Loyalty above all else, except honor.

I was there. I heard exactly the same thing Mark Bralley heard. Bralley was sitting on Senator Tim Eichenberg's left, I on his right. There is no "allegedly said", "supposedly said", "might have said", or "reportedly said"; the quotes Bralley attributed to the Senator, are absolutely accurate.

Eichenberg said Lt Governor Diane Denish was complacent or complicit in the "pay to play" corruption in Santa Fe.

I was so taken by the rhyme, I wrote it down immediately; complacency or complicity. I was also incredibly moved by the apparent courage of a man who was willing to tell the truth despite obvious pressure to toe the party line. Blogger Monahan spoke to that pressure this morning;

Imagine if Denish is elected and she has on her desk the 2011 legislative redistricting bill. She might have had a red pencil out for Eichenberg's swing senate district.

Monahan's conclusion;

A day after he was busted on the blogs ..., freshman ABQ Dem State Senator Tim Eichenberg was doing a quick backtrack over his comments ... After major heat resulted from the heresy, Tim came with this:

I don't think Eichenberg was "busted". His ballsy and spot on take, was "reported". Monahan writes that Eichenberg took some major heat. No doubt he did. But he didn't "back track". Nor did he "back off", as NMI's Matthew Reichbach reported.

Terrel got it right;

"But notice he's (Eichenberg) not retracting his remarks nor is he challenging the accuracy of the initial report by photographer/blogger Mark Bralley."

Senator Eichenberg appears to be "mending fences" rather than have Denish and others retaliate against him. Understandable, but at least little disappointing.

Eichenberg wrote in part, in response to the furor;

"As Lt Gov Diane Denish continues the fight to bring meaningful ethics reform to Santa Fe, I will proudly vote for her proposals to make government more transparent and accountable to the taxpayers. She can lead New Mexico into the future and there is no doubt in my mind who I will vote for in November.

He should vote for any proposal to make government more transparent and accountable to taxpayers. They all should, democrats and republicans both.

I am surprised and a little disappointed though, Eichenberg wrote there is no doubt in his mind that he will vote for someone for Governor, who has been complacent or complicit in one of the most egregious betrayals of our trust in our government in recent times.

Many of our problems have roots in this blind party loyalty.

We all would be far better off if legislators could vote their conscience, vote issues up or down on their merits, not on fear of being redistricted out of existence.

One of the most widely offered excuses for Denish's failure to stand up to Big Bill Richardson, was the prospect of being destroyed in retaliation.

Fear of retribution and retaliation is part and parcel of a culture of corruption. A culture, in which or about which, Diane Denish truly is, complicit or complacent.

Do we really need another Governor, no one will stand up to, out of fear of retribution and retaliation?




photo Mark Bralley