Comments on: Bill Richardson vs. mother of fallen Marine

By: Ann

Ann — Wed, 23 May 2007 21:50:41 +0000

I know for a fact that Deon Miller,her x- husband and Aaron Miller’s friend all recieved $80.000.00 each not 11000.00 each

By: stoo

stoo — Wed, 23 May 2007 04:42:48 +0000

I know for a fact that the baseball matter was resolved when the ABQ Journal or Tribune contacted a former major league scout who recollected that he had offer a draft position to Richardson verbally (albeit not with the high powered contracts in the drafts baseball teams use today),…

Ummmm…

Hearsay is not evidence of fact. Does this scout have a name, or is he as fictional as Richardson’s claim? And Richardson didn’t say he was offered a draft position, he claimed to have been drafted.

Mr. Fox, if you are what Richardson considers an asset, he’s doomed.

By: Great White Rat

Great White Rat — Wed, 23 May 2007 04:03:44 +0000

The “unofficial” Richardson campaign tries to parse words:

How many people remember precisely what happened in 1968?

Getting drafted by a major league baseball team is a rather significant and noteworthy event. It doesn’t happen to everyone. If it happens, you remember it. It’s not like someone challenged him on what he had for dinner on August 19, 1977.

By the way, in 1968 the A’s were already in Oakland. If you’re going to make excuses, you and Richardson ought to at least get your timelines consistent. If you keep this up, soon Richardson will be quibbling over what “is” is.

By: G-Monster

G-Monster — Wed, 23 May 2007 02:11:16 +0000

Howard Dean?

REEEOOOWWRRR

By: Stephen Fox

Stephen Fox — Wed, 23 May 2007 02:00:42 +0000

I am not a “staffer” for Bill Richardson. I have, however, known the guy for just under 30 years; his entire speech from L.A. is posted in full at Irregular Times.Com, and maybe y’all could take five minutes and read it.

I know for a fact that the baseball matter was resolved when the ABQ Journal or Tribune contacted a former major league scout who recollected that he had offer a draft position to Richardson verbally (albeit not with the high powered contracts in the drafts baseball teams use today), thyus confirming the Governor’s recollection. How many people remember precisely what happened in 1968?

My only point is that things are so screwed up for the USA internationally, it is going to take a major rebuilding of the USA’s image by the next President

Maybe Richardson would make a great VP or Secretary of State? Maybe John Edwards would make a fine Attorney General? Maybe Howard Dean III, M.D., would make a great Secretary of Health?

Any reply?

Stephen Fox

By: Drewsmom

Drewsmom — Tue, 22 May 2007 10:33:18 +0000

Nice try Mr. Fox, you sound like a staffer for the gov.
This Mother is more credible than a candidate for Presidnet with an agenda to push and we believe her, not the govenor but NO THANKS for trying to defend the indefensible.
God bless this Mom and her son.

By: Bachbone

Bachbone — Tue, 22 May 2007 03:56:31 +0000

Gov. Richardson’s credibility has been in question long before this episode with the Marine’s mother. The most recent one I recall was his claiming on his bio to have been drafted by the Kansas City Athletics baseball team. It was proven to be a lie, and he ungracefully slithered out of it when confronted.

Richardson was also U.N. Ambassador when Bill Clinton sent Monica Lewinsky to him, trying to get her a cushy job out of Washington, D.C. and keep her quiet, for a job in Richardson’s office. Richardson claimed she was to fill an existing vacancy, but the alleged vacancy was not filled until three months later, and then a man with experience in nuclear disarmament, something Lewinsky was definitely not qualified for, and paid twice what Lewinsky was offered.

Given Richardson’s previous difficulties with telling the truth and/or embellishing it, his recollection of what was said with the Marine’s mother is at least suspect.

By: Mekan

Mekan — Tue, 22 May 2007 01:21:58 +0000

Mr. Fox,
I don’t know the man or NM politics. I do note that you think more of the governor than the mother of the fallen Marine. It does not matter if you say that the mother was lying or that she can’t remember a conversation, you quickly take the governor’s word about a conversation over the mother’s. What does the mother have to gain, what does the governor? The governor may be sincere, and upgrading the death benefit for those that fall in combat is laudable, but he still is using this for political purposes while the mother is not. And the mother did not forget the name of her son so I think she probably best recollects the moment she met the governor.

Then you turn your comments immediately to a political diatribe. Complaining about how the media attacked Dean over his scream is simply silly. Then you claim the President has done nothing but failed while asking why Americans weren’t smart enough to pick the screamer. Then you state that the American people are too stupid to remember back six years. You really don’t like the average American do you?

Finally you call for diplomacy instead of war while claming that the current administration is illegitimate and controlled by business. I am all for diplomacy when there is room for negotiation. I am also for using force when the room for negotiation no longer exists. It is you Mr. Fox that is forgetting or ignoring the past. We had a war with Iraq and were in a state of armistice agreement with Iraq. Iraq violated the rules of the armistice several times and in multiple ways. The UN stated this, not simply the US. The war in Iraq is just. The war in Iraq is also focusing the attention of those who would harm the US in a battle against those that are trained to battle them.

But the point of the post was the governor’s attempt to use the death of a Marine and a disputed conversation with his mother. It is a simple politicking as usual. Don’t worry, Republicans and Democrats both do this. Does this make Governor Richardson a bad guy? No. Does it give credibility to your comment? Again, no.

By: Stephen Fox

Stephen Fox — Tue, 22 May 2007 00:40:17 +0000

It is sadly obvious that this matter about the Marine’s mother has been almost entirely misconstrued. Gov. Richardson clearly must have talked in more detail with this lady than she recalls; how else would he have known that she had received only $11,000? The real point is that he upped the ante to $400,000 in the NM Legislature through his own Governor’s bill; it passed, and he signed it. That is what I deem responsive government, a point that seems to have been missed by many. I recall how the media and pundits jumped all over Howard Dean’s exuberant yell, and used it to pull the plug on his credibility. After the Bush debacles in the past six years, shouting in enthusiasm in Iowa seems hardly to very much matter, eh? Or can Americans remember that far back?
The real on-going issue is that through diplomacy, not more mindless military bludgeoning in Iraq, could we achieve a lasting peace there. Richardson has formidable skills and experience in diplomacy, all of which are direly needed after 6 years of Halliburton corporate-driven plutocracy! Richardson was re-elected by a record 69% in NM. I believe his intentions with this fallen soldier were sincere; if he made a mistake in recollection, I would like to posit here the strong likelihood that there was nothing malevolent about it, certainly not to be a continuing story spliced into the context of his announcement of candidacy. I am a fan of his, having known the guy personally and well for 30 years, but not in any way connected to the Richardson campaign.
These are my own views.
Stephen Fox

Santa Fe, New Mexico