El Picador greets you from the village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, amid the heavy security brought in to protect our callow commander-in-thief as he stops by Hizzoner's palatial estate to help half-senile St. Pete raise some campaign scratch from suckers willing to pay $5000 a pop for a photo shoot.
It seems quite fitting that Lord Larry is hosting this event. He and Bush have a lot in common, after all. Both were born to wealth, squandered it with poor business acumen, and were then either bailed out or lucked back into affluence. Both govern with hubris and with contempt for honest dissent, in direct conflict with the fundamental tenants of democracy. Both surround themselves with cronies selected for loyalty over competence. Both make free use of mendacity, subterfuge and intimidation as their political tools of choice. And both have the patrician's disregard for those below their lofty socioeconomic strata.
At least hizzoner is not as dumb as George the Lesser. We have not yet heard of an imminent invasion of Rio Rancho, after all.
And as for all of that nonsense about the president bringing good publicity to the village--El Picador argues that just the opposite effect will occur. Hundreds of well-heeled repubs lounging around Larry's 13 acre heavily watered estate (he is the largest private user of water in the county) only re-enforces the village's image as an insular, selfish and conservative enclave of the ultra-wealthy. The good news is that now there will be plenty of photos of hizzoner schmoozing with a political pariah, destined to go down in history as even a worse president that Warren Harding. Great fodder for the next mayoral campaign!!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Thursday, August 9, 2007
El Picador Awakened
El Picador has been roused from his slumber by several noteworthy Los Ranchos news items:
At the top of the list is the recent Tribune announcement that hizzoner will be hosting the commander-and-thief himself for a Dommenici fundraiser at the palatial 13 acre mayoral manor later this month. That is quite interesting, in that Larry takes great pride in characterizing himself as an independent. With all of the prominent Repubs in this state, why would the RNC put the touch on the lowly mayor of a tiny bedroom community to host, at what will probably be some considerable expense and hassle, an event such as this? El Picador speculates that this may involve some sort of payback for previous favors rendered by the federal administration on Larry's behalf. You see, awhile back Larry had some problems with the IRS concerning a sizable amount of taxes due. He got a favorable settlement from the IRS. Who knows what sort on intercessions were made for him, and by whom? And now it is time to repay the favor by putting on a bash for Bush and one of his most loyal stooges, St Pete.
Moving on, El Picador congratulates all of those who spoke out against the Java Joint dive-though on their recent victory. It is a rare event indeed when the rubber-stamp BOT says no to a project that had been championed by hizzoner. El Picador himself hopes that Starbucks builds anyway, sans drive-through. He needs his morning fix.
And finally, there is the condemnation suit on the SE corner of Osuna. After promising and promising to use it as a "last resort", Larry has used the municipal powers of condemnation to obtain property not for the usual civic uses--parks, schools, etc--but rather for commercial development. This action is certain to be highly controversial and, if fought by the current property owner, could focus national attention on our sleepy little burg. El Picador opposes the use of emennent domain in this manner. Those powers are ment to be used rarely, and only for the public good. And what public good can come from another big-box strip mall, or worse, a Wal-Mart (they are looking for a presence in the area now that they ave lost out on their Los Alturas site)? Most of us moved here to get away from that sort of thing.
A little known fact aboout that SE corner. A previous development, consisting of small stores in the spirit of the old VC zone was approved by a previous board. It fell apart because some property owners--including current trustee Pablo Rael---wanted too much money for their property fronting Osuna. Will the new developer, picked by a vote of the board of trustees, pay Rael then money he wants? Sure, he has been recusing himself from the votes on this particular matter. But what sort of horse-trading is going on behind the scenes?
At the top of the list is the recent Tribune announcement that hizzoner will be hosting the commander-and-thief himself for a Dommenici fundraiser at the palatial 13 acre mayoral manor later this month. That is quite interesting, in that Larry takes great pride in characterizing himself as an independent. With all of the prominent Repubs in this state, why would the RNC put the touch on the lowly mayor of a tiny bedroom community to host, at what will probably be some considerable expense and hassle, an event such as this? El Picador speculates that this may involve some sort of payback for previous favors rendered by the federal administration on Larry's behalf. You see, awhile back Larry had some problems with the IRS concerning a sizable amount of taxes due. He got a favorable settlement from the IRS. Who knows what sort on intercessions were made for him, and by whom? And now it is time to repay the favor by putting on a bash for Bush and one of his most loyal stooges, St Pete.
Moving on, El Picador congratulates all of those who spoke out against the Java Joint dive-though on their recent victory. It is a rare event indeed when the rubber-stamp BOT says no to a project that had been championed by hizzoner. El Picador himself hopes that Starbucks builds anyway, sans drive-through. He needs his morning fix.
And finally, there is the condemnation suit on the SE corner of Osuna. After promising and promising to use it as a "last resort", Larry has used the municipal powers of condemnation to obtain property not for the usual civic uses--parks, schools, etc--but rather for commercial development. This action is certain to be highly controversial and, if fought by the current property owner, could focus national attention on our sleepy little burg. El Picador opposes the use of emennent domain in this manner. Those powers are ment to be used rarely, and only for the public good. And what public good can come from another big-box strip mall, or worse, a Wal-Mart (they are looking for a presence in the area now that they ave lost out on their Los Alturas site)? Most of us moved here to get away from that sort of thing.
A little known fact aboout that SE corner. A previous development, consisting of small stores in the spirit of the old VC zone was approved by a previous board. It fell apart because some property owners--including current trustee Pablo Rael---wanted too much money for their property fronting Osuna. Will the new developer, picked by a vote of the board of trustees, pay Rael then money he wants? Sure, he has been recusing himself from the votes on this particular matter. But what sort of horse-trading is going on behind the scenes?
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