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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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Republican State Representatives Go Rogue? Supporting Woke Agenda...But Why? What Are They Thinking?

03/13/2023

On March 3, the New Mexico House of Representatives passed, by a vote of 47-20, a bill the Democrats named the “New Mexico Human Rights Act.” (Titles are frequently used to completely and utterly misrepresent the content of a bill. In this case, the Democrats are saying that men in women's locker rooms and men competing against women are both "human rights." No actual scholar would support either assertion.)

House Bill 207 is another step in bringing the full-blown Woke Agenda to New Mexico. It allows biological boys/young men to compete against girls/women in middle school, high school, and college sports. And of course it provides for biological males to be present in all bathroom/locker room settings with biological females.

Most voters—regardless of party—disagree with this idea. And, significantly for elected officials, it is one of the defining contrasts between the Republican Party/conservatives on the one hand and the modern Democratic Party/American Left on the other.

All across the country, Democrats are pushing for and enacting laws and policies that force women and young girls to share locker rooms, showers, restrooms, and similar private facilities with grown men and teenage boys.

Republicans believe that these policies violate the privacy and dignity of women and girls and that they are especially harmful to girls and women who have experienced sexual abuse and who may experience trauma when forced to be present with a member of the opposite sex in this setting.

THE CURRENT LAW is ON THE REPUBLICANS' SIDE

Federal law under Title IX specifically allows schools to "provide separate toilet, locker room, and shower facilities on the basis of sex." In addition, when Title IX was being debated by Congress, the sponsor explicitly rejected the idea that it would allow men into women’s dorms and locker rooms—a conclusion similarly reached by every court in the land, except very recently, when encountering some relatively recent appointees of Obama or Biden.

Furthermore, no school has ever lost funding on this basis in the nearly 51 years since Title IX became law. It is clear that Title IX does not require schools to open up locker rooms, showers, and restrooms to members of the opposite sex.

PUZZLING REACTION of FOUR REPUBLICAN STATE REPRESENTATIVES

All across the nation young women—and their parents, grandparents, and loved ones—are fighting to allow their young daughters compete with other girls and young women in both high school and collegiate sports. Some swimmers and track and field athletes are taking courageous stands making the point that there are biological differences between the sexes.

From the conservatives' point of view, this is a matter of hard science. It is real. A man cannot become a woman. It does not matter what kind of surgery is performed. Men cannot have babies. No matter what kind of surgery is performed.

Yet four New Mexico State Representatives—who are all registered Republicans and who ran as Republicans—voted FOR this bill.

We reached out over and over again to all four of these Republicans: former Minority Whip Jason Harper of Rio Rancho, Joshua Hernandez, also of Rio Rancho, Gail Armstrong of Magdalena, and Tanya Mirabal Moya of Los Lunas. None of them would respond to our simple inquiry—which was nothing more than a polite request for the "rationale" for their vote.

Since we could not get any answer from these legislators, we asked around for opinions or guesses. The word we got back was that "Harper is focused solely on his tax plans, and has no explanation"; Hernandez "wants desperately to be liked by everyone"; Gail Armstrong "didn't understand the bill"; and Mirabal Moya made statements about being "a teacher in a school where all of these [Woke] ideas are already policy..." and "her district has changed."

None of these responses—provided they are the actual positions of these officials—makes any sense at all.

Harper should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time—meaning it doesn't really matter if he has other bills, he can respond to each issue that comes up.

Hernandez is not going to make Democrats "like him more," regardless of his throwaway votes here and there.

Armstrong, after six years in office, has no real excuse for "not understanding the bill."

And Mirabal Moya does not have a "Democrat district--both she and Mark Ronchetti carried the district by about 15 points. (If the district were actually "Woke" that would not happen.) We have not reached out to the school districts in question, so we cannot speak to the notion that the Los Lunas or Belen school districts are already "Woke." We are, however, dubious.

REPUBLICAN VOTERS HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO ADDRESS THESE MATTERS

We are not advocating any approach to these representatives relationship with their constituents. That is up to their constituents. However, we would not be surprised to see one or more conservative Republicans decide that their constituency (all four districts are strongly conservative) is not being properly represented. That could mean a Republican primary challenge, with filing taking place only a year from now.

Should that happen, a challenger could make the case that while the hard-Left Woke Democrats are hanging together and pushing their agenda, Republicans should be just as bold in rejecting the non-scientific, aggressively anti-female policies that many average Americans regard as not only ridiculous, but truly harmful to society.


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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican


        

 


Republicans Should Capture the New Mexico State House of Representatives

11/08/2022

Republicans Should be Poised to Capture the New Mexico State House

With so many indicators of the public mood working against the Democrats and in favor of Republicans, the Republican Party of New Mexico should be on the verge of recapturing the state House of Representatives for the first time since 2014.

While Democrats worked hard last December to redistrict all three US House seats in such a way as to favor the Democrats (although we believe Yvette Herrell will retain her seat) they did leave 12 Democrat-held state house seats vulnerable to Republican takeover. Unfortunately, the RPNM failed to recruit anyone in House District 4, currently held by Democrat Anthony Allison. However, they did find candidates in the other 11 districts.

The Monkey Wrench for 2022

For the Republicans, the biggest question will be how New Mexico voters factor in the issue of abortion. The Democrats quite clearly see it as the decisive issue—even though New Mexico arguably has the most radical law in the world—currently, anyone can get an abortion at any time right up through the moment of child birth.

Trump is not the Focal Point by Which to Assess Competitiveness

The Democrats controlling the redistricting process tended to measure their new districts based on how Trump had done within their boundaries, and to some extent based on a rolling average over a period of the past 8 years.

However, in New Mexico—in both 2016 and 2020—Trump ran well behind the entire Republican ticket all the way up and down the ballots. In 2020, five state representative candidates carried their districts while Trump was losing them. (They were Bill Rehm, Rebecca Dow, Luis Terrazas, Jane Powdrell-Culbert, and Jason Harper.)

Democrats obviously tried to make a number of districts—including those five—more Democrat. However, they used data that were way too old, and they also used Trump as a measuring stick.

Trying to Find the Most Accurate Gauge

In our view, a better formula would have focused on deep-down-ballot races where voters had never heard of the candidates. We looked at two of those races: Court of Appeals Positions 1 and 3.

In 2020, the two unsuccessful Republican candidates were Barbara Johnson and Thomas Montoya (who are both running again this year). For every 10,000 votes cast, these two candidates each averaged 668 more votes than Trump received. 

More important, within the 12 districts which Democrats left vulnerable, they averaged 886 votes more than Trump, per 10,000 votes cast.

That is a huge margin.

This may or may not work as a predictive formula. This year presents a number of special problems/dilemmas for which no one knows the reaction.

In any case, in any district, whether for the legislature, for a judgeship, or for county commissioner, if candidates for Court of Appeals got as much as 47% of the vote in a given district—when no one knew who any of those candidates were—then local candidates within those districts, whether for the legislature, for judge, or for county office should be able to carry such a district.

Below are districts which show the candidates and the average 2020 votes for Court of Appeals, as well as the percentage for Trump. As you can see, in HD 4, for each 10,000 votes cast, the CofA candidates each got about 1,310 more votes than Trump received. 

Here are the 12* House Districts (HD) that should be captured Tuesday, November 8th 

(Of course this presumes that the Republican Party leadership has provided the necessary fundraising, administrative support, and consulting to develop the right messaging for each contest and that they have ensured that those messages have been competently communicated to the voters via mail, radio, social media, TV (where possible) and through personal contact. (*Only 11 were challenged by the GOP.)

        2020   Additional GOP Margin
  Democrat Democrat GOP GOP CofA   Per 10,000 Votes Cast
HD Incumbent Nominee Nominee Average% Trump%

Judges Over Trump Margin

  4 Allison Allison VACANT    48.90   42.35          1,310
 17 Armstrong* Borrego McMath    48.16   43.33             966
 20 Dixon Dixon Salazar    47.49   42.85             928
 23 Ely* Montaño Martinez    55.88   52.18             740
 27 Matthews Matthews Godshall    48.47   43.18          1,058
 28 Herndon Herndon Chavez    47.82   43.03             958
 29 Garratt Garratt Cunningham    47.64   42.93             942
 30 Figueroa Figueroa Johnson    46.95   42.45             900
 32 Sweetser Sweetser Jones    56.54   54.91             326
 36 Small Small Skaggs    49.13   45.84             658
 53 Madrid Madrid Winterrowd    48.48   45.19             658
 68 Bash* Little Moss    49.35   44.49             972

*Retiring. Open Seat.

 

Republican Incumbents Targeted in Redistricting

While Democrats made an effort to weaken these five Republican incumbents, their efforts should prove unsuccessful. The GOP incumbents and nominees should be able to withstand the challenges, at least in 2022.

These are the 5 Republican Seats that were Aggressively Redistricted by the Democrat Legislature, in an effort to defeat them or make them highly vulnerable

 

        2020   Additional GOP Margin,
  Republican Republican Democrat GOP CofA   Per 10,000 Votes Cast
HD Incumbent Nominee Nominee Average% Trump% Judges Over Trump Margin
31 Rehm Rehm Christodoulou      53.58    47.69      1,178
38 Dow* Hammack Jaramillo      51.00    47.95         610
39 Terrazas Terrazas Martinez      48.11    47.26           70
44 Powdrell-Culbert Powdrell-Culbert Cates      49.08    45.52         712
57 Harper Harper Sandoval      52.06    48.65         682

    


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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican


                                                                                           

      


MacNelly

02/02/2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FULL COMPLIANCE CONSULTING, LLC

Helping candidates, elected officials, committees, PACs and lobbyists, navigate Campaign Finance Reporting, Campaign Practices, the Governmental Conduct Act and the many complexities of the Election Code in New Mexico.

If you are having problems with ballot access, or receiving threats of disqualification, contact us!

Statewide Offices • Legislative Races • County Offices • Judicial & Regional Offices

Email: fccllc@terrcomm.net   Full Compliance Consulting, LLC    P.O. Box 2163 ♦ Santa Fe, NM 87504


 


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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican


Supreme Court Vacancy: Nominating Commissions Grab Powers Not Granted. Inaccuracies in Newspaper Coverage.

02/01/2022

With the pending retirement of Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Bosson, a nominating commission is set to meet this coming Monday to interview eight lawyers who have applied for the vacated position.

The Role of the Nominating Commission is Misrepresented to New Mexico Voters

Some headlines around the state feature the following wording:

"Nominating commission to narrow field of high court hopefuls " [Emphasis added by NMPJ]

And the following line appears in the Santa Fe New Mexican:

"The panel will then narrow the field of applicants and submit a list of finalists for consideration by Gov. Susana Martinez..." [Emphasis added by NMPJ]

But is that true? Is that the role of the commission? To "narrow" the field?

Well, no, not really. The law doesn't authorize them to do that. And it certainly doesn't require such an action.

 

Abuse of Authority

It is definitely true that nominating commissions through the years have arrogated powers to themselves to be the "deciders" of who gets to be on the court. In some instances they have so badly abused their role as to effectively rule that former members of the Supreme Court were not "qualified" to be appointed to the district court.

They did this by carefully voting to leave a former Supreme Court justice off a list sent to the governor of qualified applicants for district judge. After all, this is New Mexico, so ignoring the law, especially by judges, can be more or less routine.

 

FULL COMPLIANCE CONSULTING, LLC

Helping candidates, elected officials, committees, PACs and lobbyists, navigate Campaign Finance Reporting, Campaign Practices, the Governmental Conduct Act and the many complexities of the Election Code in New Mexico.

If you are having problems with ballot access, or receiving threats of disqualification, contact us!

Statewide Offices • Legislative Races • County Offices • Judicial & Regional Offices

Email: fccllc@terrcomm.net   Full Compliance Consulting, LLC    P.O. Box 2163 ♦ Santa Fe, NM 87504


The New Mexico Constitution

The nominating commission is authorized by Article VI, Section 35 of the state constitution. That section contains more than 600 words, but the key phrase reads:

"...the commission shall meet...and...submit to the governor the names of persons qualified for the judicial office and recommended for appointment to that office by a majority of the commission." [emphasis added by NMPJ]

The only actual authorization granted to the commission is to determine if each of the eight applicants is "qualified."

 

Commission is not "Non-Partisan" — As Described in Newspaper Coverage

Another line in a story in the Santa Fe New Mexican says:

"The nonpartisan commission is chaired by University of New Mexico School of Law Dean Alfred Mathewson, who serves as a nonvoting member except in the case of a tie." [Emphasis added by NMPJ]

This is simply not accurate. There is nothing "nonpartisan" about New Mexico judicial nominating commissions. In fact, the state constitution specifically requires that Democrats and Republicans be identified on the commission, and that one party may not have more members than the other: 

"...each of the two largest major political parties, as defined by the Election Code, shall be equally represented on the commission."

This doesn't mean there will be 8 Democrats and 8 Republicans on a commission, or 6 and 6, but that whatever number one party has, the other must have the same—at least nominally*.

(*"Nominally," because the task of ensuring both major parties are equally represented is left to the "state bar and judges on the committee." In practice, the state bar has relatively few Republicans; the same goes for judges. In years past, this has often meant that those selecting additional "Republicans" to fill out the commissions have ended up selecting extremely "obscure" members of the GOP, whose names have been entirely unknown or unheard of in Republican circles. Those "fill-out" members, selected by the bar association, have—not unpredictably—ended up voting with the Democrats on their commissions. There is some indication that the bar may have become more sensitive to charges of impropriety in recent years, and its "Republican" appointees may have more legitimacy than in the past.)

The history of New Mexico judicial nominating commissions—which were adopted by the voters in November 1988—far from being free of partisanship, or based strictly on "merit," is one of overt partisan wrangling and manipulation.

 

"Rules" Adopted

We notice on the UNM School of Law website that someone has adopted "Rules Governing Judicial Nominating Commissions."  

We don't know where the rules come from, or when they were adopted. There is no reference number for the rules, and they don't appear in the New Mexico Administrative Code. We certainly are not saying that saying they were not properly adopted, it's just at this point we haven't been able to determine their source or authority. "Rules" are not mentioned in the constitutional amendment adopted by the voters November 8, 1988.

Here are some of the provisions of the "Rules" which differ from the constitutional amendment itself:

Solicitation, Recruitment of Applicants

Constitution:  "The commission shall actively solicit, accept and evaluate applications..." 

NOTE:  This is fairly routine and standard language meaning that the vacancy in question needs to be made public and applications invited.

"Rules":  "The chair and the commissioners to actively solicit applicants for the position in the following ways:  Notify the Bar Commissioners who represent lawyers in the Judicial District, asking them to suggest candidates and encouraging them to personally contact qualified attorneys to ask them to apply...and place telephone calls to encourage them to apply."

Added to these "Rules" are these seemingly improbable disclaimers:

"When actively seeking qualified applicants, commissioners shall inform the prospective applicant that being approached by a commissioner does not guarantee a nomination. Each applicant, whether actively recruited or independently seeking a nomination, will be subject to the same investigative and interview procedures. It is important for recruited applicants to realize that they will not be given special consideration simply because the commission is inviting their applications." 

Closed Session

Constitution:  The Constitution has no provision for a closed session, or any secret proceeding.

"Rules":  "...the commission may go into closed session to discuss the applicants' qualifications and to evaluate them..." 

Secrecy of Proceedings

Constitution:  The Constitution has no provision for proceedings that produce no record of deliberations, debate or votes preserved for the public.

"Rules":  "The discussion during closed session shall be confidential. The extent of confidentiality shall be determined by the commission, but, in any event, shall extend to prohibit express or implied attribution of comments or opinions to individual commissioners. As part of the discussion of the applicants, straw votes, non-binding and by secret ballot, shall be taken to determine support for particular applicants."

Duties of Commission

Constitution:  The Constitution specifies that the commission is to submit to the governor the names of persons qualified for the judicial office and recommended for appointment..."

"Rules":  "In recognition of the fact that the New Mexico Constitution vests the Governor with the authority to appoint judges and that the commission does not select the judges, the commission should strive to recommend a list of two or more names for each position to the Governor.

 

Judicial Nomination Commissions More Partisan than Straightforward Appointments

Just as with the national government, it is probably more democratic to allow the elected executive to appoint judges according to his or her own criteria. President Obama does not have to wend his way through a "nominating commission."

Instead his "commission" is his own administration and White House advisors and researchers, sifting through records of jurists around the country, trying to match those who support his form of activism. Like it or not, he was elected, and that is one of the consequences, or rewards, that accrues as a result of an election.

Allowing governors, whether Bill Richardson or Susana Martinez, the same prerogative, is probably the best polity. In any case, it is certainly better than using the so-called nominating commissions.

New Mexico's 27 year-old system is generally classified under the rubric of the "Missouri Plan," so named for the state which first instituted a similar proceeding for appointing judges. 

But history has shown, unfortunately, that there is absolutely no more merit in this approach than in straightforward, open government appointments.

 

Visible Consequences

Rule by Elites—Lawyers Selecting Lawyer Buddies

Under New Mexico's current law, the power to select judges is placed in a small, unelected, unaccountable commission, comprised of elites, either from the legal community, or activist politicians, or both. In fact, the main force empowered in New Mexico—effectively given decisive control in fact—is the New Mexico Bar Association. 

Consequences for the Law Itself

So it's no wonder the Supreme Court, and courts in general over the past 30 years, have openly done the bidding of the Trial Lawyers Association, the plaintiffs' bar.  In so doing they have expanded almost beyond credulity the extent to which matters may be opened up to lawsuit, stretched the limits of the concept of liability, and the largess of the tort system.  

They have done damage to the definition of recovery and the entire civil system, increasing costs in every facet of New Mexico —whether people realize it or not—and have made the courts ever most costly and therefore less accessible to the average person than ever before.

The Imposition of Secrecy—the Closing of Government

As we have pointed out, these judges and their bar association colleagues operate in secret with no public accountability.

What has happened, historically (it may be better now) in New Mexico, is that a commission usually ends up with about 5 or 6 known or identifiable Republicans, about 7 or 8 known or identifiable Democrats and between 2 and 4 obscure members, usually nominally Republican or "independent" but who are well-known to some members of the Democratic lawyer group.

This has resulted in a deeply politicized process. With a built-in majority focused on outcomes, not process or merit, the result has been backroom-dealing, hidden from public view, that has ended up stocking the state courts with garden variety trial lawyers, biased in favor of "results-oriented" judging rather than actual legal proceedings. 

As a result, there aren't that many judges in the state who instinctively ask the question; "What does the law say?"


Email us with your feedback, comments, questions and ideas.

Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican


So much for the "Citizens'" Redistricting Committee

12/06/2021

Much has been made of the so-called Citizen Redistricting Committee that the legislature created. It supposedly is designed to be—in their own words—"an independent, non-partisan body tasked to develop and propose district maps for New Mexico's Congressional delegation, the New Mexico Senate, the New Mexico House of Representatives, and the Public Education Commission."

So what did this "independent, non-partisan" body actually produce? They drew a lot of plans, but in the end they posted on their website only three surviving "concepts" for each of the tasks they assigned themselves. We looked at the three plans they have posted for each of those bodies. And we examined the way in which each district is constructed in terms of the partisan voting averages for each of the districts that the "non-partisan" outfit has drawn.

Here is what they are proposing:

US House of Representatives

Concept A

District Democrat Avg Vote % Republican Avg Vote %
    1           61.43       38.57
    2           43.73       56.27
    3           58.78       41.22

Concept E-1

District Democrat Avg Vote % Republican Avg Vote %
    1           61.21       38.79
    2           44.60       55.40
    3           58.15       41.85

Concept H

District Democrat Avg Vote % Republican Avg Vote %
    1           57.30       42.70
    2           51.14       48.86
    3           56.81       43.19

In two of the three congressional plans the current situation, which favors the Democrats in two of the three districts, would remain in place. However, in the third concept the Democrats would control all three districts.

We strongly anticipate that the legislature will enact a plan that is in line with Concept H, although they may perhaps make District 2 somewhat more favorable to the Democrats than Concept H currently shows.

New Mexico State Senate

Concept Democrat Seats Republican Seats
    A-1           30       12
    C           29       13
    C-1           28       14

The State Senate currently has 27 Democrats and 15 Republicans. So the Citizens' Committee has made plans to increase the Democrats' stranglehold on that body by one, two, or three members. The Committee strongly feels that a 27-15 margin is not quite enough for "good government." Collectively, they see a need for a "veto-proof" Senate at the very least—that would mean 28 to 14, or exactly two-thirds of the body.

They also see that that might not be enough for the absolute "best" government one can hope for. So they have also recommended plans that hike that margin up to as much as 30 to 12.

New Mexico State House of Representatives

Concept Democrat Seats Republican Seats
    E-1           48       22
    I-1           47       23
    J           47       23

Currently, there are 45 Democrats in the State House. There are 24 Republicans and 1 independent.

What is the conclusion of the "Citizens' Committee? Surprisingly similar to their conclusion regarding the State Senate: the Democrats don't currently have a veto-proof advantantage in the lower house, and the Committee clearly believes that that is a vital component to flesh out on behalf of Governor Grisham.

Accordingly, their minimum goal is to make the State House at least two-thirds Democrat, so two of their plans would profuce a 47-23 Democrat House. The other concept would make the House just slightly more Democrat, at 48 to 22.

We suspect that the Democrat majority will take these ideas and run with them, though they will very possibly try to tweak them in such a way as to reach a 49-21, 50-20, or maybe even a 51 to 19 advantage.

Conclusion

We cannot see how the Citizens' Redistricting Committee has produced anything—for any of the elected bodies—that would be different from what the very most partisan group of Democrats might propose.

It is very difficult to determine exactly what the Citizens' Committee believes that they have accomplished, especially in light of their stated goals of supposedly aiming to be "non-partisan" and "independent."

We suppose one could say, well, if left alone, the Democrats would likely produce a 30 to 12 Senate and a 50-20 House, so, this committee has offered a couple of "non-partisan" plans that reduce those numbers to only 29 to 13 and 49 to 21. Okay, that is true. But that is not really very much of an accomplishment, especially for eight months of hoopla and wild, exaggerated claims about the "fairness" of the group.

The body of work left behind by this bunch will only be seen for what it is: a grossly partisan set of plans that paid absolutely no attention whatsoever to the actual political or demographic makeup of the state. In the final analysis it is a triump of the will — a product of the strong desire on the part of the Democratic Party to impose its will on the people of the state for the next decade.


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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican

 


Carl Nassib's Big Reveal: NFL Player "Comes Out" as "Gay." What does it all Mean?

06/22/2021

NFL PLAYER “COMES OUT” as “GAY”

Why do we need to know this? Can anyone help?

For years, we have been asking why anyone—whether they are heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, trisexual, or quadsexual, and beyond—has to announce the manner in which one lives out, expresses, or manifests one’s sex life.

No one has ever been able to answer this question.Please be the first.

Should all heterosexual football players (assuming there are some) follow up by announcing their “sexuality,” or the details of how they live out their sex lives? Should bisexual or trisexual players or heterosexual players announce what they do in the bedroom? Or in bathhouses? Public parks?

We are asking.

How does this information help? How does this information promote the general welfare? Should people announce every aspect of their lives? We don’t know. We are just asking…

UPDATE, 22 June, 9:45 AM:

Some observers have suggested that Carl Nassib’s “big reveal” is a sort of “Kaepernick redux” — which is to say that it serves as a kind of “reactive armor.” (Reactive armor is used on military vehicles. It "reacts" in a manner that reduces the damage being done by a shot received from an anti-armor weapon system, generally blowing back the impact in some way.)

In Nassib's case, he may be protecting himself by putting on what he perceives to be some sort of protection.

The theory is that if you’re not getting to play, or are seen as marginal, adopting a perceived controversial position or making some sort of sensational announcement can lay the groundwork for a potential lawsuit, providing a layer of protection: “You cut me because of ________.” (And that reason of course will not be related to his play, or the fact he's not skilled enough at his position to beat out competitors. On the contrary, the reason offered will have something to do with personal, non-football-related issues.)

We aren’t sure this works with Nassib, in that while he’s not a superstar by any means, he’s probably in the top 35-40% of players at his position—something Kaepernick was nowhere close to being.


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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican

 


New Mexico Democratic Blogger Gets it Wrong—Lieutenant Governors

06/16/2021
New Mexico —a New Mexico Democrat blogger gets it wrong, while discussing the potential future of current Lt. Governor Howie Morales of Silver City.
 
We were just sent a blurb with a question about whether it is true. The point being made by the blogger is that based on history Morales has little chance of going on to greater office. The blurb reads as follows:
 
"Early in statehood a Governor died in office and was replaced by the lieutenant governor but that's the only example of upward mobility for holders of the office."
That is not true. While the blogger—Joe Monahan—intended to refer to Washington E. Lindsey who took over after the death of Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca in 1917, Lindsey is not the only lieutenant governor to succeed to the governorship.
 
The other two are Andrew Hockenhull, who moved up on the death of the governor in 1933, and Tom Bolack, who became governor after Ed Mechem resigned in 1962. Bolack then appointed Mechem to the US Senate.
 
Additionally, Lt. Governor Joseph M. Montoya went on to become a Congressman, then a two-term US Senator.
 
The point Monahan is striving for—that the office of Lt. Governor is not a historically great launching pad—is more or less true. It's just that the "facts" that he asserts are inaccurate.
 
The bottom line is that—though the opposite conclusiont is widely accepted among political junkies in New Mexico—there is nothing actually inherently disadvantageous in becoming the state's lieutenant governor. Joe Montoya made it work for him. The reason others have not been able to do so probably has more to do with individual considerations and personal circumstances than the office itself.

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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican


Stansbury wins Special Election. Final Result not Surprising, but the Margin May Be...

06/02/2021

Democrat newcomer Melanie Stansbury, a symbol of the new out-of-state Anglo dominance of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, swept to an easy victory in yesterday's special election in Congressional District 1. We expected her to win, after all the Democrats have a big edge in the district, she had an enormous fundraising advantage and much more dark money as well.

What was somewhat unexpected was the margin. Just seven months ago, Congresswoman Deb Haaland had defeated Republican Michelle Garcia Holmes 58-42. A couple of factors led us to expect a somewhat closer margin in the special election.

First of all, the Democrats control the White House—that usually militates in favor of the party out of power. Second, the turnout was, as is always the case in a special election, very low—another factor that works in favor of the GOP. Third, New Mexico isn't doing that well economically, as the policies of both Biden and Governor Grisham continue to adversely impact New Mexicans' lives.

While it is true that last Friday's absentee and early voting totals showed a huge advantage for the Democrats, 42,325 to 19,869 (with 8,776 independents and others), that kind of advantage is not that unusual, and was similar to 2020.

All things considered, we were expecting something closer to a 55-45 result. We certainly weren't expecting the outcome to be worse than 2020. But it was. This morning's totals show Stansbury with 60.33% and Republican Mark Moores with 35.66%.

That's a winning margin of 24.67%, just over 50% higher than Haaland's 16.38% margin just seven months ago.

What Happened?

The Republicans nominated their best candidate. Moores was easily the best choice available, but he was vastly outspent, and dark money from the usual national Leftist actors flooded the state.

But the complaint we heard most loudly from Republicans, both last night and in the days leading up to election day, was "Where is the state party?" "What exactly is Steve Pearce doing?"

As the results poured in last night the complaints got even more vociferous.

Last month we reported the news (first given to us by a Republican state senator) that Pearce is calling around the state to drum up support for his own run for governor next year—it would be his fourth try for statewide office.

Last evening, a former Republican state lawmaker told us that:

"Pearce isn't interested in helping anyone other than Steve Pearce. The only money he's interested in raising for the state party is whatever he can direct to his own race."

We've heard many similar comments.

The consensus bottom line from New Mexico Repubicans appears to be that Mark Moores was a competent, articulate candidate who was left hung out to dry by the Republican Party of New Mexico—a party that is controlled by Steve Pearce and his sycophants, and that is interested only in the personal goals of Steve Pearce.

This is, perhaps, not an opinion held by every single Republican, and certainly not by those who are still disciples of Pearce, but it certainly reflects the predominant opinion held by Republicans.

One former Republican officer who has moved out of state told us last night:

"How many losses will NM Republican insiders stomach before they demand a change in party leadership? There is no bottom for this group of knuckleheads. And it's only going to get worse with redistricting on the horizon."

He was of course referring to the Pearce insiders who became extremely jealous of the electoral success of former Governor Susana Martinez and who broke ranks with her after she had led the charge — by raising and spending some $3 million — to capture the state House of Representatives in 2014.

The dissident group, which, as we have reported before, included Pearce, John Billingsley, Harvey Yates, Mark Murphy, Anissa Galassini Ford Tinnin and others, quickly made a shambles of Martinez's monumental achievements, losing the House back immediately and compounding their blunders by driving the numbers down. They lost 14 seats in just two cycles. The former operative went on:

"It is amazing to see what the anti-Susana group has done. They ruined it all for petty shit. They have truly burned it to the ground. And they'll never pay a price for it."

That is true. The culprits will not pay the price. Instead, it is New Mexicans who are suffering as they are forced to watch, helplessly, as the "progressive" policies are forced on them. No, Pearce and the gang will not pay the price. But their victims will pay the price for years to come. 

Results Table

Unofficial results, thus far, are shown below. As you can see, Moores ran behind the 2020 Republican pace in all five counties. As an example, he should have carried Torrance County 2 to 1, but won by only a 54-33 margin. Similar results are visible everywhere else. In 2020, the GOP carried the Valencia County portion with 53% of the vote—yesterday, Moores did manage to win the county, but with less than a majority.

About two weeks ago, one former high-ranking Republican official expressed his fairly severe annoyance with Aubrey Dunn's constant party-switching and publicity-hound shenanigans, telling us:

"I certainly hope Dunn does very poorly, and I doubt he'll get even five percent of the vote."

We actually believed the gentleman would be wrong and that Dunn would get about 5%. But the Republican was correct—Dunn got only 2.68% of the vote. Apparently, most New Mexicans are tired of Dunn's shenanigans as well. Dog tired.

County Moores (R) Stansbury (D) Dunn (I) Manning (L) GOP % 2021 GOP% 2020
Santa Fe      875      611       65       18   55   64
Bernalillo 41,952 73,985  3,003  1,586   34   40
Valencia      460      415       42       14   49   53
Torrance   1,495      928      270       53   54   67
Sandoval   2,289   3,686      155       80   36   44
CD 1 Totals 47,071 79,625   3,535  1,751 35.66 41.81


Articles in this journal contain commentary which reflects the journal's opinion as well as the opinion of readers and others.


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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican


BIGGEST (and dumbest) LIE of the MONTH of MAY by a TV Pundit: Martha Burk of New Mexico in Focus Claims that the “1980s minimum wage” would be over $90,000 a year by now. How dumb can you get?

05/31/2021

TV talking head pundits tell lies all the time, most of the time with little or no pushback from hosts or other talking heads. In that regard, KNME’s New Mexico in Focus is little different from most CNN, MSNBC, or other cable news shows.

We don’t talk much about New Mexico in Focus, mainly because—as is the case with most PBS affiliates—no one is watching, so little harm is done either way. We mean no disrespect to Channel 5—they have the same low viewership as other public TV stations. They work hard at producing a quality show. Low viewership is just the way it is with public TV.

Now Martha Burk is probably the most consistently egregious liar in the show’s lineup, but this past May 14 the erstwhile "contributor" let fly with a genuine whopper. Here’s what she had to say during one of her trademark rants:

“By the way, I did the math once again, and if the minimum wage had kep [sic] up with inflation since the last minimum [sic] was passed in the 1980s, you know what it would be today? $44 an hour. “

No, she didn't. (Or if she did, her "math" was something well below Pre-K standards.)

The host, Gene Grant, responded with his normal “wow!” This is unfortunate, but it’s the consistent response from the affable Grant, who appears to be bowled over with amazement at virtually every single comment from a left-wing commentator—not only taking them as gospel, but expressing genuine gratitude for what he considers to be uniformly brilliant insights.

Grant does occasionally push back on those he considers right-of-center, but most of the time, pre-COVID at least, the panel has been either 4 to 1 or 5 to 0 left-of-center. (And quite a number of those who are there occasionally to supposedly provide a "conservative" perspective are far from that.) But we digress.

We are not Asking People to be "Mathematicians," But Rather Just to Think for a Moment

Now, keep in mind that the work year is 2,080 hours. So, if you do the math, Burk is alleging that the minimum wage—if only it had kept up with the Reagan era standard—would result in an annual wage of $91,520. Seems reasonable, right?

Now, we’re not asking everyone to multiply by 2,080 immediately, but they could multiply by 1,000 or 2,000 and have a general sense that the lady is suggesting that the annual minimum salary would be, say, $88,000. You don’t have to be a math “wizard” to do that in your head.

But again, no pushback from the host. And later in the same segment, pundit Laura Sanchez, a practicing attorney, said, “Martha has a point.” No, Martha doesn't have a point. Or rather, she may have one, but it’s totally fake, as are most of her “points.”

Burk calls herself both a "Political Psychologist" and a "Women's Issues Expert." Pretty proud titles, albeit self-annointed ones. But one thing she is not is a graduate of an 8th Grade Math course.

The “1980s” Were Not the Last Time “the minimum” was Passed

The most recent change to the minimum wage was in 2009, when it reached its current level of $7.25. But changes were also made in 2008, 2007, 1997, 1996, 1991, and 1990—all of which Martha apparently overlooked when she did her “research” and “did the math once again.”

Martha, do the show and its numerous viewers a favor: Stop doing the math.

The last adjustment to the minimum wage that occurred “in the 1980s” was the rise to $3.35 an hour in 1981. That would be equivalent to $9.84 an hour today. Not $44.00.

What Really IS True About the Minimum Wage and Current Value?

For those of you interested in something factual (the opposite of a Martha-ism) here is a timeline chart with the minimum wage changes through the years and their current values in 2021.

The original minimum wage, put into effect on June 25, 1938 was 25¢ an hour. That would be the equivalent of $4.73 today. The peak apparently occurred in 1968, when that year’s $1.60/hour would be worth $12.28 in today’s money. But at no time did anything ever approach “forty-four dollars an hour.”

YEAR Minimum Wage Today's Value
2009 $7.25 $  9.02
2008 $6.55 $  8.12
2007 $5.85 $  7.53
1997 $5.15 $  8.57
1996 $4.75 $  8.08
1991 $4.25 $  8.33
1990 $3.80 $  7.76
1981 $3.35 $  9.84
1980 $3.10 $10.05
1979 $2.90 $10.67
1978 $2.65 $10.85
1976 $2.30 $10.79
1975 $2.10 $10.42
1974 $2.00 $10.83
1968 $1.60 $12.28
1967 $1.40 $11.19
1963 $1.25 $10.91
1961 $1.15 $10.27
1956 $1.00 $  9.82
1950 $0.75 $  8.31
1945 $0.40 $  5.93
1939 $0.30 $  5.76
1938 $0.25 $  4.73

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


Intelligent Political Discourse—for the Thoughtful New Mexican


BIGGEST (and dumbest) LIE of the MONTH of MAY by a TV Pundit: Martha Burk of New Mexico in Focus Claims that the “1980s minimum wage” would be over $90,000 a year by now. How dumb can you get?

05/30/2021

TV talking head pundits tell lies all the time, most of the time with little or no pushback from hosts or other talking heads. In that regard, KNME’s New Mexico in Focus is little different from most CNN, MSNBC, or other cable news shows.

We don’t talk much about New Mexico in Focus, mainly because—as is the case with most PBS affiliates—no one is watching, so little harm is done either way. We mean no disrespect to Channel 5—they have the same low viewership of other public TV stations. They work hard at producing a quality show. Low viewership is just the way it is with public TV.

Now Martha Burk is probably the most consistently egregious liar in the show’s lineup, but this past May 14 the erstwhile contributor let fly with a genuine whopper. Here’s what she had to say during one of her trademark rants:

“By the way, I did the math once again, and if the minimum wage had kep (sic) up with inflation since the last minimum was passed in the 1980s, you know what it would be today? $44 an hour. “

No, she didn't. (Or if she did, her "math" was something well below Pre-K standards.)

The host, Gene Grant, responded with his normal “wow!” This in unfortunate, but it’s the consistent response from the affable Grant, who appears to be bowled over with amazement at virtually every single comment from a left-wing commentator—not only taking them as gospel, but expressing genuine gratitude for what he considers to be uniformly brilliant insights.

Grant does occasionally push back on those he considers right-of-center, but most of the time, pre-COVID at least, the panel was either 4 to 1 or 5 to 0 left-of-center. (And quite a number of those who are there occasionally to supposedly provide a "conservative" perspective are far from that.) But we digress.

We are not Asking People to be "Mathematicians," But Rather Just to Think for a Moment

Now, keep in mind that the work year is 2,080 hours. So, if you do the math, Burk is alleging that the minimum wage—if only it had kept up with the Reagan era standard—would be $91,520.

Now, we’re not asking everyone to multiply by 2,080 immediately, but they could multiply by 1,000 or 2,000 and have a general sense that the lady is suggesting that the annual minimum salary would be, say, $88,000. You don’t have to be a math “wizard” to do that in your head.

But again, no pushback from the host. And later in the same segment, pundit Laura Sanchez, a practicing attorney, said, “Martha has a point.” No. She doesn’t. Or rather, she may have one, but it’s totally fake, as are most of her “points.”

Burk calls herself both a "Political Psychologist" and a "Women's Issues Expert." Pretty proud titles, albeit self-annointed ones. But one thing she is not is a graduate of an 8th Grade Math course.

The “1980s” Were Not the Last Time “the minimum” was Passed

The most recent change to the minimum wage was in 2009, when it reached its current level of $7.25. But changes were also made in 2008, 2007, 1997, 1996, 1991, and 1990—all of which Martha apparently overlooked when she did her “research” and “did the math once again.”

Martha, do the show and its numerous viewers a favor: Stop doing the math.

The last adjustment to the minimum wage that occurred “in the 1980s” was the rise to $3.35 an hour in 1981. That would be equivalent to $9.84 an hour. Not $44.00.

What Really IS True About the Minimum Wage and Current Value?

For those of you interested in something factual (the opposite of a Martha-ism) here is a timeline chart with the minimum wage changes through the years and their current values in 2021.

The original minimum wage, put into effect on June 25, 1938 was 25¢ an hour. That would be the equivalent of $4.73 today. The peak apparently occurred in 1968, when that year’s $1.60/hour would be worth $12.28 in today’s money. But at no time did anything ever approach “forty-four dollars and hour.”

YEAR Minimum Wage Today's Value
2009 $7.25 $  9.02
2008 $6.55 $  8.12
2007 $5.85 $  7.53
1997 $5.15 $  8.57
1996 $4.75 $  8.08
1991 $4.25 $  8.33
1990 $3.80 $  7.76
1981 $3.35 $  9.84
1980 $3.10 $10.05
1979 $2.90 $10.67
1978 $2.65 $10.85
1976 $2.30 $10.79
1975 $2.10 $10.42
1974 $2.00 $10.83
1968 $1.60 $12.28
1967 $1.40 $11.19
1963 $1.25 $10.91
1961 $1.15 $10.27
1956 $1.00 $  9.82
1950 $0.75 $  8.31
1945 $0.40 $  5.93
1939 $0.30 $  5.76
1938 $0.25 $  4.73

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.


Email us with your feedback, comments, questions and ideas. 

Religious Issues

Religious Issues

  • Religious Issues
    Coming Soon

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