM 89.9 FM 8:00 PM Tonight: Organizing Against Barelas/Martineztown Flooding

From Espejos de Aztlan:
Tune in to KUNM 89.9 tonight, Monday, February 19th, at 8:00 PM for "Espejos de Aztlan," a weekly radio program highlighting the courage, strength and beauty of the Chicano/Latino community in New Mexico.

Host Javier Benavidez will be interviewing several community organizers from Albuquerque's Barelas and Martineztown neighborhoods who have undergone reoccuring struggles in their streets and homes with severe flooding and sewage-contaminated storm water due to crumbling and inadequate infrastructure systems.

This past summer, a great deal of attention was brought to the two neighborhoods' agony as television news images of the damage inflicted in some areas by rainstorms resembled images brought on by flooding in New Orleans. Since the storms took place last August, community members have organized to bring a critical remedy to the situation, including a $40 million construction proposal before the New Mexico State Legislature and a plan to transform Tingley Park into an emergency flood basin and park.

Espejos de Aztlan has been on-air since 1979 and is part of the Raices Colectiva which conducts programming on news, culture and music from a Latino perspective on KUNM 89.9. Listeners outside of the radio area can access streaming audio at https://www.kunm.org/.

Listen to KUNM's Coverage of Friday's NM Impeachment Hearing at Senate Rules

I wanted to share the top-notch reporting of our local NPR radio station, KUNM 89.9 FM, on last Friday's hearing on Senate Joint Resolution 5, the NM legislative resolution that urges the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. Jim Williams and the gang at KUNM do their usual professional job of handling the story. Click to listen (mp3):

Also, be sure to check out KUNM's website regularly for local news stories, program schedules, live streaming and more. (To access all of DFNM's posts on the New Mexico impeachment effort, visit our impeachment archives.)

Local News Video of NM Impeachment Hearing at Senate Rules

The local mainstream TV media and newspaper coverage of Friday's hearing on SJR 5, calling for the impeachment of Dick Cheney and George, has been rather sparse and/or dismissive. Very expected. But one Albuquerque news outfit did air a story, which you can see above.

(Note: This should be considered a fair use of the video since it shows just a portion of that evening's newscast.)

Sunday: ABQ Town Hall Meeting on Global Warming (Live and Radio)

From Environment New Mexico:
We're hosting an event this Sunday in Albuquerque where you can learn more about global warming, as well as have an opportunity to ask questions of our expert panel.

WHAT: Community town hall meeting on global warming
WHEN: Sunday, February 18 from 2:00 to 3:30 PM
WHERE: Immanuel Presbyterian Church (Silver and Carlisle)

Expert panelists include former NM Secretary of the Environment and Transportation Judy Espinosa, UNM climatologist David Gutzler, green building architect Howard Kaplan and alternative energy activist Ben Luce. The community town hall meeting will also be broadcast live on KUNM (89.9 FM). The moderator will be KNME "The Line" host Gene Grant. Our journalist panel includes Alibi Managing Editor Christy Chisholm, Albuquerque Journal Science Reporter John Fleck, and KUNM's News Director Steve Shadley. To RSVP, just click here .

Also on February 18 and starting at Noon, Immanuel Presbyterian Church will screen Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth."

This Saturday on Insight NM Radio: Rep. Chasey, NM FBIHOP, Christie Chisholm of The Alibi

Photo montage of last week's show by Suzanne Prescott.

The one, the only Insight New Mexico, hosted by Eric Griego and Suzanne Prescott, is back this Saturday with another hour of progressive talk radio on Albuquerque's 1350 AM, from 3:00 to 4:00 PM. This week we'll hear from NM Representative Gail Chasey, local blogger New Mexico FBIHOP and Christie Chisholm, Managing Editor and News Editor of the Weekly Alibi.

Note: Shows are rebroadcast on Sunday mornings from 7:00 to 8:00 AM on 1350 AM.

Check out the show's website at for more info on guests, issues and blogging, as well as podcasts (mp3s) of previous shows. Listeners are encourged to call in during the broadcast with questions for the guests. Just punch in 338-4090 and you'll have a chance to ask your question on the air.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow, keep track of what's going on at the legislature and local politics and support progressive talk radio in Albuquerque. If you'd like information on sponsorship options for the show, email .

Today's Insight NM Radio Show Line-Up

Photo montage of last week's show by Suzanne Prescott. (Click on image for larger version.)

The weekly Albuquerque area progressive radio talk show, Insight New Mexico, hosted by Eric Griego and produced by Suzanne Prescott, returns this afternoon on Progressive Talk Radio 1350 from 3:00 to 4:00 PM. Guests this week include NM Senator Cisco McSorley, local blogger Coco of Cocoposts and Common Cause Executive Director, Matt Brix. Visit the show's website at for more info on guests, issues, blogging and more. You're also encouraged to call in during the broadcast with questions for the guests. Just punch in 338-4090 and you'll have a chance to ask your question on the air.

The site also now includes podcasts of interviews from previous shows. You can listen at the site, load your iPod or download the mp3. So if you missed the live broadcast of a show or would like to listen again to one of the show's guests, it's easy to catch up. You can even hear yours truly in a live interview from last week's show.

If we want to nourish progressive talk radio, we're the ones who need to do it. Tune in this afternoon and help support Insight New Mexico.

Sen. Ortiz y Pino and DFNM on Today's Insight NM Radio Show

Montage with last week's guests on Insight New Mexico.

Be sure to tune in Insight New Mexico's weekly political show on Albuquerque's Progressive Talk Radio 1350 AM today from 3:00 to 4:00 PM. Eric Griego and sidekick producer Suzanne Prescott will be interviewing one of our local Dem heroes -- NM Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino -- who has sponsored the NM impeachment bill, the medical marijuana bill, the working families tax credit and many other progressive measures, as well as Eric Mack, head producer for the NM News Service. Eric will also be talking with some APS and CNM board candidates in the February 6th election in Albuquerque.

I'm also excited to report that we (Barbara Wold and Mary Ellen Broderick) will be featured on the show's blogger segment today representing Democracy for New Mexico. Wish us luck - we're definitely new to radio interviews!

To learn more about Insight New Mexico and today's guests, download podcasts from previous shows, stay current with guests on upcoming shows, or join the discussion, visit their website and blog at .

Listeners are encouraged to phone in questions during the show by calling 338-4090.

If we want progressive talk radio to continue in Albuquerque, now's the time to show your support by tuning in and spreading the word to your friends, neighbors and colleagues.

P.S. Eric Griego is now a regular columnist at the Albuquerque Tribune. Check out his column.

Peace and Laughter Be With You, Molly

Mary Tyler "Molly" Ivins
August 30, 1944 - January 31, 2007She was one of us ..."We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war." --From her last column, "Stand Up Against the Surge," January 11, 2007

One of her last columns from January 7, 2007: Bubba, We -- Yes, We --Have to Stop the War Now. Excerpt:

This war is being prosecuted in our names, with our money, with our blood, against our will ... What happened to the nation that never tortured? The nation that wasn't supposed to start wars of choice? The nation that respected human rights and life? A nation that from the beginning was against tyranny? Where have we gone? How did we let these people take us there? How did we let them fool us?

Other Molly quotes:

— "The poor man who is currently our president has reached such a point of befuddlement that he thinks stem cell research is the same as taking human lives, but that 40,000 dead Iraqi civilians are progress toward democracy," from a July 2006 column urging commentator Bill Moyers to run for president.

— "Many people did not care for Pat Buchanan's speech; it probably sounded better in the original German," Ivins in September 1992, commenting on the one-time presidential hopeful's speech to the Republican National Convention.

— "I'll remember sunsets, rivers, hills, plains, the Gulf, woods, a thousand beers in a thousand joints, and sunshine and laughter. And people. Mostly I'll remember people," from her farewell column to Texas Observer readers in 1976, when she took a job with the New York Times

The Austin American-Statesman has all kinds of terrific coverage of Molly's life and times.

Some quotes about Molly:

"For a woman who made a profession of offering her opinion to others, Molly was remarkably humble. She was known for hosting unforgettable parties at her Austin home, which would feature rollicking political discussions, and impromptu poetry recitals and satirical songs. At one such event, I noticed her dining table was littered with various awards and distinguished speaker plaques, put to use as trivets for steaming plates of tamales, chili and fajita meat. When I called this to her attention, Molly matter-of-factly replied, "Well, what else am I going to do with 'em?" -- Anthony Zurcher, her long-time editor at Creators Syndicate

"She was just like a force of nature. She was just always on and sharp and witty and funny and was one of a kind." --

"She was as courageous in her struggle with cancer as she was forthright in her words. A true Texas original — she could provoke a laugh, even from the old mossbacks who were her targets. No matter how great the challenge, she brought great cheer to progressives." --

Like many journalists of the 1960s, Ivins earned a reputation as something of a partyer, and, until her health declined, she hosted at her Austin home monthly gatherings of writers and rabble-rousers.

"She always had a rambunctious bunch of mavericks and mutts, journalists and old-time liberals," recalled her friend Jim Hightower, a former Democratic agriculture commissioner and now a radio host and lecturer. "They'd be old people tottering around in their 80s and kiddies. Molly was there with the best of 'em." -- Houston Chronicle

There are a collection of photos, recollections and Mollyisms over at The Texas Observer, the top-notch, fiercely independent publication she helped found and nurtures even now. Ivins left her estate to be split between the Observer and the American Civil Liberties Union and also asked that if people wanted to memorialize her that they do so by donating to them. (Note, the Observer site is experiencing incredible traffic today and it can be difficult to load.)

There's a cool video of Molly in action at the March, 2002 Rolling Thunder Down Home Democracy Tour in Austin. Remember, she says, to have fun while you fight for freedom.

Mary Ellen and I had the pleasure of experiencing Molly live and in person at the DFA's 2005 Democracy Fest in Austin. She was everywhere -- at panel discussions, mingling with attendees, at the BBQ party at Stubbs, at the big rally with Howard Dean, Jim Hightower and others. She was funny as hell, present as hell, and seemed very happy to be among a crowd of her liberal extended clan. She made us happy, too.

Rallying the crowd at DemFest
Hanging out on a balcony cheering the other speeches
At the BBQ at DemFest

We'll miss her. And remember her. And keep on laughing and working for the cause because whats else can we do? Adios, Molly. Be sure to pass along a howdy to your rowdy co-conspirator, Ann Richards. We miss her too. (Click on photos for larger images.)

Saturday's Insight NM Radio Show to Feature Maestas, Grant, Burgos

Eric Griego's weekly political talk and call-in show, Insight New Mexico, produced by Suzanne Prescott, will again be aired on Progressive Talk Radio 1350 AM in Albuquerque tomorrow, Saturday, January 27th, from 3:00 to 4:00 PM. The show is also rebroadcast on Sunday's from 7-8 AM. We need to support the show if we want it to remain on the air!

The January 27 Show Lineup Includes: Democratic NM State Rep. Moe Maestas, Albuquerque Tribune columnist Gene Grant, NM conservative blogger Mario Burgos and a surprise guest. More on the guests:

Moe Maestas - is a Democrat serving in the New Mexico House of Representative from District 16 in Albuquerque. He's a 'freshman' legislator and sits on the Consumer & Public Affairs Committee, Judiciary Committee and is the Chair of Enrolling and Engrossing. We're not sure what the last assignment is but we hope to find out. He is sponsor of the following Bills:

HB183 PROHIBIT UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW
HB184 UNIFORM REVISED LIMITED PARTNERSHIP ACT
HB271 IDENTIFY MINORS & DEPENDENTS UPON ARRESTS
HB272 CORRECTIONS POPULATION CONTROL ACT CHANGES

Moe Maestas can be reached at: antonio@moejustice.com.

Gene Grant - is the host of "The Line," the round table public affairs program that airs Friday nights at 7pm on KNME. Grant is also a columnist for the Albuquerque Tribune on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Whether art, culture or politics Gene presents a unique and insightful blend. Contact Gene at https://www.abqtrib.com/staff/gene-grant/contact/.

Mario Burgos - Mario's blog is popular in New Mexico and has a pronounced conservative take on New Mexico politics. Compare our guests' points of view. How persuasive are their arguments concerning issues you care about? If not Mario, then someone should remind you "not to believe everything you think." Visit Mario Burgos, the blog. 

A Surprise Special Guest - Eric will feature a guest from one of Albuquerque's active advocacy groups.