Over the 4th of July weekend, five New Mexico State Police officers were patrolling Brantley Lake State Park. The state park is located 12 miles north of Carlsbad.

Were they looking for suspects in recent crimes committed in Carlsbad or Eddy County?

All boating traffic was being stopped and inspected by state park personnel, but state police were taking extra measures.

All vehicles with Texas license plates (or any other of state license plate) were told they could not put their boat in the lake and were told to leave.

If by chance the driver had a New Mexico driver's license to show that he or she was a resident, that person may have been allowed to go into the lake.

One oilfield worker who has been living in Carlsbad since last year argued with the police, saying he had come to this lake nearly every week since March. After a long, somewhat heated argument, he was turned away, told he had to leave the park.

Several people went to nearby Champion Bay, which is part of the extended lake area, but not a part of the state park. However, New Mexico State Police officers or State Park Service personnel got on jet skis, and motored over to that part of the lake and made those folks leave too.

The governor's order requires 14-days of "quarantine" if you cross state lines. We are not sure if Governor Grisham, in her home in Santa Fe, is even remotely aware of how many people live on the Texas-New Mexico border and work in the oil fields on the New Mexico side. 

Is this good policy? We don't know, but we are just making you aware of what is going on.

Email us (at nmpj@dfn.com) with your feedback, comments, questions, and ideas.

What really happened at the statue of Juan de Oñate in the early evening of Monday, June 15?

The answer is that an innocent, lone man named Steven Baca was repeatedly assaulted, threatened, surrounded, and attacked by an out-of-control, violent mob of Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and rabid anti-Hispanic Heritage vandals. 

The mainstream media, including the New York Times (which showed an edited, false video) and even local Albuquerque media refuse to show what really happened. We will show you. Right here: https://youtu.be/Ufg46i4wTDc

The crowd consisted of between 75 and 100 rioters. Surrounding an attacking ONE man.

Finally, after they had shoved him to the ground and beaten him, one of them (possibly more) pulled a knife and lunged forward at Baca.

The crowd can clearly be heard shouting:

"He's a cop. (He isn't.) Get his license plate. Get the fuck out. Kill him. We'll fucking kill you."

Baca fired in self-defense, as is backed up by the police report written by the Albuquerque Police Department.

One of the bragging leaders of this wildness, and someone who claims credit for inciting young, immature youths, is none other than Moisés Gonzales, whom the University of New Mexico has apparently hired to be its representative "scholar."

Gonzales, who now styles himself "Moisés Brady," is a well-known cyberbully, who regularly doxes anyone who disagrees with him. One observer noted:

"The state police should investigate UNM associate professor Moises Gonzales and what he did to incite today’s violence over the Oñate statue. He has been stirring up young, impressionable kids & should be held responsible for the part he played in today’s altercation."

Mainstream Media, the Democrat Party, and Many Virtue-Signalling Airheads

Will Tell you the Shooting was NOT Justified. 

Yes, we have reached a level of lunacy in our nation right now. Over the past month, otherwise normal and previously intelligent people on social media are increasingly bragging about donating to Black Lives Matter and other domestic terrorist groups. 

The Democratic Party of New Mexico and all of their New Mexico elected officials are caught up in the "rage" and the lawlessness, justifying vandalism and riot at every turn.

Mayor Keller was reported to be "furious" with the contents of the APD report on the shooting and wanted the investigation turned over to the New Mexico State Police, supposedly because he believes they are "under the thumb" of Governor Lujan-Grisham, who is a strong advocate for both BLM, and Antifa.

It is unclear how the NMSP can "undo" the existing police report, however.

New Mexico Democrats are "Vendidos"

Grisham is what the Hispanic community calls a "vendido" (or in her case, "vendida") meaning she has sold out her heritage for the "30 pieces of silver" temptations and political rewards provided by the "progressives" and outsiders, mainly from the east and west coasts, who now dominate the Democratic Party of New Mexico.

They nominated her for governor. They persuaded a large majority of New Mexicans to elect her. Meanwhile the state is filled with "mansos."

Dozens of Hispanic elected officials are vendidos. And the overwhelming majority of those in the state legislature are complete sell-outs.

Outsider Democrats have taken over entire cities and locales—most famously the City of Santa Fe, which is now dominated by an adult migrant Anglo population, mainly from the east and west coasts. They have transformed almost every aspect of the life and culture of the city.

They elected an outsider mayor, Alan Webber, who has no regard for the state's history and is especially disdainful of the city and state's Hispanic heritage. Two years ago, he pressured a meek and cowed group of "Hispanic leaders" into abandoning century-old traditions surrounding the annual Fiestas de Santa Fe.

We don't really know which is more shameful, Webber's grotesque ignorance and condescending demands to discourage any celebration of Hispanic heritage or the so-called Hispanic community leaders' meek and child-like acquiescence to his pressure.

Neither they nor Webber will ever earn any kind of recognition similar to a "profile in courage."

Webber is now totally emboldened. He is essentially just like rioters and looters around the nation who are merely "watched" by the police. They can do as they please. And Webber can do as he pleases. 

Last week, he had the statue of Don Diego de Vargas hauled out of the Plaza. We expect all statuary to any Hispanic settler or leader to be gone soon. Perhaps he will bulldoze the Plaza. After all, the Spanish built it. Maybe he will stop the selling of "Indian jewelry." After all, the Indians learned the art of silversmithing from the Spanish.

Keller, who is only nominally New Mexican is also a leading vendido. He is following the same approach as Webber: If the populace is meek, ignorant, compliant, and shows no resistance to their new personally-imposed "culture," then both he and Webber and Grisham will transform the state into a BLM, Antifa paradise.

If New Mexicans remain complacent, the will wake up someday soon and our state will be completely California-ized. We can expect human feces on our streets and sidewalks.

And our community values will make us look like Massachusetts-West. If that is what the majority wants, well, then we deserve it.

But be forewarned. Realize that the recent assaults on religious liberty and the highly selective prosecutions of stores, gun shops, and only certain specifically picked-out, targeted restaurants and businesses will become the norm.

And New Mexicans will have allowed it to happen to themselves.

People are Showing Support for Steven Baca

We don't know Steven Baca. But we do believe in the right of self-defense. With Mayor Keller and Governor Grisham hyped up on BLM amphetamines, it is likely they will try to pressure authorities to harass him with some sort of trumped-up charges.

We have learned that a site has been set up to donate to his cause. It can be found here: https://fundly.com/stand-with-steven-baca

Email us (at nmpj@dfn.com) with your feedback, comments, questions, and ideas.

On December 29, 2016, on the program, All Things Considered, Moises Gonzales told the National Public Radio audience that "The Spanish fantasy is a myth." What he forgot to tell his audience was that he, himself, is largely a myth.

UNM professor Moises Gonzales is the man leading the charge against any and all vestiges of Spanish or Mexican influence in New Mexico. He has allied himself with such entities as Black Lives Matter and Antifa. Whether, like them, he has actively encouraged violence against peaceful protesters we will address at another time. 

For now, we will just deal with his schtick—his claims to be all Native American, and to share the struggle with his fellow Indians, against the European oppressors. 

But Gonzales forgot to take down his Facebook posts from a few years back. In one of them, he posted this: A graphic showing that he is some 65% European. To be specific, he is 57% Western European and 8% Sephardic Diaspora, which is synonymous with Iberia, or Spain and Portugal. 

His "New World" roots—in DNA from North American natives—represent only 25% of his ancestry. 

He went on to ignore most of the information provided by whatever service he used. 

It's What You "Identify" As

Gonzales is playing the modern game of "identification." It goes something like this:

"Okay, I'm not a biological woman, but I IDENTIFY as a woman, and want to dress like a woman, and live and interact in society as a woman."

Instead of identifying based on gender, Gonzales is "identifying" based on ethnicity. But it doesn't make it so. 

A few years ago, we published a story of the 36-year old California man who "identified" as a 6-year old. He famously led his T-ball team to the league championship. 

The story was comical in that his teammates attempted to hoist him up on their shoulders in celebration after the championship game, but were unable to pick up the large 230-pound man. Along the way, the "self-identified" six-year-old absolutely shattered every league record.

With a 1.000 batting average, 52 home runs, and an incredible showing at first base, second base, shortstop, third base, and pitcher, the man is being called an inspiration to other six-year-olds everywhere.

He even enjoyed an orange slice and juice box with his teammates after the championship. 

The story, of course, is absurd. And complete fiction. Just like Gonzales' "identity."

Email us (at nmpj@dfn.com) with your feedback, comments, questions, and ideas.

Guest Editorial Column by the Editor Emeritus, Former State Senator Rod Adair

So Black Lives Matter has decided to attack a statue of the very Founder of the Democratic Party, Andrew Jackson. In a certain sense, it is somewhat comically ironic. Ironic in that the very political party that supports BLM and ANTIFA might have its founder attacked, with attempts to pull down the monument, à la US forces v. Sadam Hussein, circa 2003.

Yes, of course, they are ignorant. We know that. Otherwise, they would not be trying to destroy the country by means of riot, violence, and vandalism. What is puzzling is why a major US political party sides with them. Especially the party whose Founder their allied groups are trying to wipe out of history. 

These are amazing times. And it is not just the Democrats who puzzle us. Every day we read posts by formerly intelligent people, independents and even Republicans, proudly announcing their support—even bragging about giving money to Black Lives Matter. 

This is what even the lefty pundit Andrew Sullivan makes fun of, saying:

"These white liberals are in a WOKE-OFF to prove their own virtue, an intra-elite competition to impress their peers." 

Exactly. Only it isn't only "liberals." Largely, we believe, because of Facebook many conservatives or people who have at least considered themselves conservatives (some even libertarians) are engaged in barefaced Woke-off contests, trying to prove to their neighbors, friends, and followers just how concerned they are about "justice."

They appear to be very very unsure of their actual virtue, because they feel they have to "prove" it by uttering inanities about BLM, bragging about donations to them, and advancing all kinds of incongruent arguments.

"A PERSON IS SMART, BUT PEOPLE ARE DUMB" — The Social Media Connection

About a decade ago in the popular movie Men in Black, the lead character told his assistant he was training, "A person is smart, but people are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it."

What does this mean? It means that if left alone, to think, to reflect, to truly contemplate what is right, wrong, true, false, what makes sense, and what is illogical, most individual persons—without interference from the news media, or especially now, from SOCIAL MEDIA—will stumble through the reasoning process (as we all do from time to time) and get it right.

But that's not the society we live in any longer. 

With the advance, takeover really, of social media, perhaps especially with Facebook (though Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and other platforms have their influence), the "person" is almost disappearing. We are a nation now not of persons, but of people.

In an atmosphere in which an individual—formerly perhaps an independent thinker—is surrounded by hordes of people, he or she increasingly loses himself or herself. The individual, personally-developed thought process tends to give way to the expectations of "people."

In our view, it is almost certainly unconscious, perhaps subconscious, and certainly not—at least not initially—willful. One begins to "perform" for the people by emoting, rather than consciously trying to hew to an intellectually grounded approach to social discourse and political or societal intercourse.

Admittedly, intellects may vary. But it really doesn't matter. Even persons of modest ability will do much better left to their own reasoning than they will do when they become aware of the social pressures of saying the "right thing," or reflecting what they believe the people believe or want to hear.

Then comes the feedback, and the piggybacking of comments to assure someone that a reader of their posts is just as "caring" or, nowadays, unfortunately, "woke" —which has seized the initiative in the current era. 

In Any Case, We Are Torn—Andrew Jackson?

Sure part of us says, "Okay, take it down, you morons, you have no idea that you're tearing down the Founder of the Party that is your only hope in American elections.

Until the late 1930s, the Democrats' principal fundraising tool was called the "Jackson Day Dinner." It was the counterpart of the Lincoln Day Dinner Republicans have long used to raise campaign funds. 

In the late 30s, Franklin Roosevelt made a concerted effort to claim Thomas Jefferson as the founder of the Democrat Party. It isn't correct, but he had probably become disenchanted with Jackson's image. Who knows? In any case, since then the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner has become the staple of the various state and local Democratic Party fundraising efforts. Just as the Lincoln Days remain for the GOP.

So as much as it is tempting to laugh at the foolishness and not object, it probably isn't wise. History is there for us to learn from. It isn't for us to erase. In reality, that is what Stalin did. That is what George Orwell wrote about. His book, 1984, is replete with ministries in the central government of the story that do little else other than change "history," in fact simply eliminating entire historical figures as well as erasing everything about entire epochs that the central government doesn't want to be known. 

This is where we are. We can't really support the iconoclasm of the modern Left. We just can't. But well-meaning people, caught up in the pressures of Facebook and social media PC should really think twice about "supporting" BLM or ANTIFA, let alone donating to them, so as to appear "woke."

Email us (at nmpj@dfn.com) with your feedback, comments, questions, and ideas.

The initial Bubba Wallace "noose" story broke Sunday night, June 21st, with multiple reports describing a noose as having been found in the racing garage stall of Wallace and Richard Petty Motorsports. 

Everyone went wild, with no one actually taking a photo of the alleged "noose" or following up for any corroboration. NASCAR went wild, reporting the "incident" as a "hate crime."

Fellow race car drivers flooded the area, trying to out-woke each other with concern over the incredible depth of "racism" in America. 

THE FBI ARRIVES on the SCENE—with FIFTEEN (15) AGENTS

Between 2015 and 2018, there were six extremely high-profile “hate crimes” involving nooses. Every single one of them turned out to be a hoax. But not before every single morning show and every single news media outlet went crazy—as celebrities and pundits fell all over themselves in efforts to appear to be “woke.” This is yet another—and this doesn’t even count the ultra-absurd Jussie Smollet incident.

With the NASCAR thing, we suspected hoax from the very beginning, as the story didn’t seem to add up. Nonetheless, drivers and retired drivers and all kinds of folks made total fools of themselves in overt efforts to show their “wokeness.”

KEEP YOUR EYE on SANTA FE

On that note, the latest Santa Fe, New Mexico story, the attack on the India Palace restaurant—which was unquestionably a senseless act of vandalism, was probably done by Leftists in an effort to harm Republicans. (After all, this is what they’ve done over and over again.)

Let’s wait and see how good a job the Santa Fe Police Department does with this, but our money is on it having been carried out as a stupidly misguided effort by the “Woke” crowd to try to disparage Republicans. We could be totally wrong, but that’s where our wager lies.

Meanwhile, Bubba Wallace looks an awful lot like Jussie Smollet. Not nearly as bad, but it looks as though he was trying to play a similar game.

Email us (at nmpj@dfn.com) with your feedback, comments, questions, and ideas.

Which Candidate Should Earn Your Vote?

On China, Biden represents the Obama “Devil May Care” approach which won him support on Wall Street and at major universities. Trump is the first president not only to recognize the long-term threat, but to be willing to buck big business and big academia.

Local media, the New York Times, and other national media, will not report the truth about the violence at the Oñate statue on Monday, June 15. We will. Other media have edited or refused to show the actual moments leading up to the shooting. It doesn't fit their agenda. We will show it.

Here: https://youtu.be/Ufg46i4wTDc

We are showing all the video of the attack on a lone, innocent man, Steven Baca. Baca showed up at the statue of Don Juan de Oñate, with perhaps only one other pro-Hispanic Heritage attendee, praying quietly.

In the course of events, Baca was surrounded by thugs, was continuously assaulted and threatened by a violent mob of Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and anti-Hispanic Heritage rioters and vandals. 

The man continuously bragging about organizing and inciting innocent young minds is Moisés Gonzales who supposedly is some kind of professor at the University of New Mexico.

While the Mayor of Albuquerque, Tim Keller, had his police do nothing to protect innocent people—they were all "holed up" a long way from the site, either unwilling or unable (reports vary) to do anything.

The mayor was shamelessly plotting his own personally-engendered plans for official vandalism—the tearing down and removing of a work of art with no legal basis, no authorization by any public body, and no vote and no voice for the people.

The crowd is heard shouting:

"He's a cop. Get him. Get his license plate. Get the fuck out. We're gonna fucking kill you. Kill him."

They attack him, start beating him while he's on the ground. Then one of the thugs comes at him with a knife.

The mainstream media, and the Democrat Party, and many other people caught up in the practice of thoughtless, mindless attantion-seeking and virtue-signaling, will tell you that an innocent peaceful demonstrator was shot for no reason. They will post messages about donating to Black Lives Matter to show that they are "woke."

New Mexico Political Journal will not go along with the crowd, or with the mob. 

America, New Mexico, Albuquerque, and our communities have had enough of this. Political leaders thus far have lacked the courage or the will to do anything. Albuquerque Mayor Keller and Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber are part of the problem. Not the solution.

They are, in essence, BLM, Antifa, and anti-Hispanic Heritage mobsters themselves. 

Webber has had the statue of Don Diego de Vargas removed from the Plaza. This, after he pressured local Hispanic leaders to put an end to a century-old tradition of the Entrada, and curtail the Fiesta. We don't know which is more shameful, his ignorant, outsider, condescending attitude toward New Mexico's Hispanic community and their history, or the acquiescence of Hispanic community leaders in meekly surrendering to his pressure.

Neither is worthy of a "profile in courage."

As has been prophesied, all of this will continue as long as these domestic terrorists remain unopposed and the people take no stand. As long as the rioters, looters, and vandals are rewarded they will continue to up the ante, tearing down more and more of our cities and streets. 

If our state lets this happen—and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is a certified Kellerista and Webberista, so she is also in league with domestic terrorists—we will wake up someday and find ourselves the cultural and community values equivalent of California or Massachusetts-West. 

Next, our cities will be covered in human feces. Shootings and lootings will be the norm. And, who knows? Maybe these thugs will take over part of Albuquerque and we can have our own little Seattle-inspired separate "no-go zone."

God Save New Mexico and the United States of America!

It's one thing for a business owner to try to direct state government agencies to come down hard on a competitor, but for elected officials to sic the dogs on constituents? Well, that seems pretty intense.

Nonetheless, that's what State Senator Bill Soules of Las Cruces is doing to his voters. And he's not only ratting out businesses in his hometown, he's doing it to folks in his own senate district. Soules really has it in for guns, gun owners, and gun shops in particular.

Here's the email he sent to Teasha Roybal of the Department of Public Safety:

"Miller Guns and Ammo on North Telshor in Las Cruces appears to be in open violation of the state orders. There are cars there every day...Gun stores are not deemed to be essential..."

This is not surprising in that Soules either does not respond to questionnaires from groups like the National Rifle Association, or when he does he gets fairly low ratings.

Soules has also ranks number one (or at least tied for #1) in the State Senate in contributions from groups that are either anti-gun or pro-gun control.

He supports all Red Flag legislation, background checks, even for individual sales to family members, and essentially all restrictions that are proposed.

Of Course, That's NOT Really the Point

Certainly, Senator Soules has every right to vote his conscience and his philosophy. That's not what we are picking up on. 

More important in this environment of state-encouraged snitchery and ratting out, what catches our eye are the choices that citizens make—and the organizations that politicians decide to report.

In other words, there are hundreds of businesses in Las Cruces and Doña Ana County. And there are scores and scores that were not precisely complying with the governor's orders.

But how many did Senator Soules turn in? And which one did he pick on? Was it health-related? Food-related? Did any of the social distancing violations that other people spied catch Soules' eye? Did he care?

Apparently not. Just the gun store.

What does that say about the uniform and non-discriminatory application of the law? Do we just attack those businesses that annoy us? While all others doing the same thing don't bother New Mexico state government officials?

Those are questions worth asking.

Are the Governor's Agents Really Applying her Orders Fairly?

Or in an Unconstitutional, Arbitrary, and Capricious Manner?

We have noticed that some entities have been cited for violations. But others have been levied staggering fines. While others—such as the Lujan-Grisham's own jewelry store—have been caught red-handed in violation of the orders, but received no notice whatsoever.

In at least a couple of cases where the state has come down hard, the entities being fined and threatened with having their licenses revoked, happen to be businesses whose owners criticized the orders and criticized the capricious manner in which they were being enforced.

Is this what we really need a state government to do? Are Lujan-Grisham and Senator Soules about equal protection of the laws? Or are they about using the coercive power of government to zero in on those whose political views they dislike?

Think about it.

Email us (at nmpj@dfn.com) with your feedback, comments, questions, and ideas.

New Mexico's mercurial Governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, has announced that she wants to address the “ugly truth” of racism, that she claims is embedded in core institutions. 

So she says she is going to create something called a "Racial Justice Czar." This czar will supervise a "Racial Justice Council" and that panel will identify "potential policy changes." (Most people are probably left betting that those will be doozies.)

So who does Grisham turn to—to fix New Mexico's alleged "racial" problems? None other than perhaps the most famous racist in New Mexico—State Representative Sheryl Williams Stapleton (D-Albuquerque). 

News reports indicated, "the council's make-up is still being finalized," but one thing for certain is that among its members will be the, apparently indispensable, House Majority Leader Sheryl Williams Stapleton, D-Albuquerque.

With the choice of Stapleton, it's pretty clear that Grisham herself is engaged in racial profiling. After all, she's certainly not choosing her because of her intellect or character, but only because she's black.

Stapleton and "The "Mexican on the Fourth Floor"

In late 2011, Representative Stapleton got really steamed at Republican State Rep. Nora Espinoza, R-Roswell, who questioned Stapleton's double-dipping. Stapleton was (and still is) being paid legislative per diem while in Santa Fe AND simultaneously being paid by Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) for working on exactly the same days. 

APS has long been a famous bastion of flakiness on myriad levels, with its top-heavy administration, scores of extra staff, hired lobbyists, and public relations and media spokespersons ALL on the payroll for education.

So to compound things, under then-superintendent Winston Brooks, APS actually made it approved "policy" for Stapleton to double-dip. (And you wonder why people have chosen so many charter schools and private schools in Albuquerque?)

In any case, Stapleton flew into a rage and hollered at Espinoza at least three times for everyone to hear:

"You’re carrying the water for the Mexican on the Fourth Floor!"

Stapleton was referring to then-Governor Susana Martinez, who had acknowledged that her parents were Mexican-American. 

Stapleton was widely criticized for the racist outburst, and the House Democrats subsequently deposed her as Majority Whip, replacing her with Albuquerque Representative Antonio Moe Maestas.

(Though it has to be said that the semi-tone-deaf Democrat Caucus allowed Stapleton to make a roaring comeback and installed her as Majority Whip once again in 2017.)

As a comical aside in the entire furor, both Stapleton and her then-sidekick, State Rep. Mimi Stewart both pled innocent to the very idea that angrily referring to Governor Martinez as "that Mexican on the fourth floor" was anything other than polite routine speech.

And both Stewart and Stapleton comically (though almost certainly insincerely) invoked what might be called the George Costanza* defense:

"Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing, because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing is frowned upon... you know, cause I've worked in a lot of offices, and I tell you, people do that all the time."

Stapleton at First Claimed She "Had no Idea" She had Made a Derogatory Comment

Stapleton's "Costanza" approach consisted of saying she "did not mean the remark in a derogatory way or as an ethnic slur." Going on to say "I would never say anything derogatory,” as she apologized "If I offended anyone." (Using the modern-day "apology" style of putting the burden on the offended, rather than having the offender (Stapleton) take responsibility.)

Stapleton then went the extra mile, so to speak, by making the bizarre, Elizabeth Warren-like claim, that she considers herself "at least partly Latina." [NOTE: She is actually from the US Virgin Islands and speaks a kind of broken Spanish, which she sometimes invokes as she insists on shrieking off-key renditions of birthday songs on the floor of the House, which both horrifies and victimizes her colleagues in both parties.]

Later, Stewart weighed in—speaking as someone who was also simultaneously in a teaching position while attending legislative sessions. Stewart, who is from Massachusetts, said she "did not think Stapleton meant the remark about the governor to be an ethnic slur."

Both Stewart and Stapleton are said to be huge fans of George Costanza.

Stapleton Apology Seems to Contradict both Herself and Mimi "Costanza" Stewart

But later, Stapleton admitted she was lying when she had previously claimed that she had no idea she had said anything in an offensive way. Admitting, as her voice began to break:

"I lost it, ladies and gentlemen. I expect more of myself. This is not my character."

As Stapleton's remarks were reverberating throughout this Hispanic-plurality state, she followed up with a more thorough apology:

“I am publicly making an apology to the governor of the state of New Mexico, I am publicly making an apology to my district and I am publicly making an apology to the people of New Mexico as an elected official."

This, of course, left her buddy Mimi Stewart alone by herself, twisting slowly in the wind, in the embarrassing position of continuing to own the obviously false claim (as long as Stapleton claimed it) that there was no offense at all, all in good fun, nothing to see here.

Stewart was not warned by Stapleton that she was about to leave her alone, claiming the ridiculous.

Grisham Obviously Used Racial Profiling in Selecting Stapleton

Stapleton made the excuse that "I was under extreme stress." 

Well, maybe so. But this raises the question: Can the governor find no one else in the entire state for this expert panel who does not fold under pressure and stress and whose first instincts when excited or stressed is to blurt out ethnic or racial slurs? 

After all, this panel of authorities will be charged with defining, finding, identifying, and rooting out racism. It appears that Grisham is using the lamest approach, effectively telling New Mexicans: "I chose Sheryl because it takes one to know one."

And of course, all of this begs the embarrassing question: Just how many black leaders does the governor know? Apparently, very, very few. Almost none. A few political cronies. No one else. For panels like this, shouldn't she be looking for leaders? People of unimpeachable character? The right stuff? 

And the Governor's answer to all these questions is Stapleton? 

All this while the governor goes on to intone:

"We have a tendency to wrap ourselves in that particular cloak and pretend sometimes that we don’t have the kind of inequalities, institutional racism and hatred that exists.” 

“We have institutional racism embedded in every construct in American society. The fact you might not see it every day means you’re not looking for it every day. It exists.”

We can argue about whether any of that is true or not (neither the governor nor anyone else gave any examples for New Mexico) but just saying those things with a straight face, while simultaneously deciding that Stapleton is the judge and jury on these questions is nothing short of bizarre.

What this means is that Grisham used the most barefaced and obvious racial profiling, completely ignoring character, intellect, and articulation of issues, and shamelessly choosing based on race alone. The very thing she claims to oppose.

2009 Bill Prohibition of Profiling Act

New Mexico already has a 2009 law that allegedly bans "racial profiling." This bill purported to prohibit the used of certain information in the identification of criminal suspects based on descriptions that might include race, ethnicity, color, national origin, language, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, political affiliation, religion, physical or mental disability or serious medical condition

That bill passed the New Mexico House of Representatives, without a whimper, by a vote of 62-0. But when it arrived in the State Senate, its sponsors faced some questions from senators, including then-Senator Rod Adair (R-Roswell):

Is it racial profiling to identify suspects or subjects of investigations based on testimony from witnesses or cameras, which might include descriptions of skin color, or guessed ethnicity, or gender, or if someone might have been on crutches, or had spoken a foreign language?

The sponsors couldn't answer.

Are there any data or studies of any kind to show that new Mexico law enforcement are engaged in racial profiling?

The sponsors had neither.

What if a Hispanic state police officer from Albuquerque tells a Hispanic deputy sheriff in Deming that he believes a suspect is Hispanic, female, about 5' 4" tall, 125 lbs, and that she had black/brown hair and brown eyes? Is that profiling?

Confused answers. Much debate and arguing ensued. 

Are we just copying some things being done in other states right now, especially back East?

Sponsors admitted that other states were passing similar bills.

The bill ended up passing the Senate, 32-10. In addition to having Adair vote "No," others voting No included Vernon Asbill of Carlsbad, Sue Wilson Beffort, Mark Boitano, Kent Cravens, William Payne, and John Ryan, all from Albuquerque, Dianna Duran from Tularosa, Stuart Ingle of Portales, and William Sharer of Farmington. 

The remaining five Republicans joined 27 Democrats in voting in favor of the bill.

Governor Grisham Statements and Nationwide Hysteria Aren't Justified by Actual Data

Grisham expressed regret this past week for having taken an aggressive approach to combating violent crime, particularly when she decided to send 50 State Police officers to patrol certain areas of Albuquerque last year.

The two-month “Metro Surge Operation” cost about $1 million. It resulted in 14,674 traffic stops and netted 738 arrests—the majority of which were for felony or misdemeanor warrants. The governor said Thursday that such decisions would be viewed through a different lens going forward.

“It is a public health emergency and New Mexico will treat it as such,” Lujan Grisham said.

But the data don't support all this regret and Nationwide Angst 

Statistics compiled by Heather MacDonald of the Manhattan Institute reveal the following:

• In 2019 police officers fatally shot 1,004 people, most of whom were armed or otherwise dangerous. African-Americans were about a quarter of those killed by cops last year (235), a ratio that has remained stable since 2015.
• That share of black victims is less than what the black crime rate would predict, since police shootings are a function of how often officers encounter armed and violent suspects.
• In 2018, the latest year for which such data have been published, African-Americans made up 53% of known homicide offenders in the U.S. and commit about 60% of robberies, though they are 13% of the population. 
• The police fatally shot nine unarmed blacks and 19 unarmed whites in 2019, according to a Washington Post database, down from 38 and 32, respectively, in 2015. (It must be noted that the Post defines “unarmed” broadly and loosely, counting as "unarmed" a suspect in Newark, NJ, who had a loaded handgun in his car during a police chase.)
• In 2018 there were 7,407 black homicide victims. Assuming a comparable number of victims last year, those nine unarmed black victims of police shootings represent 0.1% of all African-Americans killed in 2019.
• By contrast, a police officer is 18½ times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is to be killed by a police officer. 
• On Memorial Day weekend in Chicago alone, 10 African-Americans were killed in drive-by shootings.
• Such routine violence has continued—a 72-year-old black Chicago man shot in the face on May 29 by a gunman who fired about a dozen shots into a residence
• Two black 19-year-old women on the South Side shot to death as they sat in a parked car a few hours earlier
• A black 16-year-old boy fatally stabbed with his own knife that same day.
• This past weekend, 80 Chicagoans were shot in drive-by shootings, 21 fatally, the victims overwhelmingly black.
• Police shootings are not the reason that blacks die of homicide at eight times the rate of whites and Hispanics combined; criminal violence is. 

MacDonald went on to note:

The latest in a series of studies undercutting the claim of systemic police bias was published in August 2019 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers found that the more frequently officers encounter violent suspects from any given racial group, the greater the chance that a member of that group will be fatally shot by a police officer.

There is “no significant evidence of anti-black disparity in the likelihood of being fatally shot by police,” they concluded. 

A 2015 Justice Department analysis of the Philadelphia Police Department found that white police officers were less likely than black or Hispanic officers to shoot unarmed black suspects. Research by Harvard economist Roland G. Fryer Jr. also found no evidence of racial discrimination in shootings. Any evidence to the contrary fails to take into account crime rates and civilian behavior before and during interactions with police.

The false narrative of systemic police bias resulted in targeted killings of officers during the Obama presidency. The pattern may be repeating itself. Officers are being assaulted and shot at while they try to arrest gun suspects or respond to the growing riots.

Police precincts and courthouses have been destroyed with impunity, which will encourage more civilization-destroying violence. If the Ferguson effect of officers backing off law enforcement in minority neighborhoods is reborn as the Minneapolis effect, the thousands of law-abiding African-Americans who depend on the police for basic safety will once again be the victims. 

The Minneapolis officers who arrested George Floyd must be held accountable for their excessive use of force and callous indifference to his distress. Police training needs to double down on de-escalation tactics. But Floyd’s death should not undermine the legitimacy of American law enforcement, without which we will continue on a path toward chaos. 

*Costanza is a character on TV's Seinfeld. He used this "defense" while in the process of being fired by his boss for having had sexual intercourse with the cleaning woman on the desk in his office. 

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