WHEN BILL MET AMY

Democracy Now broadcast live from the New Mexico state Capitol this morning (from the t.v. studio next door to my office) and Amy Goodman's guest was Gov. Bill Richardson, who answered questions for more than 30 minutes.

The interview was far less confrontational than Goodman and Richardson's encounter last summer in Boston. He didn't tell her to get her microphone out of his face this time. But Goodman and co-host Juan Gonzalez (who was in a studio in New York) got in some good questions.

Richardson had to defend himself about the Wen Ho Lee case. Despite the statements of a federal judge, Richardson on Thursday strongly denied that he was the anonymous source who originally revealed Lee's name to reporters months before Lee was charged. (In a deposition for Lee's civil lawsuit, Richardson said he didn't remember making some statements about the Lee firing attributed to him in various newspapers.)

The governor mistakenly told Goodman that Lee was convicted of "several charges." In fact, Lee pled guilty to a single charge of mishandling sensitive materials.

Goodman also asked Richardson about Iraq. He said he does not support an immediate withdrawal or setting a deadline for withdrawal from Iraq. Richardson also stood behind President Clinton's policy of sanctions against Iraq -- even when Goodman pointed out that thousands of children died under that policy.

Richardson told Goodman and Gonzalez that he probably wouldn't vote for U.S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts due to concerns about Roberts' views on civil rights. (Fellow Democrat, U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman has announced that he will vote for Roberts.)

And notably, Richardson refrained from using the phrase "illegal aliens" when talking about his position on immigration. This is much different than his defense of the term on aappearancece on the radio show Latino USA a few weeks ago.


UPDATE: Here's a link to a partial transcript of the interview. The Wen Ho Lee segment can be found here. (And look for more links on the right side of the page.)

FURTHER UPDATE: In my haste to get this on my blog before running down to Albuquerque Thursday morning, I mistakenly wrote that Richardson said he'd "probably wouldn't vote against" John Roberts. I just corrected it say he probably wouldn't vote for Roberts.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: IT TAKES TWO TO MAKE A TWO-PARTY SYSTEM

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
September 22, 2005

According to state Republican leaders, the charges of extortion and racketeering against state Treasurer Robert Vigil and his predecessor Michael Montoya was a clear illustration of what happens when you don’t have a healthy two-party system in the state.

"This is a wake up call for voters to insure they elect some Republicans to offices Democrats have held for years, and to throw any politician out of office when there is any hint of impropriety," said GOP state Chairman Allen Weh about the arrests of the Democratic politicians.

“The voters of New Mexico have the responsibility to ensure that we have a healthy two-party system,” said Marta Kramer, executive director of the state Republican Party.

Maybe they’re right. Perhaps we all should have taken a more serious look at the Republican who challenged Vigil in 2002.

Let’s see, what was his name?

Her name?

Actually there was no opponent in this race. Vigil had a tough primary battle, but the GOP let him slide in the general election.

This despite the fact that a scathing audit report of Vigil’s tenure as state auditor made public that year showed “strong patterns of public corruption,” according to the state police chief.

The Elephant party has to be kicking itself for giving that race away. In another 2002 statewide contest in which the Democrats nominated a candidate with ethics that were questioned — former Santa Fe Mayor Art Trujillo — Republican Pat Lyons won.

There wasn’t much evidence of a two-party system in the last election’s legislative races either. Republicans didn’t field candidates in 25 races out of the 70 House of Representatives seats. (Democrats still hold 42 out of 70 House seats.)

And 12 of the 24 Senate Democrats won without an opponent in 2004.

In fairness, the Democrats didn’t even try in a huge number of races — 13 seats in Senate and 18 in the House.

It’s true that the last legislative redistricting basically cemented the status quo.
But as Albuquerque pollster Brian Sanderoff said a few years ago, “The bottom line is that all the numbers don’t mean a damn thing. A great candidate from either party who works hard can beat a mediocre candidate.”

The Year of the Child: If it were legal to consume alcohol in the Roundhouse, observers could get drunk fast just by taking a chug any time a politician earnestly declared that it’s important to pass or defeat a bill “for the sake of the children.”

But —- if you can believe an FBI affidavit —- the state treasurer has taken the art of pandering for the sake of the wee ones several notches up. In fact this scandal just might be the first instance of racketeering “for the children.”

According to the FBI, Vigil was captured on tape with a “cooperating witness” talking about helping his wife’s favorite charity, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, by shaking down private investment advisers who contract with the state for contributions.

At one point, Vigil tells the informant, “Where is there a law that doesn’t allow you to help kids, you know. Bunch of bullshit ...”

FBI Special Agent Drew McCandles apparently wasn’t moved by the idea of kickbacks for the kiddies. He wrote in his affidavit, “Although altruistic in appearance, the charitable contributions had the same effect as cash; they were quid pro quo for business with the New Mexico State Treasurer’s Office.”

Protect us from the gas guzzlers: Thanks to my colleague Ben Neary for this one.

Gov. Bill Richardson held a press conference at a Santa Fe gas station Tuesday to announce he’s calling a special legislative session. He wants a rebate program for taxpayers to cover higher oil and gas prices.

“The nation is in a continuing energy emergency because we’re over dependent on oil and gas,” the governor told reporters. “It’s a reflection of weak, shortsighted national energy policy.”

Richardson drove to the press conference in a Lincoln Navigator, his preferred ride since he stopped tooling around in a Cadillac Escalade. According to the Web site www.fueleconomy.gov, Lincoln’s behemoth SUV gets about 13 mpg in the city while the Caddy was good for a whopping 14 mpg.

WHAT DO THESE GUYS HAVE IN COMMON?

GOV. ASKS VIGIL TO "STEP ASIDE"

I normally don't publish government press releases in their entirety (unless I'm making fun of them), but since I didn't see this on The New Mexican's Web site, here goes:

SANTA FE- Governor Bill Richardson, who returned to New Mexico this weekend after attending the Democratic Governor's fall policy conference in Nashville, Tennessee, today called State Treasurer Robert Vigil and urged him to step aside until criminal charges against him are resolved. Mr. Vigil and former State Treasurer Michael Montoya were arrested by federal authorities Friday and charged with extortion.

After being fully briefed on the status of the case and reviewing all available information, the Governor strongly recommended to Mr. Vigil that he take administrative leave until the investigation and criminal prosecution are complete.

"The seriousness of the pending charges makes it virtually impossible for Mr. Vigil to fully perform his duties and maintain the confidence of the public and investment community," said Governor Richardson. "Mr. Vigil has a right to due process and may ultimately be exonerated, but his presence in the office while the investigation and prosecution proceed will be a distraction that could impact the state's investment activities." Mr. Vigil told the Governor he would consider his recommendation that he step aside.

The Governor noted the state treasurer is responsible for administering state investments totaling more than $4 billion.

"Hard work and sound fiscal management have kept our credit and bond ratings high and we must protect the integrity of our entire investment system from even the appearance of impropriety," said the Governor. "My administration takes charges such as these very seriously and will assist investigators in any way possible."

TREASURER SCANDAL: LITTLE SPLASH IN BLOGVILLE

I thought that New Mexico's political blogs would be all abuzz about the arrests of State Treasurer Robert Vigil and former Treasurer Michael Montoya on federal racketeering charges. After all, it's not every day two statewide elected officals are frog-marched into federal court accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from state investment consultants.

Joe Monahan posted some insights on his blog today. My favorite part:

Why was an alleged ten year kickback scheme not uncovered sooner? Where was the Legislative oversight, the state auditor, the state police, the attorney general, the press? All of whom had inklings of a problem. What about the State Investment Council? Where were those guys? The ugly mess points to an obvious need for much more scrutiny of state investment dollars.

Good point, Joe.

Then I found a blog called 'Burque Babble, which ran a parody of Vigil and a phony RFP for a "Securities Lending Oversight Boss"(SLOB) for the treasurer's office.

Of course I posted my sidebar stories that appeared in The New Mexican.

But not much else in Enchanted Land Bloggerdom.

Maybe that's what happens when a scandal breaks on Friday.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, September 18, 2005
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Now Webcasting
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
I Want to Holler But the Town's Too Small by The Detroit Cobras
Pumping for Jill by Iggy Pop
The Bones Of An Idol by The New Pornographers
Already Gone by Tarbox Ramblers
Heart Attack and Vine by Lydia Lunch
Fortune Cookies by Drywall
Tombstone Blues by Bob Dylan

Velvet Snow by Kings of Leon
Statesboro Blues by The Allman Brothers
Bang Bang Lulu by North Mississippi All Stars
Bound to Lose by James Luther Dickinson
Hell Ain't What It Used to Be by Nashville Pussy
Swamp Music by Lynyrd Skynyrd
The Southern Thing by Drive-By Truckers

Al Green Set
All songs by Al Green
Build Me Up
Tired of Being Alone
Everything's Gonna Be Alright
For the Good Times
Play to Win
Oh Pretty Woman
Belle

Sooner or Later by Ken Valdez
Mama's Got a Friend by Otis Taylor
Nobody's Fault But Mine by Alvin Youngblood Hart
Strange Brew by Cream
Scream and Shout by The Polyphonic Spree
Cracklin' Water by OP8
When You Walk in the Room by The Searchers
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

MISC. MUSIC NOTES

This morning, NPR's Sunday Weekend Edition had a feature in which New Mexico's Cipriano Vigil talked and sang about La Llorona.

Check it out HERE .

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I just stumbled across a bitchen blog for Zerxpress in Albuquerque. CLICK HERE.

Mark Weber hasn't posted very much, but you'll find a couple of poems by Mr. Zerx, a Weber photograph of The Reverend Lonnie Farris (and links to other Weber jazz musician photos at UCLA) -- and best of all -- info on all the cool Zerx Records releases -- among them the mighty Bubbadinos , my old pals Bayou Seco from Silver City and the ever illuminating Albuzerxque series -- though he's got only the first 13 volumes and I think the last CD I have is Volume 21. Lord, I love 'em all.

That reminds me: I've got to talk to those rascals The Winking Tikis about submitting some songs for a future Albuquzerxque collection.

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About eight years ago a guy named Brent Hoodenpyle came through Santa Fe (I forgot where he was from at the time), called me up out of the blue, asked me to lunch and told me about his plans for a new alternative country magazine.

We had a nice lunch at Tia Sofia's, talked about what he had in mind, and later on exchanged a couple of e-mails.

But the new magazine never happened and I hadn't heard from him in years until last week I stumbled across his Web site and remembered our contact. (Who can forget a name like "Brent Hoodenpyle"?)

Turns out that while the magazine idea tanked, Brent has been playing music in Chicago. Besides his Web Site, he's got an Alt-Country blog and hopefully I'll soon be playing some of his stuff on The Santa Fe Opry.

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Now I remember how I found Brent's name. He played today at Hankfest in Chicago. I looked up that site because my friend Desdemona Finch won an honorable mention in the Ghost Writers in the Sky Songwriting Contest, which is associated with the festival.