Democracy for New Mexico

What Cheney's Been Hiding All These Years

All right, kinda corny, but it DOES mention Roswell, New Mexico .... and NOT in connection with Roswell's own tobacco spitting jailbird of the Republican persuasion.

Rant of the Day: Privatize This

Henry Rollins Tees Off. To augment that, read this IndyMedia report on Iraqi unionists speaking out during a U.S. tour against the American occupation and privatization schemes. This kind of corporatist money and power grab is at the very core of many of the festering problems our elected officials refuse to address effectively, whether they're related to health care, energy, education, natural resources like water, voting machines, trade, jobs, media, the prison industrial complex, our highway system or other areas where "privatization" to fill corporate coffers is being pushed to the detriment of the common good and common sense.

Is it any wonder? The powerful lobbying arms of these profit-at-any-cost outfits siphon tons of cash into the "campaign funds" of politicians on both sides of the aisle. They don't do that without getting what they want in return. They aren't donating large sums of money to be nice. Bottom line -- the "contributions" are nothing more than bribes masquerading as "free speech." Isn't it time we strengthen the challenges against politicos in both political parties on this score?

Secrecy Continues on Earmarks
I happened to turn on the TV this morning and caught a story on CNN about a project they're conducting to gather information on the specific "earmarks" being stuck into bills by members of Congress. Remember how one of the promises made by Dems in the 2006 election was that they'd reduce the rapid proliferation of these hidden subsidies to cronies and make the process transparent? Don't hold your breath. Of the 435 House members contacted by CNN interns, only 31 provided data on the specific earmarks they're pursuing. I guess they don't believe we have a right to know what projects are being supported with our tax dollars. Remember, we're just here to vote, pay our taxes and do the grunt work door to door while the "important people" who "contribute" generously to their campaigns get to call the shots.

NM House Members: Show Us the Money
According to the compiled by CNN, New Mexico Reps. Heather Wilson (NM-01), Steve Pearce (NM-02) and Tom Udall (NM-03) all failed to provide the requested information on earmarks. What are they hiding? If you'd like to contact them to ask, click here. You know they always like to hear from contituents, as their websites and emails always state.

Private Equity and Hedge Fund Scams
In a related vein, don't even get me started on the "private equity funds" that are buying up public American companies, taking them private, dumping employees and benefits and essentially stealing their pension funds and other capital assets for distribution to their secret members. Have you heard ANY politician in the national spotlight criticize the full extent of this robbery? Even John Edwards, our token "populist" candidate, hems and haws when asked about private equity or hedge funds. After all, he recently worked for Fortress, a private equity firm that was taken public and produced large gains for its officers. And as this article reports, the majority of hedge fund "donations" are going to Dem candidates.

Again, don't hold your breath for any meaningful action by politicos anytime soon. They wouldn't want to subject members of such filthy outfits as the Carlisle Group to public scrutiny or fair taxation. It would cut down on the level of today's record-breaking campaign contributions!

Oh, there's a small dent in the dam as Congress has been so shamed by the revealed shenanigans of the Blackstone Fund that a bill has been introduced to address a narrow instance of the widespread problems with the equity funds. As this article in The Nation explains, Blackstone's greed and opportunism represents only the tip of the iceberg. Meanwhile, the Dem presidential candidates remain silent. Their owners don't like to be outed.

Burning Question of the Day: Why Do Albanians Love George Bush?

Stephen Colbert examines a surreal phenomena: Why do Albanians love George Bush?  Hint, it isn't because of this outfit:

Click on image for full effect.

Distracting Asides

I don't feel like writing about politics today. I'm so angry about too many Dems fiddling while Rome burns that I'd probably only depress you (more than you already are) with my premonitions about the dwindling prospects of real change anytime soon. Hypocrisy and beside-the-point fakery seem to be everywhere. So instead I'll offer some visual flotsam and jetsam to amuse and distract:

• A website called Strange Maps offers a map of the U.S. with the names of states replaced by those of nations that have comparable GDPs. For starters, New Mexico is renamed Hungary and Texas becomes Canada. Note that America remains the nation with the highest GDP in the world -- projected to be $13,22 trillion (or $13.220 billion) in 2007, almost as much as the economies of the next four (Japan, Germany, China, UK) combined.
• Go visit Frans Lantin's marvelous . Relax and float downstream.
• The Magnum Festival '07 website has a of 60 years of evocative photographs by top-notch photogs, one for each year. There's also a second 60-year collection by Magnum.
• Here's an intriguing video of 500 years of Portraits of Women in Western Art morphing into one another (to music).
• Trek Earth has a myriad of photos taken in New Mexico (and around the world).

All Shapes, All Sizes, All Colors, All Kinds

Duke City Fix has a great collection of links to tons of photos from this Saturday's Albuquerque Pride 2007 Parade up Central to Expo New Mexico (Fairgrounds). If you missed it (as I did), the slide shows are almost (but not quite) as good as being there. The ABQ Pride website will also have some photos shortly.

Sunday Bird Blogging: Burrowing Owls

(Click on image for larger version)

We haven't taken any good photos of our birds lately -- gardening comes first at this time of year -- so instead here's a link to a webcam pointed at a colony of burrowing owls. The image refreshes once per minute. PNM, believe it or not, provides the webcam coverage of the owl colony, which resides at their Reeves Generating Station in the northern part of Albuquerque (sample above). Right now, many babies are present in the colony and are a hoot to watch (sorry). They seem to be most active during the cooler parts of the day. PNM works closely with New Mexico's Hawks Aloft, the terrific indigenous bird conservation group, on a number of bird protection and education programs. (Hat tip: Bridgett)

The photos below aren't from the webcam but they do give you a better idea of what the small owls look like. For more info on burrowing owls, including some audio files of their calls, click here.

According to The Nature Conservancy in New Mexico:

The burrowing owl can be found at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge -- the Conservancy’s first New Mexico conservation project. The burrowing owl is listed among the Conservancy’s Unlucky 13, grassland birds whose populations have dangerously declined in recent years. The burrowing owl is found throughout New Mexico at lower elevations, particularly areas with prairie dogs and other rodents that make burrows. Restoration of the owl hinges on sustaining burrowing mammal populations to provide adequate habitat.

“I've heard a rumor that burrowing owls are nesting in the end zone at New Mexico State University’s stadium in Las Cruces,” says Mehlman “The owls can still be found nesting around Albuquerque and they should be looked for in any existing prairie dog colony.”

(Updated) Oops, What's Bush Drinking?

The photo above was included as part of this article on Yahoo News about Bush at the G8 summit in Germany. Funny, Bush was guzzling this golden, sudsy liquid on Thursday, only to come down with stomach problems on Friday morning causing him to stay in bed. I wouldn't be surprised if he had some problems with pretzels, as well:

Stricken with a stomach ailment that confined him to his hotel room, President Bush still met Friday with France's new president and prepared for talks in Poland on a new missile defense system. The president was already dressed when he began feeling ill in the morning, White House counselor Dan Bartlett said. He said doctors are keeping an eye on him but that Bush's illness — whether a stomach virus, a light touch of food poisoning or something else — is "not serious."

He stayed in bed to try to rest and recuperate, missing the morning session of the summit being held here of eight industrialized democracies.

UPDATE 4:00 PM: Here's another shot from the G8 in Germany of Bush and his beer:

Hat tip Think Progress.

Maybe it's become a sort of tradition for George W. to party down at the G8. Check out his expression in this photo from last year's Summit, and note the bottle of beer near him on the table:

Martin Heinrich: New Campaign Website, New DFNM Netroots Donation Page

Current Albuquerque City Council member Martin Heinrich, who's tossed his hat in the ring to be the Democratic candidate for Congress in NM-1 against incumbent Republican Rep. Heather Wilson, now has a campaign website up and running. Go to MartinHeinrich.com. Under a heading of 'Ethics, Vision and Results', the site includes info on Heinrich's accomplishments, news stories, videos and a bio.

Donate to Heinrich Campaign Via Our New DFNM Netroots Fundraising Page:

Noted for his problem-solving pragmatism, negotiating skills, ethics and dedication to a green agenda, Heinrich has already raised more than $4,500 in campaign funds since his recent entry into the race. You can add to that by kicking in a few bucks using our new Act Blue fundraising page: DFNM Netroots for Martin Heinrich. As we learned in the Dean campaign, many small donations can trump a handful of large donations. Help demonstrate that members of the grassroots - netroots are ready to step up to the plate and support people-powered candidates like Heinrich. Donate today at https://www.actblue.com/page/dfnmforheinrich.

Here's Martin Heinrich answering the question, "Why are you a Democrat," at the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County's Memorial Day picnic this past Monday:

Note: The clip above is one of a continuing series of digital camera video clips Mary Ellen is producing, asking all kinds of folks about why they're Democrats. Check our previous post for more, and keep an eye out for additional videos in the series. Also keep an eye out for Mary Ellen pointing her camera at you! These are low-tech video clips taken with an ordinary digital camera, not a top-notch video cam, but we think the messages come across loud and clear.

Impeach Gonzales

New video clip from Robert Greenwald partnering with Democracy for America. Click to sign the petition to impeach Gonzales. Pass it on.

From Jim Dean, Democracy for America:
If George Bush won't fire U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, then Congress can.

Demand Congress impeach Gonzales now: https://www.ImpeachGonzales.org

First, Alberto Gonzales and Karl Rove worked together to fire at least seven U.S. Attorneys because they weren't "loyal Bushies" and pushed several others to resign in an unethical crusade to make the U.S. Justice Department a partisan arm of the Bush administration.

Then they worked together to cover it up.

Gonzales went so far as to testify to Congress that he "was not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions going on." When White House e-mails exposed his involvement, Gonzales changed his tune in an interview with 60 Minutes then changed his tune again by hiding behind, "I don't recall" more then 60 times in his second Congressional testimony. Time's up for Alberto Gonzales!

Democracy for America has teamed up with Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films to get the message out. Robert has created a hard hitting video short that exposes Gonzales' attempts to mislead Congress. In a few weeks, DFA members around the country will deliver your signature and thousands of others directly to your representative in Congress.

Karl Rove wants this scandal over. Rove knows that an impeachment investigation of Gonzales will open the door to a lot more then just the U.S. Attorneys scandal.

Impeachment puts everything back on the table. Illegal domestic eavesdropping, illegally deleted government e-mails, voter suppression, signing statements, torture recommendations, you name it -- if Gonzales had his finger prints on it Congress will shine the spotlight at it.

Join thousands of Americans demanding accountability and ethical leadership in the U.S. Justice Department. Please sign the petition now: https://www.ImpeachGonzales.org

Thank you for moving America forward,

Jim Dean, Chair
Democracy for America

P.S. Members of the President's Cabinet can be impeached. Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution provides for removal of the President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States.

Retired Iraq Commanders Criticize Heather Wilson

You may have already seen these unprecedented ads online or on TV, but I wanted to include them here as well because they're so powerful, unprecedented and timely. All three of them are scheduled to run in battleground districts where Repub members of Congress, including Heather Wilson in NM-01, are being challenged for their refusal to face the realities on the ground in Iraq and break with Bush on the war.

Retired Major General John Batiste, commander of the First Infantry Division in Iraq from August 2002 to June 2005

As noted in a post on New Mexico FBIHOP, Wilson was the only New Mexico member of Congress to refuse to be interviewed recently by the Albuquerque Tribune about her views on Iraq. The Tribune notes that Rep. Wilson "declared her opposition to a surge of troops to Baghdad after a post-Christmas visit to Iraq. But once Congress convened she has voted at every opportunity to support Bush's policy."

Heather Wilson -- still saying one thing and doing another. She's long claimed she's "moderate" and "independent," but votes for the Bush agenda almost 90 percent of the time. Now, our troops in Iraq are facing accelerating casualties and are mired in the midst of a dangerous and chaotic civil war thanks to Bush's stubbornly misguided "surge" policy. Yet Heather won't tell us where she stands or why -- and she keeps voting to let Bush continue his failed strategy uncontested. Why is she so afraid to confront Bush?

Former second commander in Iraq, Major General (ret.) Paul D. Eaton, who was also the first commander of the Iraqi army in Iraq.

Iraq War vets and former NATO Supreme Commander, General Wesley Clark, add their voices to the surging criticism within the military community of Bush's failed strategies.

Want to keep these ads and others like them on the air, and have them aired nationwide? Donate to VoteVets.org. If we don't, who will?

Iraq War Casualties:

• U.S. Troop Deaths: 3401
• Total U.S. Troops Wounded: 24,314
• Total Iraqi Deaths and Wounded: Incalcuable