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Intelligent Political Discourse - for the Thoughtful New Mexican

Warning: If you don't have an IQ of at least 110 (on any of several Standardized Intelligence Tests) please DO NOT enter this website. Synaptic and neurotransmission damage may occur. NMPJ isn't responsible for anyone not adhering to this disclaimer.

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Biden Adopts East German Approach to Women's Sports. Democrats Intent on Destroying Title IX, Want to Kill Hopes and Dreams of Young Girls.

02/26/2021

President Biden Makes a Mockery of Title IX and Girls’ Sports

The Biden Administration has dropped support of Trump’s lawsuit that had been brought on behalf of female athletes. Trump sought to block biological males from competing in girls’ sports in Connecticut. Former Attorney General Bill Barr and Trump's Department of Justice had backed the lawsuit, saying the Connecticut law violated Title IX.

On Wednesday night, February 24, Alanna Smith, one of three girls who had brought the lawsuit, blasted the Biden Administration, saying,

“Fairness needs to be restored in our sport and all other women’s sports … these biological males are just taking it away from us.”

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), which has permitted boys to compete in events and win awards that would otherwise have gone to girls.

Biological boys have taken 15 women’s state championship titles (titles held in 2016 by nine different Connecticut girls) and have taken more than 85 opportunities to participate in higher level competitions from female track athletes in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons alone.

Smith began her comments, saying:

“I got involved after I ran against the biological males at the New England meet because in the 200 meter I took third place when I  should have gotten runner-up...”

“And it’s not really about placement but it’s all about knowing that I work so many hours a week to be able to get runner-up in New England’s [championships] as a freshman.

And I am really disappointed in the news, because me and the other girls, Selina and Chelsea, have worked really hard to get our stories out there, to get people to realize that fairness needs to be restored in our sport and all other women’s sports.”

The Overt Hypocrisy and Lies of the Democrats, the American Left, and the Media

One observer noted,:

“...the Left claims to always stand up for women, they’re the party of women, and yet here we are with policies that disenfranchise female athletes. And [there are] serious questions abut what this means in terms of harassment of female athletes.

“Does this mean that biological males are allowed to go into the locker room as well as compete against them and take away scholarships and placement in state championships?

To be clear, the lawsuit will move forward, but it is significant that the Biden Department of Justice will now oppose the young women—siding with radical activists over female athletes.

Additionally, it is now clear that the Biden Administrationand the Democrat establishment are determined to gut legal protection for women not just in is not just Connecticut, but throughout the country.

Biden and all Democrats in Congress are now pushing the so-called Equality Act, which ignores the real physical differences between men and women and threatens women’s privacy, women’s homeless shelters, and yes, even women’s sports on a national level for female athletes.

Democrats constantly parrot the line “It’s only fair” to allow biological males to compete.

So we are left wondering if the American people realize that a lot of actual biological females have missed out on numerous events?

So-called “transgender” athletes (boys) have taken spots on the podium at district, regional, and state championships that belong to biological females.

As Alana Smith stated:

“We train for so many days a week, so many hours to be able to be the best in our state and the best in our region, and these biological males are just taking it away from us and we really deserve it.”

Biden and the Democrats in Congress are Bent on Destroying Title IX

Title IX was designed to ensure that girls have a fair and level playing field, have a chance to showcase their talents, to be champions, and frankly, to earn those college scholarships.

The Trump Administration wanted to see women’s sports protected across the country. The Biden Administration wants to see women’s sports destroyed.

One Connecticut girl noted that she lost four girls’ state championships and two all-New England titles.

Biden and 100% of Democrats in Congress View the East Germans as the Model for American Sports

Americans used to joke about “the East German Olympic team” in female events—the whole scheme used by the former Communist nation was viewed as a laughingstock and a disgrace.

But now, 100% of Democrat elected officials see the East German model as legitimiate and someting to be proud of—and to adopt as our national policy. Biden sees the East Germans as his new American ideal, the new model for sports.

Barr had it Right

Barr had stated in March 2020:

“Under [Connecticut's] interpretation of Title IX...schools may not account for the real physiological differences between men and women. Instead, schools MUST [emphasis added] have certain biological males — namely, those who publicly identify as female — compete against biological females. In so doing, [Connecticut] deprives those women of the single-sex athletic competition that is one of the marquee accomplishments of Title IX."

Virtue Signaling Housewives (and Househusbands) of Albuquerque's Northeast Heights

Many voters who claimed to be "conservative" or "moderate," both nationwide and in New Mexico were going all-out to virtue-signal about how anti-Trump they were because of his stupid tweets and often-ridiculous verbal "asides" and unscripted comments (which, to be fair, were often ignorant and embarrasingly inaccurate).

However, we have maintained that the overriding question in all elections in a democracy has to do with public policy. The conclusion we reached was that the Trump Administration was not only pursuing the right policies—foreign and domestic—but was remarkably successful. The fact that Trump talked too much and too dumbly had, in the final analysis, no effect at all on policy.

Trump's policy regarding women's athletics was correct. People who voted for Biden out of the desire to virtue signal ended up voting for a whole host of policies that would make the former East Germany, the current China (and Russia) and scores of other bad actors in the world and in America very proud.

In our view, millions of Americans will come to regret those votes.


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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican

 

 

 


5 People Died on January 6th. How? And Who Were They?

02/15/2021

The media and the Democrats, and even the House Managers of the Impeachment Trial, have all repeatedly talked about how many people were "killed" during the riot on January 6, 2021. But these statements need some clarity, and for that matter some accuracy.

Bear in mind that none of what happened in the invasion of the Capitol by the mob is in any way excusable. All those who violated the law should be prosecuted and sentenced to jail. The rioters were, and remain, idiots.
 
But the amount of disinformation about the event is massive. And it adds to concerns that the US media are no longer sources of "news," but merely vehicles for manipulation of public opinion.

Was anyone "killed"?

Yes. One person. ASHLI BABBITT.

She was a 35-year-old military veteran from San Diego. She was unarmed. But she was shot as she tried to crawl through a broken window. That’s all we know. Authorities have refused to release the name of the man who shot her. They also have refused to explain why she was shot. We may never know the answer to why her life was taken from her.
 
Four Other People Died. Who were they?
 
ROSANNE BOYLAND, a 34-year-old woman from Georgia. Authorities say she died of a “medical emergency.” Some have said she “may have been trampled accidentally.” But that is speculation. The cause of death remains unclear.
 
KEVIN GREESON, a 55-year-old who had a history of high blood pressure. His wife said, “In the midst of the excitement, he suffered a heart attack."
 
BENJAMIN PHILLIPS, 50 years old. He died of a stroke. But he died outside on the grounds of the Capitol. He never entered the building and there is no evidence he was part of the mob attack.
 
BRIAN SICKNICK, a 42-year-old Capitol police officer. His police union chief announced that he “died of a stroke.” Media reports have stated—falsely—many times, that he was “beaten to death with a fire extinguisher.” But this is simply not true. He was not beaten with a fire extinguisher or anything else.
 
No one knows where this story came from. But it has been repeated over and over by those in media and in politics. For whatever reason, his body was immediately cremated, and his autopsy has been sealed.
 
We hope this clears up a lot of things for people.

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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican

 

One ALARMINGLY IMPORTANT OBSERVATION from the Sunday Talk Shows

02/15/2021

Something repeated on the Sunday talk shows approximately 150 times.

Something you should really PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO:

Democrats yesterday and again today are continuously referring to the Constitution as:

                        “a technicality”

Have you noticed this?

If that doesn't grab your attention, either you're not paying attention, or you don't understand it.

Caveat lector


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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican

 

COVERAGE of the ACQUITTAL VOTE

02/14/2021
Guest Commentary by Editor Emeritus, Former State Senator Rod Adair, R-Lincoln & Chaves Counties
 
As someone who grew up in a time when an actual news media existed, I really miss them. The media trended consistently liberal, but there was still a conscience—an acceptance of the need to report what happened without 100% commentary on every single event.
 
Today, with the deaths of the last liberals in the Democratic Party, what remains in the dominant media are 100% anti-liberal Leftists. They uniformly state that it's “our way or the highway.” So there is absolutely nothing left for them to say other than:
 
??If you don’t vote exactly as the Democrats and the media have commanded you to vote, you:
 
1) are automatically wrong—no debate about it
 
2) have no knowledge of facts or the law
 
3) are an abomination and a “threat to democracy”
 
4) evil
 
With 80% of Americans getting their news from these sources, combined with many millions of poorly educated or intensely indoctrinated Centennials, Millennials, and Gen Xers, it seems inevitable that our nation is headed toward a form of 21st Century Bolshevism.
This is a sad prognosis, but it seems unavoidable.

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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican

 

Lessons from the Impeachment Vote: How the Constitution—and the Law— is Viewed by Senators. Are American Politicians and Jurists Tribist? Or Borkist?

02/13/2021

The entire impeachment proceeding gives every voter who cares about the role of the courts in the United States an opportunity to see very plainly a clear example of the great chasm in jurisprudence that has increasingly divided both voters and elected officials.

Fundamentally, it is a question of what our laws mean—what our Constitution means. Does the law mean what it says, or what we wish it to mean? Do laws provide the agreed-upon, established, printed rules of American life? Or are they merely pages in a book that can be referred in a general way so as to provide an alleged reference even as the actual words themselves are ignored?

It comes down to this: Do you see the Constitution in the manner of Harvard Professor Lawrence Tribe, or Judge Robert Bork?

This becomes the essential question of what is law about? Do we have laws that codify the will of the people in plain language—language that provides equal treatment for all people? Or do we merely have documents or books that we "call" the law, while ignoring the actual texts contained therein?

Do we approach events, circumstances, and political or criminal situations with a view toward what we as a people have codified? Or do we approach legal questions with only the goal of a desired outcome? Is the question of justice one that is resolved if we "feel good" about what we want to see happen? Or is it about really and truly applying the law, consistently, uniformly, and equally for all?

Judge Richard Posner said that Lawrence Tribe's view is that:

"the Constitution is what we want it to be...and that what we should want it to be is the charter of a radically egalitarian society."

Judge Bork on the other hand, believed that the text of a statute or of the Constitution means what it says in the plain language it is written.

The Senate Vote in the Impeachment Trial Reflects the Reality of the American Divide About What Law Truly Is

We already know that all modern Democrats believe that the Constitution—and American law itself—law is merely a theoretical tool. There is no section, no clause, no phrase which cannot be turned into whatever "we want it to be," "or whatever outcome achieves 'justice' as we see it." So the votes of the 50 Democratic senators were nothing surprising at all.

It must be said however, for anyone who is still being fooled by the verbal gymnastics and numerous political somersaults of Joe Manchin of West Virginia, that no, he is not sincere, and never has been. He and Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona (beauty that she may be) have firmly established that they are in reality no different from their colleagues. (Don't look for them to uphold the filibuster rule either—regardless of their prior statements).

On Saturday, 13 February, Republican Senators Collins, Murkowski, Romney, Toomey, Burr, Cassidy, and Sasse annnounced to their constituents that they are Tribists. For whatever reason, hatred of Trump or whatever, they did not follow the letter of the Constitution. 

Sasse is very disappointing. He has demonstrated clear intellectual capability and has intelligently articulated public policy and the role of government on many occasions. His votes over the past week ar the most surprising and disappointing.  Cassidy and Burr are puzzling.

Collins has to tread a very careful line, though that is no reason for poor reasoning.

Murkowski is, for lack of a better name, something of a scam artist: she knows she cannot get a Republican nomination in Alaska, so she has fashioned her own cynical "coalition" of non-philosophical Republicans, Democrats, and fairly clueless independents. That is her "formula" for forging a general election majority and she is sticking with that, regardless of what she has to do to attract it.

(Murkowski and Manchin are probably the very worst of the worst in the Senate. You can't really include the rest of the Democrats—they openly admit and advertise their ideologies. They aren't really trying to deceive anyone.)

Do you Follow the Plain Language—the Rule of Law—or the Desired Outcome?

Senator Mitch McConnell, regardless of what you may think of his opinion about what Trump did or did not do on January 6th, did very carefully and logically lay out what the Constitution says. You simply cannot get around the plain language: It is impossible to get around the words "removal," "president" and the plain reading of the text.

It does not say anything about former officers, nor does it give any other authority. It says what it says.

50 Democratic senators predictably, said nothing matters other thanthe outcome we want. Sadly, seven Republicans joined them. There is no rationale for the GOP to renominate six of these seven. All but Collins come from states where actual Constitution-respecting Republicans can win general elections. Collins is a separate issue.

Murkowski, Romney, Toomey, Burr, Cassidy, and Sasse should never again receive a GOP nomination for any office.


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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican


GOOD THINGS from the IMPEACHMENT TRIAL:

02/12/2021
Although it is not a "good thing" for politicians to violate the Constitution, as the impeachment proceedings have done, it can be at least be said, that despite the unconstitutionality of impeaching a private citizen, some good things have happened, albeit by happenstance.
 
All the dominant media—CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC—have been excitedly providing live coverage of the trial.
But in so doing, today they have been unwittingly tricked into showing the defense. What this means is:
 
??The dominant media have been forced—for the first time ever—to show the American people the full context of a number of Trump’s statements. And it has proven that they have lied about them with false “quotes.”
 
??The dominant media have been forced to show the riots and killings during 2020 and the ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORT FOR THE RIOTS AND VIOLENCE BY NUMEROUS DEMOCRATS—the same Democrats bringing the unconstitutional impeachment.
 
??The dominant media have been forced to show Democrats using actual incitement to riot and mayhem—something they cannot show from Trump.
 
??The dominant media have been forced to show how the Democrat House managers deceitfully altered and edited video, tweets, and other media.
 
??The dominant media have been forced to show the hundreds of times that Democrats have used the very same language—actually much more aggressive language—they have claimed to be “inciteful.”
 
??The dominant media have been forced to show the numerous—almost uncountable—times, that the Democrats have claimed that an election has been “stolen“ or that an election should be “overturned” or that an election was “illegitimate.”
 
?? The dominant media have been forced to show the numerous times that Democrats objected to the electoral vote count—including objections by the lead house manager in his very first act as a congressman.
 
All of this is absolutely spilling over with supreme irony. Without the mainstream media’s wild enthusiasm to provide live coverage of this trial, the dominant American media would never have revealed to the American people most of the things they have now been unwittingly tricked into revealing simply because of the trial itself.
 
No doubt millions of open-minded Americans are learning many facts for the very first time. This is at least one positive outcome from the unconstitutional proceeding.

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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican

 
 

REGARDING BAD BEHAVIOR in theBIDEN ADMINISTRATION

02/12/2021
This just in:
 
The bold words
 
“I promise you I will fire you on the spot,”
 
have been downgraded by Biden to
 
“send a personal note expressing profound regret.”
 
“Firing on the spot” has already been deemed obsolete and passé just 23 days in.

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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican

 

State Representative Phelps Anderson. Votes “No” on Abortion Ban. Quits GOP. NMPJ Interviewed him this Morning. Anderson Appears Sincere, but his Rationale Will no doubt be Seen by many as Troubling.

02/11/2021

Background

On January 27, the House Health and Human Services Committee held a hearing on House Bill 7. The bill is titled “Repeal of Abortion Ban.” It refers to a relatively weak “prohibition” law passed by the New Mexico Legislature in 1969 and signed by moderate Republican Governor Dave Cargo. (* See the explanation of why it is a relatively weak law in the footnotes below.)

The law, of course, is invalid, having been superseded and rendered obsolete by the US Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade four years later.

However, it is important to keep in mind that there are quite a number of existing statutes or even Constitutional provisions, not just in New Mexico, but in all states, that have been made ineffective or of no consequence because of case law that has invalidated those very laws. Sometimes states go through the process of amending or removing the state statutes; sometimes they don’t. There is no imperative to do so.

As an example, for 45 years following passage of the 26th Amendment that lowered the voting age to 18, the New Mexico State Constitution continued to “require” voters to be 21. It also required voters to have resided in the state, county, and precinct for 12 months, 90 days, and 30 days respectively, despite having those requirements struck down by the Supreme Court. (All the all the above were repealed by voters in 2016.)

The point is that state legislative action on “unconstitutional” laws or laws made ineffectual by case law is not mandatory. That cannot be used as a rationale for casting a vote.  

The Committee Vote and Reaction

The committee vote was 8 to 3 in support of repealing the so-called "abortion ban"— New Mexico's law that was passed four years before Roe v. Wade. GOP Representative Phelps Anderson of Roswell joined seven Democrats voting to repeal the ban. Three other Republicans voted “no," to keep the prohibition on the books.

Representative Anderson told us he was very impressed with the testimony at the hearing and that it really had an impact, making him think and reflect on the issue.

The response has been something of a firestorm from Republicans, many of whom have called for Anderson to resign. Anderson represents Chaves, Lea, and Roosevelt Counties, and the GOP chairs for Lea and Roosevelt have asked him to resign.

We asked if he was going to do that. He responded,

“Unless I’m wrong, it’s my call. I am not going to resign. I am not a quitter.”

When we asked if he would run again, Anderson replied:

“I don’t know about that. Filing date is a year away. But if I had to answer right now, I’d say no.’”

Representative Anderson added that the bill was “going to pass anyway.” But of course, that is never a good reason to vote for anything. Tie votes, or one-vote margins are relatively rare in legislative roll calls.

What this means is that 97% of the time, or more, any bill is going to be passed or defeated “anyway” regardless of how one votes.

What constituents expect, and what everyone should do, is vote for what one believes is correct, right, or just. It doesn’t matter if the vote is 8 to 3, 7 to 4, or 10 to 1.  Or for that matter 69 to 1 on the floor of the House.

So, any mention of an ultimate outcome is really irrelevant. One must do the right thing at all times. We can only presume that Representative Anderson did what he thought was right for him.

Abandoning the Republican Party

The reaction was so strong that Anderson surprised everyone in his hometown of Roswell by publicly announcing that he was leaving the Republican Party.

“I decided to re-register as a Decline to State. People ask if I can win a primary, well, that’s not a question that has to be asked because I’m no longer in the Republican Party.”

His decision to re-register was surprising because Anderson has a lifelong pedigree as a prominent member of the Republican Party. His father, the late Robert O. Anderson, had been a pioneer member of the Chaves County GOP, and Phelps followed in his footsteps, serving in the State House of Representatives from 1976 to 1980, then serving the Republican National Committee as New Mexico’s National Committeeman from 1988 to 1996.

We asked why leave the Republican Party. His answers took us by surprise:

"I've been I’ve been very disappointed with the Republican Party. In particular, the events of January 6th were just so disappointing that they led me to consider re-registering as DTS. I’m demoralized by my party. Their defense of January 6th was just so disappointing.”

We found this to be more or less stunning, and pushed back by pointing out that we could find no Republicans who in any way justified the January 6th riots. In fact, we pointed out, every single Republican we have seen or read about has denounced the violence. (In fact, it is the Democrats who have not denounced the widespread violence that has taken place for nearly a year.)

But Anderson pushed back on our pushback:

“I disagree with that. There’s lots of political spin about what happened on January 6th. There’s lots of video imagery. I disagree with what happened on that day and will always disagree with it. Trump encouraged that mob. People were killed inside the building. It just tears me up that that’s my party.”

So, what to think about all of this? Has Anderson, like lots of Americans, Reacted Emotionally to Recent Events

Anderson admitted that he’s always found the abortion question to be a troubling and difficult one, telling us that he’s “always voted pro-life on bills that have come up,” but admitting that he has struggled with the issue in general.

Not openly stated, but certainly broadly hinted, it is likely that Representative Anderson has always been pro-choice at heart. We discussed that matter. He is clearly uncomfortable with the GOP’s pro-life platform, but he has lived with it. Till now.

What pushed him over the edge? It clearly has a lot to do with the riots of January 6th. But in that regard, Rep. Anderson sounds more like the media talking heads than a dispassionate observer. Anderson says, “People were killed inside the building.”

Let’s look at the facts about that. Who was killed?

Five People died on January 6th

None of what happened in the invasion of the Capitol by the mob is in anyway excusable. All those who violated the law should be prosecuted and sentenced to jail. The rioters were, and remain, idiots. There is no way any of that is attributable to the Republican Party.

To do so is an emotion-based, media-inspired reaction.

But was anyone actually killed?

Yes. One person: A Trump supporter, 35-year-old Ashli Babbitt, a military veteran from San Diego. She was unarmed. But she was shot as she tried to crawl through a broken window.

That’s all we know. Authorities have refused to release the name of the man who shot her explain why she was shot. We may never know the answer to why her life was taken from her.

Four Other People Died, but none was “killed.”

Rosanne Boyland, a 34-year-old woman from Georgia. Authorities say she died of a “medical emergency.” Some have said she “may have been trampled accidentally.”

Kevin Greeson, a 55-year-old who had a history of high blood pressure. His wife said “In the midst of the excitement, he suffered a heart attack."

Benjamin Phillips, 50 years old. He died of a stroke. But he apparently died outside on the grounds of the Capitol and never entered the building.

Brian Sicknick, a 42-year-old Capitol police officer. His union chief announced that he “died of a stroke.” Media reports have falsely stated, many times, that he was “beaten to death with a fire extinguisher.” But this is simply not true. He was not beaten with a fire extinguisher or anything else. No one knows where this story came from.

The lie about the beating led to the Democrats having Officer Sicknick lie in state at the Capitol, where Democrats (who are relentless critics of the police, calling them “racist” for the past year) made a histrionic scene of solemnly streaming past his body—used essentially as a prop—to build an emotional case for their impeachment case. They finally found a police officer they could use for political purposes.

But he wasn’t killed by anyone. He died of a stroke. And there was no evidence of any kind of trauma. For whatever reason, he was immediately cremated, and his autopsy has been sealed.

The Bottom Line

Representative Phelps Anderson is a sophisticated, educated, thoughtful person who has wanted to serve in political office and has done so in a conscientious way. He is a gentleman and gregarious, friendly man.

The reality is that, as all human beings’ life experiences change them over time—none of us is static, unchanging, or unaffected by our experiences—Rep. Anderson has probably been, perhaps unconsciously, both culturally and socially disaffected with and alienated from the Republican Party for a number of years.

The committee meeting simply brought clarity to his current thinking. It became a moment of decision and he made that decision.

Life goes on.



*As US abortion prohibition laws go, the New Mexico law is relatively “moderate,” in that it provides for all manner of exceptions—not only in the cases of rape, incest, or life of the woman, but it also contains provisions that permit abortion when the woman or her parent or guardian asserts that the pregnancy is likely to result in “grave impairment of the physical or mental health of the woman” or the child will probably “have a grave physical or mental defect.”

Nonetheless, pro-abortion advocates have long been irritated by the law, and with the election the hard-Left Governor Grisham in 2018, they have been champing at the bit to repeal the law

In other words, the reality is, even if there had never been a ruling in Roe v. Wade, abortion would not really be prohibited in New Mexico. The provisions of the law were such that abortion could not actually be prevented, provided the woman wanted an abortion and is able to obtain written certification from a special hospital board to back up her request.

The New Mexico Statute in Question

30-5-3. Criminal abortion.

Criminal abortion consists of administering to any pregnant woman any medicine, drug or other substance, or using any method or means whereby an untimely termination of her pregnancy is produced, or attempted to be produced, with the intent to destroy the fetus, and the termination is not a justified medical termination.   

Whoever commits criminal abortion is guilty of a fourth degree felony. Whoever commits criminal abortion which results in the death of the woman is guilty of a second degree felony.   

“Justified medical termination" means the intentional ending of the pregnancy of a woman at the request of said woman or if said woman is under the age of eighteen years, then at the request of said woman and her then living parent or guardian, by a physician licensed by the state of New Mexico using acceptable medical procedures in an accredited hospital upon written certification by the members of a special hospital board that:   

(1)     the continuation of the pregnancy, in their opinion, is likely to result in the death of the woman or the grave impairment of the physical or mental health of the woman; or   

(2)     the child probably will have a grave physical or mental defect; or   

(3)     the pregnancy resulted from rape, as defined in Sections 40A-9-2 through 40A-9-4 NMSA 1953. Under this paragraph, to justify a medical termination of the pregnancy, the woman must present to the special hospital board an affidavit that she has been raped and that the rape has been or will be reported to an appropriate law enforcement official; or   

(4)     the pregnancy resulted from incest;   


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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican


“IMPEACHMENT” ARGUMENTS SHOULD BE RESTRICTED to CONSTITUTIONALITY

02/09/2021
Republicans (or any others) would be making a grave mistake if they begin to respond to ANY of the so-called impeachment articles. On the contrary, their only focus should be solely reserved to the legitimacy of the proceeding.
 
If they attempt to answer any of the “charges” leveled by the Leftist majority, they will be playing into their hands. They will be tacitly acquiescing to the notion that the proceeding is valid under the Constitution, when it clearly and obviously is not.
 
WHAT the CONSTITUTION SAYS:
 
Article II, Section 4 provides:
 
“The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be REMOVED from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” [Emphasis added]
 
Article I, Section 3, Clauses 6 and 7 provide:
 
“The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present.”
 
“Removal” is impossible. Trump is not in office. If the Leftist majority believed that they have jurisdiction under this provision, they would have the Chief Justice presiding. They know he will not do so, thus the placement of the boorish “kangaroo” Patrick Leahy on the Kangaroo throne.
 
One House Manager has now argued that the Chief Justice is not presiding precisely because “the President is not on trial.”
 
Whoa! That is an admission that the individual they are trying is in fact a private citizen—someone not included in the Constitutional provisions.
 
Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI), at precisely 12:21 PM (MST), said they are NOT trying the President, he said:
 
“As a result the requirement that the Chief Justice preside isn’t triggered.”
 
Look: They are either trying the President (a constitutionally-cited potential target of impeachment) or they are trying a private citizen (an “office” NOT cited in the Constitution). It is one or the other. You cannot (at least Constitutionally) have it both ways.
 
CONVICTION. REMOVAL. DISQUALIFICATION.
 
“Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States...”
 
Note that the only judgments permissible are “removal” and “disqualification.” But, as has been noted by Professors Dershowitz and Turley (both liberal Democrats—perhaps the last two to actually be “liberals”), you have to be able to REMOVE (convict) first, and only then can the additional “and” be added.
 
Most of the time that provision (disqualification) has not been added to the punishment of removal. But NEVER has disqualification been used WITHOUT removal. You cannot disqualify without convicting and removing.
 
A Leftist manager said the Founders were very clear and precise. He is correct. They used the word “removal.” Any user of the English language knows that removal means removal.
 
One can make an hour-long, or 16-hour-long speech, but one cannot get around that word, no matter how long the speech.
 
Finally, it’s important to remember that Belknap was NOT convicted. This was in large part due to the doubts that senators had that the proceeding was in fact unlawful. It was. And replays of it today remain unlawful.

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Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican

 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACHIEVED LOWEST POVERTY RATES IN AMERICAN HISTORY

02/08/2021
A report released today by the Census Bureau shows that in 2019, the poverty rate for the United States was 10.5%, the lowest since estimates were first released in 1959.
 
Poverty rates declined between 2018 and 2019 for all major race and Hispanic origin groups.
 
Two of these groups, Blacks and Hispanics, reached historic lows in their poverty rates in 2019. The poverty rate for Blacks was 18.8%; for Hispanics, it was 15.7%.
 
The historically low poverty rates for Blacks and Hispanics in 2019 reflect unprecedented gains for both groups.
 
For Blacks, the poverty rate of 18.8% in 2019 was the lowest rate observed since poverty estimates were first produced for this group for 1959. The previous low for this group was 20.8% in 2018—also under the Trump Administration.
 
Poverty rates in 2019 were also the lowest ever observed for Hispanics (15.7%), compared to the prior low of 17.6% in 2018. (Also under the Trump Administration.) Poverty statistics for Hispanics date back to 1972.
 
The Asian poverty rate of 7.3% was also the lowest on record.
 
The 2019 poverty rate of 7.3% for non-Hispanic Whites (aka “Anglos,” in New Mexico) was not statistically different from the previous low (historically adjusted) of 7.2% in 2000 and 7.3% in 1973.

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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican

 

National Issues

National Issues

Democrats

2016 Presidential Campaign - Democrats

Republicans

2016 Presidential Campaign - Republicans

Jeb Bush gets religion.

"They said he got religion at the end, and I'm glad that he did."  — Tom T. Hall. The Year Clayton Delaney died.

Well, it's official.  Jeb Bush has changed quite of few of his positions on illegal immigration.  The single most significant is that he no longer endorses the "path to citizenship" for those who came here illegally. 

This is, after all, the key portion of any proposal aimed at "reforming" our existing illegal immigration situation.

No sensible citizen can see any point in trying to deport between 12 and 16 million people currently living in America illegally.  And no candidate for any office that we know of supports that.  What the average American wants is for the country to "get a handle on it."  They want it stopped, our borders secured and future illegal immigration prevented.  It is a national security issue.

The Path to Legal Status

The only way to accomplish the above goals, is to identify current illegal immigrants, get them accounted for, have them documented, and placed on a path to legal status.  Neither they nor their children or spouses should live in a state of fear or anxiety.

But a path to "citizenship" is not the right course.  It is not morally or legally correct.  A merciful and compassionate nation can provide the safeguards of legal status without sending the message to the rest of the world that all you have to do is cross our border and you will eventually get to become a citizen, thus circumventing the legal framework scores of millions of Americans have followed, honored and respected.

If someone who is granted legal status eventually wants to become a citizen, that person should have to return to his or her country of origin and wait in line like 20 million people around the world are doing at any given time.  Failing that, America will forever send the signal that anyone in the world can "jump the line," and that there is no reason at all to obey our immigration and naturalization laws.

We Like Jeb Bush

We are glad Jeb Bush has learned this lesson.  He is a fine speaker, and can eloquently explain his positions on complex issue.  If he were not named "Bush" he would be an actual top tier candidate—in all that that title would entail, including likelihood of acceptance and support of and from the American people in the primaries, and in any theoretical general election.  

We also recognize that he already is a de facto top-tier candidate because of his fame and his fundraising.

If he were to be the nominee of the Republican Party we would heartily support him and endorse him.  We hope, however, that he is not, as he does not give the center-right coalition the best chance of winning.

Media Watch

Media Watch

County Government News

County Government News

Cities, Towns and Villages

Cities, Towns and Villages

Judicial Watch

Judicial Watch

Movies, Television, Pop Culture

Movies, Television, Pop Culture

  • Movies, Television, Pop Culture
    Selma   ????? We have now seen the Oscar-nominated movie Selma.   Our earlier allusion to criticism that sounded as though it was in an Oliver Stone category for historical fabrication is some...

Sports

Sports

The Major League Baseball Playoffs are not realistic, and destroy the actual meaning of the sport. 

Major League Baseball is unique in this respect—its postseason is markedly different from the way the game is played normally.  No other major league sport suffers from this flaw.

Not that much is wrong with baseball. In some respects it's the most well thought-out sport there is.  The "perfect game" many aficionados say.

But the Major League Baseball postseason experience is unique in the world of professional sports, and not in a good way. 

In fact the playoffs are flawed in such a way as to detract from the sport itself and diminish the game and what it means to be the world champion of the sport. 

Among the Big Four team sports of North America: football, hockey, basketball and baseball—and all the 122 professional major league teams competing in the NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB respectively—it is in baseball alone that the postseason turns the sport itself on its head and makes it reflect something that it is not.  This article will explain why that happens and why it is wrong-headed.

 

Background on the The Frequency of Play

The 30 teams in both the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association teams play a very similar schedule.  On average, each team has a day off between games, sometimes two days off.  Though there are back-to-back games, they are relatively infrequent.  NBA teams play between 14 and 22 back-to-back games a season, and for the NHL it usually ranges between 9 and 19. The NFL has a full week between games, the exception being the new Thursday games that each team plays once, leaving them only four days' rest once a year.

But baseball players play every single day.  Ten days straight, then a day off, then seven more games, then a day off, then ten more games.  Typically a baseball team plays 27 games every 30 days.  For the NHL and NBA it would be 14 per month, and for the NFL the number would be 4.

 

Getting to the Playoffs:  It's a grind

In all four sports, getting to the postseason requires a total team effort—in fact an all-out total organizational effort.  Teams must be deep, have bench strength and the capability of moving players in and out of the lineup, and on and off the roster, who can take the place of key players who go down for an injury, or who have to miss games for whatever reason.  While this is true of the other three major sports as well, it is most certainly even more of a concern for baseball teams because of the sheer volume of games in which a team must field a competitive lineup.

Each league's regular season* is a marathon, not a sprint.  NFL teams play for 17 weeks, 16 games.  The NHL has an 82-game season over six months, paralleled by an NBA season of 84 games over the same timeframe. Baseball is the biggest marathon of all—a true test of resilience and endurance—162 games usually starting around the beginning of April and finishing about the end of September.

NHL teams carry 23-man rosters, of which 20 can be active for any particular game.  The NBA is similar, with 15-man rosters of which 13 can be on the bench for a given game. In the NFL, the teams have 53 players on a roster, but only 46 can suit up on game day.  In Major League Baseball, teams have a 25-man active roster, and all 25 are at the park every day.

 

The Postseason Playoffs:  Sport by Sport

The National Football League:

Of the 32 teams, 12 qualify for the playoffs.  The playoffs are conducted in the exact same manner as the regular season.  Each team plays once a week, the exception being that the four top teams get the first week off.  For a typical qualifier to reach the Super Bowl, the team must play three consecutive weeks.  At that point both remaining teams have two weeks off before the Super Bowl.

In short, the playoffs, with a game each week, reflects the same means of advancement as is present in regular season grind.

The National Hockey League: 

16 of the 30 teams qualify for the postseason.  The playoffs are conducted in the exact same manner as the regular season: a game, a day off, a game, a day off, a game, a day off, and so on.  Just as in the regular season, there are occasionally two days off.  But the playoffs require the same stamina, the same approach as that required to make the playoffs.

 

The National Basketball Association

16 of the 30 teams qualify for the postseason.  The playoffs are conducted in the exact same manner as the regular season: a game, a day off, a game, a day off, a game, a day off, and so on.  Just as in the regular season, there are occasionally two days off.  But the playoffs require the same stamina, the same approach as that required to make the playoffs.

Major League Baseball

10 of the 30 teams qualify for the postseason.  (Although four of those teams qualify only for a one-game do-or-die play-in game.)

Here is where all similarity to baseball ends. 

Unlike the other three sports whose playoffs mirror the test of the regular season, and whose conditions are the same as the regular season, Major League Baseball playoffs in no way resemble the sport itself.  In hockey, basketball and football, the teams win playoff games and reach the pinacle of the sport in exactly the same way that they qualify to try to do so. 

Not so in baseball.  They are two entirely different concepts.  Teams make the playoffs only because they have depth, five-man pitching rotations and can play day-in and day-out at a high level.  But the baseball playoffs suddenly become a kind of "all-star" game within each team's roster.  MLB playoffs are conducted in a way that more closely follows the NBA and the NHL.  Teams have enormous numbers of days off. 

Here's the key point:  No Major League Baseball team could even qualify for the postseason if they played the same way during the regular season that they do in the playoffs.  None.

In the regular season Major League Baseball teams have to use a 5-man starting rotation, with pitchers pitching every 5th day.  There are not enough days off to have even a four-man rotation, let alone a team with three pitchers.  Even the best team in baseball using only a 4-man rotation, would wear them out, and most likely end up with a record of something like 66-96, or 70-92—and that would be if they were otherwise teh best team in the sport.

 

The 2014 Baseball Postseason is Typical

As examples, last year's World Series teams the Kansas City Royals played only 15 games in 30 days, and the San Francisco Giants played only 17 games in 30 days.  The 12 to 15 days off in the non-baseball fantasy world of the MLB postseason, means that teams can turn to three pitchers and give all of them plenty of rest.  But it isn't the way baseball really works.

At one point, the Royals had 5 consecutive days off, and the Giants had 4.  This never happens in the regular season.  Even the All-Star break is only three days.  Very rarely is there anything beyond a one-day break, and even that happens only a couple of times a month. 

What this means is that neither team used the team that got them to the playoffs.  (The NFL, NBA and NHL teams ALL used the very same teams that got them to the playoffs.) 

Baseball teams use a three-man pitching rotation in the playoffs.  Sometimes, they essentially opt for two pitchers only—conceding the likelihood that some of their games are going to be lost—when their third-, or rarely fourth-best pitcher has to face one of their opponents' two-man or three-man rotation members. 

Imagine an NFL team using only one running back and three wide receivers, instead of rotating through their roster in the course of a playoff game—or using only 4 defensive backs and 4 linebackers, instead of rotating 8 or 9 DBs and 6 or 7 linebackers?  In hockey, would a team use only two or three of their forward lines?  Would an NBA team use only the starting five?  They would never make the post season if they tried to present that product to their fans during the regular season.

Those are the equivalents of what Major League Baseball sets up every fall.  No other sport drags its playoffs out in such a way as to completely change the playing field—completely change the dynamics of its game.

Why Does Baseball Do This?

MLB does this because the TV networks want to drag out the games so that they can try to have one game each day  This requires an unnecessary staggering of games, and creates the phenomenon of 15 off-days in a month.

What about travel days?

What about them?  Baseball has travel days constantly.  A team may play in Chicago one day and in Miami the next, or in New York one day and Phoenix the very next day.  Travel days as a routine part of the game are again, a phenomenon of television, and stretching out the playoffs.

In years past, travel days were employed only when necessary. The famous "subway series" games were played on seven consecutive days.  Why?  Because there was no "travel day" required to go from Brooklyn to the Bronx.  Today, they would put in artificial travel days.

Even fairly long train trips didn't necessarily matter.  The 1948 World Series between the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Braves was played in six consecutive days, October 6 & 7 in Boston, October 8, 9 & 10 in Cleveland, and October 11 back in Boston.

This reflects actual baseball, the way the teams play day-in and day-out, and the kind of unique test that baseball presents to its athletes, its managers and management, and to its fans.

In the modern world of charter planes, teams fly from coast to coast to play games on consecutive days.  The artificial "travel day" should be eliminated so that teams can play in the playoffs in the same way that got them there in the first place.


*All these leagues also have pre-seasons and training camps, which add an additional 6-8 weeks to each player's year.


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Religious Issues

Religious Issues

  • Religious Issues
    Coming Soon

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