New Mexico: and the cheese (aka Governor Grisham) stands alone
A state of emergency is a tyrant’s best friend, as all students of history know. Whether or not New Mexico’s Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is a student of history, she has the instincts of a tyrant and has been unafraid to act on them by declaring an emergency based on some fatal shootings of minors, and suspending the right to carry guns in Albuquerque and its environs. The fact that such an edict would only be obeyed by the law-abiding, therefore undermining people’s right to self-defense – not to mention the Second Amendment – seemed lost on her. And the fact that as governor she is not empowered to do such a thing just by declaring some sort of emergency is also lost on her.
But perhaps this development won’t be lost on her:
The state senate has 27 Democrats and 15 Republicans; the state house has 45 Democrats and 25 Republicans. New Mexico has not failed to repeal or revise the state’s concealed- and open-carry laws because of GOP obstinacy. There simply aren’t enough votes supporting the changes Lujan Grisham wants. So she has chosen to ignore her state’s constitution and is attempting to unilaterally suspend laws she opposes.
Unsurprisingly, New Mexico’s law-enforcement communities want nothing to do with this blatantly unconstitutional act. Almost immediately after the governor’s announcement, Albuquerque mayor Tim Keller, Bernalillo County sheriff John Allen, and Albuquerque police chief Harold Medina all issued statements that they would not be enforcing the governor’s order. Medina stated, “Our officers at APD will continue to focus on the enforcement of criminal laws and arresting the criminals who are driving violent crime in the city.”
Yesterday, Lujan Grisham’s effort hit another significant setback when her state’s attorney general, Raul Torrez, declared that he, too, saw the governor’s action as unconstitutional and that he would not defend it in court …
The New Mexico legislature is controlled by Democrats. Torrez is a Democrat. Keller is a Democrat. I suspect the others are Democrats, too, although I couldn’t immediately get information on that. But the point is that even the Democrats in the area are against what the governor has done. One clue as to why is the fact that about 46% of New Mexican adults have at least one gun in the house, according to the linked article. That doesn’t mean they carry them – the governor’s ban had to do with carrying rather than possession in the home – but it nevertheless shows the extent of support for gun rights in the state. Even most of the Democrats in office in the state seem to be aware that what Governor Grisham is trying to do would be wildly unpopular in New Mexico, and they are eager to distance themselves from her.
They are also eager to distance themselves from the widespread perception (which I think is mostly correct, by the way) that most Democrat politicians are against the right of law-abiding citizens to own guns and would dearly love to take that right away if it wasn’t political suicide to do so.
Any good would be tyrant should know that you must have the support of the military and law enforcement to fully enforce your will, let alone your ideological compatriots. Clearly she didn’t understand the limitations of her true purview. Clearly she’s an idiot.
New Mexico consists of Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Those are the urban centers. And they are populated by Californians and various other weirdos. NM is a shining example of how urban centers (like Chigao in IL) determine the policies affecting all state residents.
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the governor’s order pending a further hearing next month.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-mexico-democrat-governors-sweeping-gun-order-hits-major-temporary-roadblock
I’m thinking she and others like her will one day stand alone in the manner of other tyrants.
I’m thinking Ceausescu maybe…?
Hope it doesn’t come to that….who knows?
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is a member of the Lujan Political Clan. I suspect that, being a member of that clan, she assumed that whatever she says, goes – at least in the State of New Mexico. Apparently she is finding out differently. She isn’t an idiot, as Nonapod claims, but she is definitely full of herself.
I use the term “Clan” because the Wiki article includes sixth cousins. I doubt I have ever met any sixth cousins. I did know some third cousins- our grandfathers were first cousins and also best friends.
huxley, what say you about this New Mexico dustup?
Gringo:
Turns out I’m well-connected politically in New Mexico, though I was too hippie when young to take advantage. My uncle ran the New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association for over twenty years. My half-brother’s stepfather was a well-loved mayor of Santa Fe for ten years.
From what I’ve seen, NM politics are indeed clannish. Family is big here.
That said, I don’t follow state politics too closely. I know that Grisham is a raving Democrat, like the rest of my family.
I didn’t realize that she was so incautious to launch such a public initiative without checking for support even on her side. I assumed she would get away with it as virtue signaling.
I am gratified that she is being rebuffed. I do believe it has implications outside New Mexico as neo said:
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[New Mexico Democrats in office] are also eager to distance themselves from the widespread perception (which I think is mostly correct, by the way) that most Democrat politicians are against the right of law-abiding citizens to own guns and would dearly love to take that right away if it wasn’t political suicide to do so.
She needs to be impeached and removed. That’s the real remedy.
Forget it, Tom, it’s New Mexico. 🙂
Forget it, Tom, it’s New Mexico.
The movie Chinatown came out in 1974. That’s a year short of 50 years ago. That phrase has definitely entered into the vernacular, though I wonder if its use will survive the dying off of us boomers.
They should skip impeachment and declare when she renounced her oath she has been “deemed to have resigned”.
Gringo:
I stole it from Gerard.
My that was fast!
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A federal judge on Wednesday granted a temporary restraining order through Oct. 3 that prevents the state from enforcing a ban on carrying guns in public.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued the 30-day ban on Friday in response to what she described as a public health emergency caused by gun violence.
U.S. District Judge David Urias sided with attorneys who filed five lawsuits arguing that the ban violates constitutional protections on gun ownership.
Urias’ restraining order will remain in place until an Oct. 3 hearing to consider motions for a preliminary injunction that could effectively negate the governor’s public health order banning the carrying of firearms in Bernalillo County.
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/judge-grants-temprary-restraining-order-against-gov-s-public-gun-ban/article_a44f00f2-527c-11ee-8dbc-53882e6249f4.html
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Judging from the photos in the article, that demo in the ABQ Civic Center was impressive, though scary.
Chinatown is a great movie. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I watched it last year for the first time.
Tom Murin:
No worries. I’m still getting to old movies and sometimes inflicting my reviews here.
Shame about Lujan, though. There goes the great Harris/Grisham ticket we were all dying for.
I wonder if Lujan was throwing an elbow to get attention for 2024.
This one will be interesting to watch.
The country’s mood appears to be “in modification mode” as the citizens review governmental actions in the 2020-2023 period; reverence for officialdom seems to be in much shorter supply than previously.
How Grisham fares will, probably, have a lot to do with recent migratory patterns; as Cicero (above) points out, how New Mexico does is largely driven by what Albuquerque and Santa Fe do. Outside New Mexico, however, we still have a federal Constitution, federal courts, and a population increasing its awareness both of the principles of federalism and an advancing disdain for Too Much Government.
It is entirely possible, perhaps probable, that Grishham retains her position, somewhat, or substantially, reduced in authority, mostly because federal courts do not engage in any of the impeachment processes of state officials. In the face of all local and state officialdom feverishly seeking escape from Grisham’s shadow, a replacement governor is not out of the question, but still a high burden to overcome (as it should be).
I’m of the belief, very much fostered by witnessing what governments in the United States did during the 2020-2023 period, that Grisham’s sudden elevation to national awareness bears resemblance to a typical Democrat Trial Balloon; New Mexico is not a Large National Player, more of a quiet, moderately remote, pretty much unknown backwater, where Trial Balloons could be vetted without garnering too much attention (there are multiple anecdotes circulating in which state employees in some of The Other 49 expressed a requirement for passports from New Mexico) and citizen concentration in the two major population centers – both of which are comfortably “liberal” – lends itself to the Better Information Management Principles for which the Democrat Party, and its funding sources, are renowned.
Welcome to 2023, folks. The Rules are different now.
Forget it Tom…
Thanks for the Albuquerque link, huxley. I don’t know about scary, but the long gun in the first photo on the article was impressive.
Kate:
I thought to have added “brave” as well. With that many armed, disgruntled, “deplorable” protestors in a blue city, it could have gone badly sideways.
We did have a shooting in Abq three years ago when the right and the left faced off as the left attempted to topple the statue of a conquistador being guarded by the right. Interesting that DA Raul Torrez played a level-headed role then too:
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The New Mexico man who allegedly shot a protester in Albuquerque on Monday is no longer charged with the most serious count of aggravated battery after prosecutors expressed concerns about the police department’s “rushed” handling of the investigation.
“Frankly, we have been put in a situation too many times in this community where investigations are rushed, investigations are incomplete, and there is an expectation that quick decisions are made,” Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez told a news conference Wednesday.
“As professionals and prosecutors who have to uphold an oath to be objective and impartial, we can’t do that. We have to get it right.”
Steven Ray Baca, 31, still faces three counts of battery and the unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon, Torrez said. He remains in custody, Torrez added.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/18/us/new-mexico-protest-shooting/index.html
From what I’ve heard, Vermont is a state where very liberal Democrats have learned not to mess with gun rights, but it’s a state with few big cities and little crime. New Mexico has Albuquerque and very high crime rates. It sounds like some Democrats in government have more sense than the governor, though I’m cynical enough to wonder if power struggles aren’t motivating some of the objectors.
Ahhh. . .sometimes life provides a gentle little something. My SIL, who is widowed now, is a lifelong feminist, and raging Democrat. She couldn’t wait to leave this state where she lived for 50 years. Yep, the last time I saw her she was making her move to New Mexico. Raving about how the state was “so forward thinking like I am”. A lifelong 4th grade school teacher, I have often cringed when I thought about the damage she has done to so many little boys.
One of the things that finally motivated her to make the move to NM was the fact that “the current governor is a woman, and she is going to get married this fall. Kamala Harris will preside at the wedding ceremony–isn’t that so wonderful?”
SIL was sooo excited to be living in a state in which all government positions are occupied by Democrats! I wonder what she thinks now about NM. Now that she has been there and can see firsthand why NM is ranked 50th in quality of education for K-12 schools! Like I said, sometimes life provides a . . .
New Mexico consists of Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Those are the urban centers. And they are populated by Californians and various other weirdos. NM is a shining example of how urban centers (like Chigao in IL) determine the policies affecting all state residents.
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The second-ranking center is Las Cruces, Santa Fe is third. About 40% of the state’s population lives in densely settled tract developments in settlements of > 50,000.
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Voting behavior among hispanics is much more variegated than it is among blacks, but still favors the Democratic Party on balance. The hispanic vote rather than levels of urbanization is arguably the more potent vector in influencing the over-all partisan balance.
Like I said, sometimes life provides a . . .
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Your sister-in-law is something of a caricature. Very few people make their life choices on such bases.
On the contrary, increasing numbers of people are choosing to relocate based upon the degree of freedom in their former and new locations. Anne’s sister-in-law is the reverse, choosing more oppressive local control.
she got a little ahead of her skies, didn’t have a news peg like parkland or uvalde, to justify it, I’m that cynical about these people,
Inconvenient fact: If a large enough majority agrees with government actions, the Constitution is just a piece of paper. They got away with all the Covid crap because they had bamboozled a sufficient number of the public; at the beginning it was probably greater than 90%.
Like most entitled people, whatsername Lujan!! whatsername *knew* that she was right and couldn’t imagine any pushback. After all, the little people had kowtowed properly to all her Covid decrees. She didn’t account for the difference in public support. I doubt that it even occurred to her.