Opinion

Patriots must come together for the sake of freedom in New Mexico

2 Comments / Opinion / By

Politics has been a part of my life since before I was of legal voting age.  My family and I have worked to help Christians and conservatives through grassroots efforts and to promote candidates on the federal, state, and local levels.

I was also blessed to have seen from the ground up the Republican organization — also known as the “machine” — as I often call it or have heard it referred to, at work in our state. On both sides, many Democrats and Republicans call it the “Establishment,” which is now virtually a dirty word. Many of the finest and most selfless folks I know work in these ranks. 

Early on in life, I learned the importance of our local party chair and the subsequent infrastructure involved at every county level across the state. Poll watchers, poll captains, and workers who, for no money, tirelessly worked not only recruiting but, promoting candidates and, even more importantly, working to protect our voting. 

Being a rancher and in the Ag industry, as a young man I was involved with organizations such as People for the West — a strong grassroots effort in the ‘80s.  More recently, many of you may know me from my efforts in promoting President Donald Trump, candidates, and issues while riding horseback at rallies around the state. Simultaneously, as a youth and college student, I recall my folks receiving calls from who I would consider “Heavy Hitters” or household political names from around New Mexico asking not for money (well, some did), but for support. Those calling from the “Establishment” had learned if my family said “yes,” they would be ”all in” and work tirelessly to get the job done. 

The grassroots folks are also volunteers passionate about their causes; whether working the land, rural New Mexico, life, or freedom, they give of themselves tirelessly and to the point of exhaustion. I have noticed being in both worlds (grassroots and Establishment), I saw the same people at “Establishment” party conventions year after year, and being a part of the grassroots effort, I saw many of the same grassroots faces promoting and rallying weekend after weekend. 

Folks getting tired, discouraged, and frustrated intensified especially with the current economy and level of craziness from our government and politicians. In the past, most public dissent came from those I seldom saw at rallies or working at our local party headquarters. Being they were not involved on a ground level, it was easy to criticize or Monday morning quarterback. I think many of those are now the secret sideline agitators stirring up dissent between those who are working.  

However, I see another phenomenon much of which I credit to the rise of social media. Now we are publicly verbally shooting at each other. It has become all too easy to put our thoughts into a quick post. We all have thoughts, some good, some bad, but the “post” button has taken expressing them to a new low level for our society. Attacks being made on our party leadership, primarily former Congressman Steve Pearce, I feel, are taking us into the perilous ground for our party. 

I am astonished at some of what has been said, how quickly we turn on one who fought so hard for New Mexico. Steve is also a decorated U.S. Air Force Captain, a pilot in the Vietnam war. I guess the old saying it is not what you have done lately but, what have you done for me now! Such as calling him a “RINO.” Has anyone been reading the news? Congressman Pearce stood steadfast by President Trump and was vocal in calling out voter fraud in spite of attacks from local media. He stood while real RINOs ran for cover!  Time and space prevent me from covering countless other comments or accusations.

An example of recent attacks and criticism was placing the defeat of Mark Moores squarely at the feet of our former Congressman-turned Chairman. I will point out many folks were upset when Moores was chosen by the State Central Committee. Some folks I talked to personally thought one of the others who stepped forward for the State Central Committee to choose from would have been a better fit and a stronger candidate. I am a State Central Committee member and delegate.  However, I didn’t have any say or vote in the First Congressional District race, nor did other delegates from Districts 2 or 3, nor did our Chairman have the ability to influence who would eventually run against Stansbury in the special election. 

 As a demonstration of our current Chairman’s ability to put people over politics, I wanted to share one story of the seemingly forgotten time when Steve was our Congressman. In 2013 we had a catastrophic forest fire in the Gila Forest — the Silver Fire.  It spanned several private ranches which included forest allotments. It wiped out acres of timber, wildlife, cattle, and improvements. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) initially took the stance that the ranchers /allotment owners were responsible for miles of burned fences. 

We reached out to Congressman Pearce, as such a financial burden would likely be catastrophic for any operation.  Congressman Pearce took on the USFS, making the accurate case that the poor condition of the forest which led to fires was due to mismanagement by the USFS. A scheduled meeting in Truth or Consequences was the turning point when the Congressman came and stood shoulder to shoulder with a handful of ranchers. 

Touching story, why is it pertinent today? Many politicians would have maybe written a letter or made a phone call as our numbers as constituents are not enough to make or break in votes during an election campaign.  That made no difference to the Congressman. He wanted to see the right thing done. Now, is Chairman Pearce perfect? No. He, as all of us, can always improve and better ourselves in our efforts for the party, our state, and our nation. The Republican Party of New Mexico (aka, the “Establishment”) has flaws and areas for improvement, just like any other organization.

It is imperative the two approaches put differences aside and see that RPNM needs the energy and new ideas only the grassroots can offer, just as the grassroots need the stability, infrastructure, and organization of the RPNM to mobilize its ranks. Our party is not and should not be in the business of picking favorites. That is what the primary process is for. Once a candidate prevails through the primary process, then our party should do everything it can to get them into office. I see, and continue to see, many good Conservative candidates often choose to vie for the same seat and have a very competitive primary. In a perfect world, we would spread our talent around to avoid these “competitive” primaries where we beat each other up while diluting precious resources. Although we don’t live in a perfect world, we can learn to not tear each other down but instead, rally around what we have in common. Let’s not waste effort fighting over the little we disagree on. Often our pride and selfish ambition stand in our way. For the sake of our state and nation, we must put aside our differences and work together. 

The RPNM needs to work on finding ways to participate and help those working the grassroots efforts. Conversely, the grassroots would benefit in seeking ways to benefit from the RPNM’s infrastructure, resources, historical experience, and data to focus some of their energy into an effective movement to fight for our freedoms through the ballot box.  I know some efforts have been made which some were rebuffed or didn’t receive the desired reception. Could be that both groups might step back and get a look at the strengths the other brings to the effort.

These are age-old issues. Just as our founders found harnessing patriots who showed up to serve in the ranks of our Continental Army, pulling together is often easier said than done with independent, hard-working, self-reliant people who made up the ranks that stepped forward to free us from a tyrannical government. Our founders and patriots were able to pull together to become the fighting force that defeated the greatest standing army in the world at that time despite being very independent states with fiercely independent citizens. 

To defeat the British, both sides saw that they must choose to work together to win. Today, our ranks are still filled with independent, hard-working people who seek to stand and fight for freedom. Just like our forefathers did, we must come together for the sake of freedom. Our children and grandchildren depend on us to do nothing short of that.

“One man with courage makes a majority.” – President Andrew Jackson

Opinions expressed by Piñon Post contributors do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the publication or its editorial staff. Submit an op-ed to the Piñon Post at news@pinonpost.com.

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New Mexico: We’re in an abusive relationship with MLG. It’s time to break up with her

10 Comments / Editorial, New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Despite Gov. Lujan Grisham’s desperate show on social media over the holiday weekend claiming New Mexico is “back open,” we must remember that the rosy picture she is trying to paint for us came after months of abuse. 

We must face the facts, New Mexico: We are in a toxic, abusive relationship with Gov. Lujan Grisham — whether we asked for it or not. And it’s time to end it before we get beaten even harder.

Here is an incomplete list of the abuses Gov. Lujan Grisham did to us during the pandemic:

  • On March 11, 2020, Gov. Lujan Grisham locked down New Mexico in what would be the first step of her abusive virus power trip. “New Mexico’s emergency public health order WILL be enforced. Non-essential businesses that fail to comply will be cited by the New Mexico State Police.”
  • Despite closing down small businesses, including restaurants, shops, and other places she deemed “non-essential,” she let abortion mills, big box stores, and marijuana dispensaries stay wide open.
    • As of August 2018, Lujan Grisham received $29,000 from the pot industry, with $11,000 of that originating from former Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White’s business, “PurLife.”
    • Lujan Grisham’s abortion contributions totaled over $22,5000 from the likes of late-term abortionist Curtis Boyd, Planned Parenthood, EMILY’s List, and others.
    • One big box store — Walmart — donated $2,500 to Lujan Grisham during the 2018 election cycle and $5,000 in 2019.
  • Lujan Grisham snarkily mocked a New Mexican, asking her to reopen the state, writing on Twitter, “That depends, are you going to stay home like you’re supposed to?”
  • A KRQE investigation found Lujan Grisham evicted nursing home patients in their 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, one who was 102, many wheelchair-bound to make room for COVID patients.
  • Lujan Grisham sends cease and desist orders to small businesses that remain open, including Calibers gun store in Albuquerque, despite it being an essential business due to law enforcement — such as State Police — using its facilities for training. Lujan Grisham’s spokeswoman Nora Sackett told the press at the time, “While we as an administration unequivocally support the constitutional right to purchase a firearm, we recognize that right does not correspond to a right to congregate in a store and infect neighbors.” 
  • Lujan Grisham vetoed millions in federal funding allocated for tribal communities.
  • Lujan Grisham’s communications director Tripp Stelnicki — who is still in that position today — called the Republican Party in New Mexico a “death cult” for not wanting to cripple small businesses with lockdowns. He said, “You don’t have to ask the death cult their opinion or publish their quotes. False equivalence now is actually life or death. There is no ‘both sides’ to this. There is one group preaching accelerated illness & death because they ‘love’ ‘business’ & if you can’t see through that?”
  • Gov. Lujan Grisham closed down places of worship, telling New Mexicans, “home is also holy.” 
  • Lujan Grisham’s administration told Mesa Baptist Church in Rio Rancho to “honk their horns for ‘Amen!’ and so on” instead of physical services.
  • Bar G. Western Wear, a store selling essential goods, served a cease and desist order. 
  • Lujan Grisham’s administration shrugged off GOP reopening efforts, writing, “Any half-thought-out proposal about picking winners and losers and allowing partial closures … will lead to more illnesses and more death.”
  • On the eve of Easter, Lujan Grisham banned Easter Sunday services, writing that she wanted to make “absolutely clear that mass gatherings of any type are not permitted in houses of worship.”
  • After Grants Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks rebuked the Governor’s cruel lockdowns, calling her a “little dictator,” she retaliates against Grants business Papas Pawn & Gun with a $60,000 fine.
  • Lujan Grisham viciously blasted pro-jobs protesters who wanted to reopen the state for exercising their First Amendment rights, claiming they were “dangerous” for violating her edicts. She said:
    • “Mass gatherings are dangerous and in violation of the public health order. We want any New Mexican who is upset about the state’s efforts to limit illness and prevent mass death to find safe and non-dangerous ways to exercise their first amendment right to protest, one of many rights we are all grateful to have, none of which are infringed upon by the necessary actions the state has taken to slow the spread of COVID-19 and save the lives of New Mexicans. New Mexicans must continue to stay home in order to slow the spread of this incredibly contagious virus – there is no way to safely reopen the state without first doing so.”
  • However, Lujan Grisham completely ignored the “Party for Socialism and Liberation” and its mass protest demanding “free rent” despite requests for comment by the Piñon Post. 
  • Due to the Governor’s cruel lockdown, in April 2020, the Governor’s Department of Workforce Solutions (DWS) had over 60,000 jobless claims, where it was used to around 600-800 cases per week. Her administration could not deal with the ramifications of her lockdown by helping those she forced out of work. 
  • In May of 2021, it was revealed by the Legislative Finance Committee that Lujan Grisham’s DWS overpaid $250 million in taxpayer dollars during its mismanagement under the Governor’s lockdown. Liberal news outlets called it the Lujan Grisham “unemployment overpayment crisis” and called her out for her silence on the matter. But her office brushed off the crisis as “minuscule,” with press secretary Nora Sackett writing: 
    • The overpayments and fraudulent claims made by claimants, while understandable to an extent given the complexity of the ever-changing federal pandemic unemployment programs, represent a minuscule fraction of the $3.7 billion in benefits the state has paid out to claimants over the past 14 months. 
  • Lujan Grisham broke her own edict to buy luxury jewelry from a shuttered Albuquerque business, Lilly Barrack. When called out for the hypocrisy, her spokesperson said, “The store was never ‘opened’ and a good safe process was followed… The governor has, of course in both her personal and professional lives adhered to all of the public health measures the state has enacted for the duration of this pandemic.” The scandal garnered national attention.
  • During a far-left “virtual” call with Mike Bloomberg’s gun-grabbing group “Everytown,” Lujan Grisham bashed 29 out of New Mexico’s 33 constitutional sheriffs, saying, “you’ve got elected leaders, some sheriffs, some law enforcement folks who also put out false information — I think there’s some trepidation that if it is somebody in a uniform, that they can’t be putting out false information.” 
  • In 2019, during the fight against the unconstitutional gun control legislation, Senate Bill 8, 29 out of New Mexico’s 33 sheriffs united against the law, which Lujan Grisham railed against on Twitter. She claimed they were defending domestic abusers and were throwing a “childish pity party” for refusing to enforce the law.
  • While New Mexicans remained on her lockdown, Lujan Grisham set her sights on the White House, cozying up to Joe Biden to choose her as his vice-presidential running mate. 
  • Lujan Grisham instituted a draconian mask mandate for every single New Mexican and worker. She said, “If New Mexicans don’t behave safely, we won’t be able to reopen more than we have. Every single one of us has to do their part.”
  • Lujan Grisham scornfully mocked critics of her mask mandate, writing on Twitter: 
    • “You: ‘Masks don’t do anything’ Medical and scientific experts and professionals: ‘If 80 percent of us adopt a simple homemade face mask, we could reduce #COVID19 deaths by 17-45 percent over two months.’ Wearing masks saves lives. #MaskUp”
  • Lujan Grisham retaliated against a Truth or Consequences congregation, New Hope Revival Church, that was deputized by Sierra County Sheriff Glenn Hamilton, sending her State Police to serve Pastor Caleb Cooper with a cease and desist order. The officer told Cooper, “If you’re going to meet, it has to be in a law enforcement facility.”
  • Logan Municipal Schools in Logan, New Mexico, was forced to move its graduation ceremony to Texas after the governor threatened the school district with a $1.75 million fine.
  • New Mexico was ranked the state with the strictest pandemic restrictions by WalletHub. 
  • Lujan Grisham assisted Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber in trying to dismantle the Civil War obelisk in the heart of downtown Santa Fe and applauded efforts to remove Don Juan de Oñate and Don Diego de Vargas statues. 
  • After citizens wondered if Lujan Grisham was once again violating her public health orders for salon visits, Lujan Grisham’s office refused to respond to requests for comment from the Piñon Post, forcing us to file an Inspection of Public Records request to find out. Lujan Grisham’s press secretary Nora Sackett snarkily wrote to a reporter: 
    • Sackett snarkily unloaded on the citizens asking these questions, writing back: “I understand that you have to do your job, but ‘viewers saying something online’ is in no way any actual proof or reason to suspect something. I am so entirely tired of people choosing to spend their time by making up lies about the governor getting her hair done. She has not gotten a haircut, or had it colored, or had her nails done, or anything else that angry people on the internet would like to make up unsubstantiated nonsense about. Nor has she been to Corrales – again, people making things up online does not make them true. Every day, the governor is taking serious action to do her best to save lives and keep New Mexicans from getting sick, and all people ‘online’ want to do is complain about her hair. She has not gotten a haircut, as salons are closed and non-essential person-to-person interactions are not allowed, and she expects every other New Mexican to continue to adhere to the public health order just as she is doing. Also for what it’s worth, woman to woman, you can clearly tell that the governor hasn’t gotten her hair cut just by looking at it. I mean come on.”
  • Amid radical Marxists descending upon the streets to protest the death of drug addict and convicted felon George Floyd, Lujan Grisham formed a taxpayer-funded “racial justice” council to pay for New Mexico’s “embedded injustices.” 
  • Lujan Grisham continued to campaign for Joe Biden while family-owned businesses remained closed and the economy in shambles. 
  • Pro-abortion Lujan Grisham dared to mock Catholics by wearing an Our Lady of Guadalupe mask to a press conference, despite Our Lady being the “Patroness of the Unborn.”
  • Gov. Lujan Grisham’s ally in the Legislature, state Rep. Angelica Rubio (D-Doña Ana), said, “Who said the shut down was only supposed to be temporary?” 
  • As of July 10, 2020, the New Mexico Restaurant Association estimated the Governor’s lockdown would force 20% of restaurants in the state into permanent closure. 
  • In July 2020, Lujan Grisham bashed New Mexicans for rising cases, saying, “our state’s dramatically rising case numbers reflect that those behavior modifications and precautions have either not been taken seriously or taken up by enough people.”
  • Lujan Grisham gave conflicting advice on gathering in groups, saying, “Too many of us are still congregating in groups, taking risks with our own lives and endangering the health of our family members, our neighbors and our state.” She also said at the time, “Please wear facemasks. Please don’t gather in large groups without them.” 
  • Defiance of the Governor’s mask mandate would result in a fine of $100 and rotting in jail for up to six months. 
  • Bipartisan legislators on the Legislative Council voted to investigate Lujan Grisham for abusing her emergency powers. 
  • Lujan Grisham applauded ANTIFA and Black Lives Matter rioters who took to the streets to protest (many without masks or social distancing), writing, “This is a violation of the mass gatherings, no doubt, but we’re just going to take a leap of faith in protecting protesters who have no other way, quite frankly. Right? There’s no other way to be seen, to be heard, to be respected, and to be clear about your message.” Conservatives were met with scorn for protesting. 
  • Lujan Grisham claimed New Mexicans were “breaking ranks” with public officials questioning inaccuracies in her Health Department’s data while berating those leaders for claiming Lujan Grisham’s mask mandate is a way to “control or manipulate individuals in our state.” She insisted, “I need folks to not do that!” Regarding those violating her health orders, she said, “I don’t think the individuals were trying to support a local business,” then claiming, “we’re getting… those photos and many calls and many complaints, and we’re going out.” To those traveling out-of-state, she demanded, “Stop doing that!”
  • Just hours after the New Mexico Restaurant Association won a lawsuit against Lujan Grisham for targeting the restaurant industry, the Governor’s majority-appointed New Mexico Supreme Court struck it down.
  • New Mexico ranked as the state with the highest suicide rate in the United States, with the rate for children ages 4-15 increasing by 88%.
  • In July 2020, Lujan Grisham fundraised off of the pandemic with a survey about the virus to donors. 
  • Lujan Grisham was exposed for following a satanic cult leader on Twitter, who she thanked for following her.
  • In August 2020, a Santa Fe jewelry shop posted a photo of Lujan Grisham with “new” bling from the shop, despite it being a shuttered business, then quickly deleted it, claiming it was taken before the pandemic. 
  • In August 2020, Lujan Grisham’s New Mexico Supreme Court rubber-stamped her cruel $5,000+ fines for small businesses alleged to violate her health orders.
  • Lujan Grisham’s ally, attorney general Hector Balderas, sued the Lea County Sheriff, claiming his office violated the public health order.
  • Lujan Grisham mask shamed Española residents, claiming, “Last week, I traveled to Northern New Mexico, and in traveling to Northern New Mexico, I went through Española. I saw a lot of activity in Española and traveling through Main Street going North. I didn’t see a single mask, not one. Not in a parking lot, not in a grocery store that we passed, not at a convenience store, not at a gas station, not by someone in a car, not hanging on a rearview mirror, not on a wrist, not as people were walking, nowhere! Not one. The only masks I saw were in the car I was in, and we have to do better than that because if we don’t we cannot successfully introduce risk.”
  • In September 2020, Lujan Grisham begged Congress to bail her state out after her destructive lockdown wiped out jobs and industry.  
  • In August 2020, New Mexico met the arbitrary benchmarks she set forth for reopening. Despite the state meeting these, she refused to ease her restrictions.
  • During a press conference, Lujan Grisham insisted that bingo and karaoke are “high-risk activities.” 
  • Lujan Grisham’s endorsed Democrat state House candidate Roger Montoya was exposed for being a porn actor, but she stood by him throughout the election. Now, he is a state representative.
  • After the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Lujan Grisham remained quiet on a mass gathering by liberals who met up to lament the former justice’s passing. 
  • Lujan Grisham tried to blame President Donald Trump for her state crashing and burning economically, despite her draconian lockdowns. She claimed it was the “Trump recession,” despite New Mexico under her reign having a 34.5% higher unemployment rate than the nation.
  • Lujan Grisham’s Health Department singled out the New Mexico GOP for alleged non-compliance with her health orders in a politically charged move. 
  • During Thanksgiving, Lujan Grisham warned state employees that “traditional Thanksgiving” carried “extreme risk.”
  • During the Thanksgiving holiday, Lujan Grisham instituted store capacity limits, forcing New Mexicans to stand in cold bread lines to get food and basic needs. 
  • When challenged on this, Lujan Grisham’s communications director Tripp Stelnicki claimed these lines were just “Republican talking points” that were “politically motivated.” 
  • Lujan Grisham told New Mexicans they should say goodbye to their dying loved ones over “Facetime.” 
  • Lujan Grisham tells people visiting family from out-of-state, “you really shouldn’t be here,” and you should “eat in your hotel room” if you are staying in New Mexico over the holiday weekend. 
  • Lujan Grisham threatened a new lockdown if New Mexicans don’t start wearing masks in their own homes. “And you know we’re doing our crackdown, and you know that we’re doing our enforcement,” adding, “More is coming because those opportunities for us to do less because we are doing more in mask-wearing, social distancing, and other public health hygiene didn’t occur,” she said.
  • While Lujan Grisham unsuccessfully auditioned to be Joe Biden’s Health and Human Services secretary, New Mexico remained on lockdown.
  • Lujan Grisham’s communications director Tripp Stelnicki once again berated New Mexicans — this time the media at KOB 4. He condescended a reporter in a lengthy email response, saying, “Did you read the attachment to the news release yesterday and find it confusing? Please let us know if we can help you understand it. Three colors is not confusing.”   
  • Lujan Grisham’s virus relief bill directly funded criminal aliens. Despite GOP protests, Speaker Brian Egolf trampled over House rules to ram through the extreme proposal. 
  • After reports of statewide “breadline” protests went viral thanks to reporting from the Piñon Post and others, Lujan Grisham was forced to lift many of her grocery store capacity restrictions.
  • A Piñon Post report connected the dots between Lujan Grisham and Communist China. 
  • In December 2020, after failing to grab a position in Joe Biden’s regime, Lujan Grisham announced she was running for reelection, saying, “I’m staying.” 
  • Lujan Grisham’s press secretary and state Rep. Liz Thomson mocked New Mexicans who are hesitant to take the COVID-19 jab.
  • Lujan Grisham and the local media blasted Christian churches for holding in-person Christmas services.
  • Tripp Stelnicki, Lujan Grisham’s communications director, claimed that the only resistance to Gov. Lujan Grisham exists in “angsty corners of social media.”
  • Despite Lujan Grisham’s supposed lifting of grocery store capacities, New Mexicans still waited in long lines outside of stores like Walmart for food and supplies around the Christmas holiday.
  • In January 2021, Lujan Grisham shook down an O’Reilly Auto Parts store for $80,000 for allegedly violating her pandemic orders.
  • Nearly a year after her ban on in-person learning, Lujan Grisham was finally pressured to lift it, with heavy restrictions including forced face masking of children, even in school sports. 
  • Lujan Grisham erected a fence around the Roundhouse, with added security for the Legislative Session costing New Mexico taxpayers $33,000.  
  • Lujan Grisham demanded New Mexicans not protest the illegitimate inauguration of Joe Biden, telling them to “do that from your living room.”  
  • With a closed-door legislative session, Lujan Grisham was able to ram through extreme proposals, including assisted suicide, abortion up-to-birth, robbing the permanent fund of cash for “free daycare,” the abolition of qualified immunity, anti-police measures taking away peace officers’ rights, among other corrsive proposals she would never have gotten through if not by keeping the public out of the process.  
  • After failing to pass her extreme recreational marijuana bill, Lujan Grisham called a special session, yelling, “I AM NOT GOING TO WAIT ANOTHER YEAR!” 
  • Lujan Grisham failed to ram through her 20+ cent per gallon gas tax on the poor during the Legislative Session.
  • It was revealed that Gov. Lujan Grisham used taxpayer funds to purchase tens of thousands of dollars in $200 per pound Wagyu steak, ahi tuna, fine wine, dry cleaning, and other personal expenses. These expenses came while New Mexicans struggled to get by and had to stand in cold breadlines to buy food and supplies. 
  • Lujan Grisham’s staff tried to explain the irresponsible spending away, saying, “There’s a difference between inviting someone into your house for the Super Bowl or someone’s birthday and having three or four Cabinet secretaries there to talk about their budgets.” 
  • Lujan Grisham was caught giving hefty raises to her highly paid staff, many of whom make over $100,00 already. Press secretary Nora Sackett said, “Governor’s office staff play a critical role in the operation of the state’s executive branch and the governance of the state – all of which is amplified during a yearlong crisis.” Here’s the breakdown: 
    • Comm. Director Tripp Stelnicki ($18,600), Director of Boards and Commissions Melissa Salazar ($12,000), Chief of Staff Teresa Casados ($10,800), Chief of Staff Matt Garcia ($10,600), Cabinet Director Dominic Gabello ($10,600), Policy Advisor Diego Arencon ($10,000), Director of Cabinet Affairs Caroline Buerkle ($10,000) and Director of Legislative Affairs Victor Reyes ($7,500).
  • In March 2021, Michelle Lujan Grisham lets “minorities” get the COVID-19 vaccination first and says that “absolute mask mandates” are not going away.
  • Despite over 18,000 New Mexicans asking Lujan Grisham not to sign an anti-conservation, anti-science trapping ban bill, she signed it any way, giving another blow to rural citizens. 
  • After lifting her one-year ban on in-person learning, she has a photo-op at a Los Alamos school.
  • Lujan Grisham paid off $62,500 in campaign hush money to a former staffer who alleged she poured water over his crotch area and then groped him.
  • Planned Parenthood gave Lujan Grisham an award for signing the abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill. 
  • Amid Joe Biden’s border crisis, Lujan Grisham denied pleas from Congresswoman Yvette Herrell to deploy National Guard troops to the southern border to help with the catastrophe. But Lujan Grisham was quick to send guard troops to Washington D.C. to help with Joe Biden’s installation as “president.”
  • On Earth Day 2021, Lujan Grisham bashed the United States and claimed our country “has the worst record on greenhouse gas emissions for every country represented on this panel.”
  • Amid the Governor’s groping scandal, Dominic Gabello, who allegedly told the victim to stay quiet, resigned from her office. He now consults on her campaign through a firm he recently founded. 
  • In April, it was reported that Gov. Lujan Grisham’s New Mexico had the third-worst unemployment rate in the nation. 
  • Lujan Grisham tried to squash nonprofit groups’ lawsuit over unequal treatment under her pandemic orders. 
  • Lujan Grisham refused to send help to the family of a missing National Guardsman. 
  • Gov. Lujan Grisham’s State Polcie shut down Backstreet Grill, an Albuquerque Old Town restaurant for violating her health orders, but they resisted her tyranny. 
  • In April, Lujan Grisham dangled a “9-week” “100% reopening” goal in front of New Mexicans if enough of them took the vaccine. 
  • Lujan Grisham gave James Kenney, her cabinet secretary for the Environment Department a $12,480 raise while New Mexico families remained suffering. 
  • In a political ploy, Lujan Grisham invited D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to join the Democrat Governor’s Association despite her not being a governor of a state. 
  • Gog. Lujan Grisha gave Justin Garoutte, a special assistant to New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney a gargantuan $32,000 raise, boosting this individual’s salary to $87,000 on a 40-hour-a-week schedule. That’s a 58% increase while New Mexicans struggle.
  • For her reelection announcement event, Lujan Grisham forced toddlers to wear masks while teens were forced to take the jab. 
  • Gov. Lujan Grisham’s Children, Youth, and Families Department deleted countless public documents with the “Signal” app and two whistleblowers who blew the alarm on the practice were fired.
  • Lujan Grisham told all other departments to follow a similar practice by using Microsoft Teams, which is set to auto-delete messages after 24 hours. This has been happening since January 24, 2021.
  • Michelle Lujan Grisham paid her daughter, Erin Grisham, over $6,000 for hair and makeup, violating state law. The Piñon Post’s editor John Block filed an ethics complaint, which is still pending. 
  • The Governor’s NM Supreme Court ruled against harmed businesses during the lockdown, instead claiming the draconian rules were “reasonable” in a biased court opinion.
  • Before Lujan Grisham’s campaign announcement, she mysteriously turned the whole state “turquoise” on her Covid rainbow, a suspect move. 
  • At Lujan Grisham’s reelection campaign announcement, she bashed protesters drowning her out as “QAnon lizard people.” She then canceled events after the disgraceful appearance in fear of said “lizard people.” 
  • Lujan Grisham praised candidate Melanie Stansbury, who made racist comments toward Native Americans, saying to displaced Dinè workers to “sell your art or your wool.” 
  • In a desperate move, Lujan Grisham lashed out at her GOP challengers running against her, claiming, “these candidates parrot Trump’s lies about the 2020 election and are hellbent on disenfranchising voters. Many of the GOP’s top picks also cater to far-right extremist groups – pushing hateful agendas to take away LGBTQ rights and reproductive freedom and threatening to roll back all of the progress we’ve made in the last two years.” 
  • Lujan Grisham gave away $10 million in taxpayer dollars through a lottery to bribe New Mexicans to get the jab. She even gave out $100 cash to people — including children — to get the inoculation.
  • Gov. Lujan Grisham’s Department of Transportation appears to be injuring and killing bikers with “fog sealants” added to roads. 
  • Gov. Lujan Grisham blamed unvaccinated citizens for her slow reopening. “The variants across the globe and in the U.S. present very serious risks to unvaccinated people, even young people. We all, each of us, have the power to stop the serious illnesses and deaths: Get your shot. It’s safe. It works. It’s that simple. Don’t wait for COVID to infect you or someone you love and wish you’d decided differently,” she claimed.
  • Lujan Grisham claimed she paid off the victim of her alleged crotch grab because of the pandemic. 
  • After calling anti-MLG protesters “lizard people,” Lujan Grisham claimed she was taking the “high road” and erroneously claimed the protesters were dangerous. 
  • Lujan Grisham repeatedly ducked the press, giving her first interview in months to KOB 4, where she refused to apologize to protesters for calling them “QAnon lizard people.” She said, “I don’t because I didn’t say it in a mean way. We know that that’s happened in campaigns. The tension in that moment when I came on stage was really ugly. And I wanted to make a light-hearted moment about a conspiracy theorist.” 
  • Lujan Grisham paraded around the state after her alleged “reopening” of the state. She even posed with and praised a prostitute “Jello shot girl,” who has a “conviction for sex work.” 
  • After a KOB 4 poll showing her failure on the economy and crime, Lujan Grisham again ducked the media. 
  • Lujan Grisham fearmongered over a new “Delta” variant of the virus, claiming, ‘It’s not going to go away.” 
  • Lujan Grisham renews her divisive rhetoric, bashing “Trump loyalists.”
  • 40% of small businesses in New Mexico have closed due to Lujan Grisham’s pandemic rules, according to the Department of Tourism.

These actions by Lujan Grisham are the opposite of what someone who cares for New Mexicans does. In 2022, it’s high time we break up with Lujan Grisham and end this toxic, abusive relationship once and for all.

* The above list is by no means exhaustive. It is representative of the time between her first pandemic order on March 11, 2020, to today, July 5, 2021.  

New Mexico: We’re in an abusive relationship with MLG. It’s time to break up with her Read More »

Liberal paper uses Independence Day to bash the GOP, spread fringe conspiracy theories

Leave a Comment / Editorial, New Mexico / By

In an unAmerican move of division and radicalism, the far-left Santa Fe New Mexican editorial board took the Independence Day holiday (meant to celebrate our Nation’s independence from a tyrannical monarchy) to bash the Republican Party and to sew further division into the political waters.

The board, which is still fixated on the January 6 incursion of the U.S. Capitol (which has now proven to be spearheaded by ANTIFA/Black Lives Matter terrorists and others leading patriots astray), claims the protesters who made it into the Capitol were “fueled by lies alleging a stolen election” and that they “desecrated” the building. 

However, crickets could be heard from the elitist New Mexican editorial board during the disgraceful George Floyd riots of 2020, where domestic terrorists burned down minority communities and caused billions — YES  BILLIONS — worth of damage to already struggling neighborhoods. 

The editorial board writes, “A republic demands the rule of law,” but they ignored the damage done by these violent ANTIFA and Black Lives Matter terrorists ravaging communities. However, somehow, the only people who could ever be at fault are supporters of President Donald J. Trump, a president who rebuilt our nation from the ground up after decades of warmongers and socialists occupying the White House and destroying our nation’s standing in the world. 

“The actions of GOP leaders in failing to confront the dangers of Trumpism have been and remain shameful,” wrote the New Mexican. They also erroneously claim the Republican Party seeks to “restrict the right to vote” while blatantly ignoring the massive election fraud that happened across the country and happened right here in New Mexico.

Because election integrity in any form (even purging dead voters from the rolls and ensuring one person, one vote) is somehow now labeled “voter suppression” from the ivory towers of the Santa Fe New Mexican. And God forbid if someone dares support President Trump — they must be “shameful.”

The board lamented the fact that Joe Biden’s radical anti-election integrity bill (H.R.1) has not been rammed through Congress, and it whined about the Supreme Court upholding Arizona election integrity laws that ban ballot harvesters — such as New Mexico’s very own Democrat Pamelya Herndon (who was appointed to the Legislature last month) — from stealing citizens’ votes. 

On the Fourth of July — a day to celebrate our country’s unity and majesty, it is a desecration of our great nation that the Santa Fe New Mexican is taking this shining opportunity not to bring people together — but to tear s further apart by spreading lies and debunked conspiracy theories.

God bless our beautiful country and the state we are proud to call home. Happy Fourth of July from the Piñon Post!

Liberal paper uses Independence Day to bash the GOP, spread fringe conspiracy theories Read More »

‘Gecko’s’ owner cowers to left-wing mob, grovels to Gov. MLG after calling her a ‘Nazi’

2 Comments / Editorial, New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Monday, KRQE 13 News bullied a local Albuquerque restauranteur, forcing an apology out of him for calling Gov. Lujan Grisham a “Nazi” and calling Joe Biden a “socialist” because of the extended unemployment benefits given during the lockdown. These government checks have lowered the numbers of Americans in the workforce because they incentivize not working.

Walden Minoli, the owner of Gecko’s in Nob Hill put up a sign reading, “Gecko’s is closing our kitchen tonight at 6 pm due to a lack of staff. Special thank you to our Nazi in Santa Fe and our socialist in D.C. for trying to buy votes with extended unemployment benefits.” 

But KRQE 13 coaxed an apology out of him, where he said, “I was angry, and it was stupid on my part.” 

However, the left-wing extremists who work at his very restaurant and the liberal public at large were not happy with his apology, which many argue he should not have given in the first place. 

The triggered liberal staff members at the bar wrote, “We, the workers of Gecko’s Bar and Tapas at Nob Hill, find Wally’s statement posted on Saturday 6/26 to be unprofessional, unacceptable and offensive. … It is not our desire to at all defend or shelter Wally and we hope to use this as a learning experience to make our establishment more welcoming to all members of our community.”

“The employees also demanded that Minoli apologize directly to Lujan Grisham, the Jewish community and to them, saying that they have already been hurt personally and financially by his sign,” the Albuquerque Journal reported.

And under pressure, unlike other brave establishments such as Backstreet Grill in Old Town, Minoli caved to the left-wing mob, emboldened by his apology and willingness to bow down in submission.

The Albuquerque Journal reports:

Minoli said he has sent a written apology via text to Lujan Grisham and a letter of apology to the Jewish Community Center of Greater Albuquerque.

The governor responded early Wednesday, leaving a voicemail acknowledging that she had received his message and appreciated it. She also said she had some ideas going forward, left her work number and invited him to call her.

Minoli said he has sent a written apology via text to Lujan Grisham and a letter of apology to the Jewish Community Center of Greater Albuquerque.

The governor responded early Wednesday, leaving a voicemail acknowledging that she had received his message and appreciated it. She also said she had some ideas going forward, left her work number and invited him to call her.

Gov. Lujan Grisham’s press secretary Nora Sackett fawned over the Governor’s response, writing on Twitter, “This is exactly who @GovMLG is – gracious, kind, and always committed to helping New Mexicans and finding solutions, no matter differences in opinion and even when the conflict was nasty and unnecessary and directed right at her.” This only gives fodder to far-left Democrats like Lujan Grisham, who are making an example of Minoli.

As Minoli goes on an apology tour after he was rightly frustrated by the Governor’s cruelty to small businesses, he is an example of what NOT to do when the left-wing mob demands one’s head. This should be a lesson to all that conservatives will unite behind those who stand up for what they believe in, even if it may not be popular. Now, Minoli has both angered the left and the right, and his business is likely to suffer een more for it.

‘Gecko’s’ owner cowers to left-wing mob, grovels to Gov. MLG after calling her a ‘Nazi’ Read More »

NM Kids forced to wear masks while running in 100-degree heat; Parents are striking back

6 Comments / Opinion / By

While over half of the country has removed mask mandates, New Mexico children ages 3yo+ are still required to wear masks at school as well as during outdoor athletics. Summer temperatures in New Mexico range into the 100’s, and kids are being forced to wear masks even while running track races and playing soccer in the summer heat. New Mexico parents have reported that their children are suffering blackouts, vomiting, breathing problems, dizziness, disorientation, nosebleeds, learning problems, and other health problems as a result of the mask mandates.  The youth mask mandate is clearly putting kids at risk of imminent harm, yet nonetheless, the local school principals, boards, superintendents, and athletic associations are all saying that their hands are tied by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s policies. 

Nationally, children have a 99.997% survival rate from COVID-19.  In New Mexico, only 0.7% of child COVID-19 cases have resulted in hospitalization. It is clear that children have an extremely low risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19, and mask mandates are placing a burden upon kids which is detrimental to their own health and well-being.

Only Vaccinated Children Allowed to Unmask

NM Governor Lujan Grisham’s administration recently updated the youth mask policy to allow vaccinated student athletes to be unmasked, whereas unvaccinated students must remain masked. There is intense pressure for NM youths to receive the COVID-19 injections, despite the fact that this illness is acknowledged by the CDC to be less severe and deadly for children than influenza. NM has offered $100 cash incentives for receiving the vaccine, and was even offering incentives up to $20,000 to youth sports teams that achieve high vaccination rates (although those incentives have now been retracted). 

COVID-19 vaccination of children is becoming increasingly questioned.  There have been no long-term safety tests on COVID-19 injections, and thus it is unknown whether these injections will have any negative effects on children’s growth and development. The World Health Organization recently changed its policy to remove recommendations for administering experimental COVID-19 vaccinations for all children 12 and older. As of June 29, 2021, the WHO website says, “More evidence is needed on the use of the different COVID-19 vaccines in children to be able to make general recommendations on vaccinating children against COVID-19.”

Furthermore, the CDC has acknowledged a likely link between COVID-19 vaccination and increased rates of heart inflammation in young people. The CDC website says, “As of June 21, 2021, VAERS has received 616 reports of myocarditis or pericarditis among people ages 30 and younger who received COVID-19 vaccine. Most cases have been reported after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna), particularly in male adolescents and young adults.” Both the Pfizer and Moderna fact sheets have been updated to include statements about known risks of heart inflammation. 

Requiring kids to be vaccinated in order to be unmasked is an egregious policy error that is not based on science. Governor Lujan Grisham’s policies that coerce and pressure NM youths to receive vaccination violate the fundamental principles of medical ethics and Informed Consent. Children have an extremely low risk from COVID-19, and the masking requirement is putting them in harm’s way. Multiple student-athletes have blacked out while running masked, yet the forced masking of children has continued. 

Parents Unite Against Mandatory Youth Masking

Dozens of New Mexico parents are partnering with New Mexico Stands Up, a public interest legal firm, to apply pressure against Governor Lujan Grisham’s youth mask policies. Recently, New Mexico Stands Up served a Cease-and-Desist letter against youth mask mandates to Governor Lujan Grisham, NM Secretary of Health Dr. Tracie Collins, NM Secretary of Education Dr. Ryan Stewart, and Director of the NM Activities Association Sally Marquez. This Cease-and-Desist letter details the harms that masks are posing to NM children, the evidence that mask mandates are not necessary for the safe operation of schools, and the legal ramifications of imposing mask mandates in violation of Federal law. The Cease-and-Desist letter gives notice that “Organizations, schools, and government officials who impose mask mandates can be held personally liable for any injuries or damages that occur as a result of these policies,” and demands that the youth mask mandates be rescinded immediately under threat of legal action.    

Furthermore, with the help of the New Mexico Freedoms Alliance, on Saturday, June 26, parents and kids from all over New Mexico joined to protest the Governor’s youth mask policies.  A dozen New Mexico towns and cities participated in this statewide youth mask protest. The protesters represented the diversity of New Mexico, with young and old, Democrats and Republicans, Hispanics and whites, all united against the forced masking of NM children.

Across the state, New Mexicans are demanding that Governor Lujan Grisham “follow the science” and remove the youth mask mandates.  The Governor’s recent change to allow vaccinated athletes to be unmasked is not enough. New Mexico parents demand that all students be allowed to unmask, regardless of their vaccination status.

Sarah Smith has been a natural healthcare practitioner for 8 years and is a former NASA aerospace engineer and scientist. Sarah is one of the leaders of the New Mexico Freedoms Alliance, a non-partisan grassroots coalition which advocates for civil liberties and constitutional representative government.

NM Kids forced to wear masks while running in 100-degree heat; Parents are striking back Read More »

In desperate ploy, embattled Gov. Lujan Grisham lashes out at GOP challengers

13 Comments / New Mexico, News, Opinion, Politics / By

On Friday, embattled Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has been criticized far and wide for her scandal-ridden tenure full of crotch-grabbing settlements and mismanaging taxpayer funds, is now lashing out at the Republican candidates for governor who are working to fire her in 2022.

In an email to supporters asking for money titled “calling out far-right extremism,” Lujan Grisham, who previously called anti-MLG protesters “QAnon lizard people,” has once again devolved to name-calling and gaslighting. 

She wrote, “[A]ll our progress could be wiped away if Trump’s allies take control of the governorship.” 

Her email continued: 

I’ll be frank: The GOP candidates for Governor are a danger to our state’s progress. These candidates parrot Trump’s lies about the 2020 election and are hellbent on disenfranchising voters. Many of the GOP’s top picks also cater to far-right extremist groups – pushing hateful agendas to take away LGBTQ rights and reproductive freedom and threatening to roll back all of the progress we’ve made in the last two years.  

We’ve seen what divisive, radical agendas do to states and their economies. The GOP’s slate of candidates for Governor are out of touch with New Mexicans. If they are elected, it would be disastrous for the people of New Mexico and our state’s economic progress.

… Please, friend, donate $10 – or whatever you can spare – by midnight tonight to help me keep our state safe from far-right extremism:

The latest attacks by Lujan Grisham appear to grasp for straws, bashing Republican opponents as “extremists” for wanting to fight election fraud and trying to claim Republcians’ economic policies would cripple New Mexico, despite her very own policies plunging New Mexicans into poverty while Republican-led states, such as North Dakota and Florida that did not lock down their citizens during the pandemic have rebounded tremendously, outperforming New Mexico’s snail-like recovery. 

Three Republicans have announced their runs for governor, including business Karen Bedonie of Mexican Springs, Sandoval County Commissioner Jay Block of Rio Rancho, and Albuquerque financier Greg Zanetti of Albuquerque.

In desperate ploy, embattled Gov. Lujan Grisham lashes out at GOP challengers Read More »

Assisted suicide via lethal drugs, abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bills take effect Friday

Leave a Comment / New Mexico, News, Opinion, Politics / By

Friday is a solemn day for many New Mexicans as two bills rammed through the 2021 Legislature will take effect, including assisted suicide via lethal drug “cocktails” and abortion up-to-birth, widening the door to infanticide in the state and criminalizing health workers who object to abortion. 

The assisted suicide bill is opposed by multiple disability rights groups, the Navajo Nation, and many patients living with terminal conditions. The law seeks to further normalize a culture of death in New Mexico by letting medical professionals prescribe lethal drugs to patients who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness that could take their lives anytime up to six months.

The bill would legalize doctors to prescribe a “cocktail” of lethal drugs to patients suffering from terminal illnesses, which will save insurance companies money. The American Medical Association is against assisted suicide. 

During the bill’s hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sunday, the “expert witnesses,” law professor Robert Schwartz and physician Steven Kanig could not even list the drugs that would be prescribed to end an individual’s life and admitted that there is no set “cocktail” that is used. Schwartz claimed the concoction of harmful drugs “has been refined over the years” and that “these drugs do change.”

The abortion bill passed through the Legislature and signed by embattled Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who claims to be a Catholic, stripped away protections for women and their children in the womb and removed “conscientious objection” protections for physicians and medical professionals. 

The pro-abortion law allows sex traffickers and child abusers to take a pregnant minor in for an abortion without any parental knowledge or involvement–not to mention without any reporting criteria. 

With this law, a pregnant mother would be allowed to have an abortion at any pregnancy stage. It is a medical fact that the risk of death or serious injury to women increases to 76.6% in abortions after five months. 

Despite loud opposition on both of these bills, which were previously defeated in past legislative sessions, the public was cut off and limited to ten minutes of testimony on each side of the argument during “virtual” committee hearings while a fence was erected around the Capitol building to keep the people out of the People’s House.

According to the Albuquerque Journal, “In preparation for the [assisted suicide] bill’s effective date, a new nonprofit group has been created to give information to families with ailing loved ones, and raise awareness of the new law among hospitals, doctors and hospice care providers.”

The Piñon Post organized New Mexicans to oppose these bills, which infringe on Constitutional rights enshrined in our Country’s founding documents. Our editor, John Block, testified alongside other New Mexicans against the abortion up-to-birth bill and prepared testimony against the assisted suicide bill. Despite the Piñon Post’s efforts, the closed-off Roundhouse made it nearly impossible to reach members of the Legislature.

Assisted suicide via lethal drugs, abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bills take effect Friday Read More »

Moderate Moores walloped by socialist Stansbury in CD-1, teaches big lesson to GOP

18 Comments / Editorial, New Mexico, News / By

On Tuesday, state Sen. Mark Moores (R-Bernalillo) lost decisively to socialist state Rep. Melanie Stansbury (R-Bernalillo) in the First District race to replace Deb Haaland after a lackluster campaign. Most news outlets reported the massive loss only about an hour after precincts closed.

Moores’ defeat proved that moderate Republicans chosen in a closed process by a couple of hundred people (instead of the entire electorate) cannot and will not win elections in New Mexico, at least with a limp message of supposed “bipartisanship” and the refusal even to utter “America First” or President Donald J. Trump’s name.

It also didn’t help that “insiders” (those who voted for Moores in the closed-door primary) knew full well that Moores voted for far-left Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s job-crushing “Green New Deal” and devastating trapping ban bills but still lent their support to him in the convention.

Melanie Stansbury is a radical’s radical—one of the most extreme far-left members of the New Mexico state House imaginable. She has voted to the extreme left on every single issue, from environmental bills to education initiatives and abortion, she has been on the fringe. Her comments toward displaced Navajo workers telling them to just “sell your art or your wool” would have resonated with moderate voters who are not okay with racism, no matter how casual it may appear.

But Moores didn’t even touch on a single one of those key issues that directly impact New Mexicans. All he could talk about was Stansbury’s support for the “BREATHE Act,” which lets incarcerated criminals back on the street and defunds police. While he was 100% correct on this issue, he was a one-issue candidate with no substance other than that he supposedly “stands tall” for New Mexico while not showing anything to back up his hollow and over-used rhetoric.

The only time he mentioned Melanie Stansbury’s support for eco-Marxist proposals was when he sent emails to supporters (who are already on his side) telling them that Stansbury backs the Green New Deal, even though Moores voted for that very thing—complete hypocrisy.

It is a shame that the GOP convention delegates let the guy out of the primary, to begin with, and with 2022 on the horizon (and a REAL primary in the works), “moderate” Republicans in the state House should watch their backs because TRUE Republicans are coming for their seats. And no amount of darkroom dealings can stop the Red Wave from sweeping across the state and wiping every RINO “Republican In Name Only” clean out of the state’s lower chamber.

Moderate, weak, and spineless Republicans who will say whatever they think they need to win an election do not win elections and only make people who are forced to vote for them in general elections look like fools. RINOs bring ZERO excitement, ZERO trust, and ZERO electability to the table. Moores’ blowout loss was an irresponsible waste of an opportunity for a GOP pickup. Hopefully, it will be a lesson for New Mexico that moderates lose and keep voters home.

Even with the massive fraud in New Mexico elections, Republicans who can build momentum can overcome the fraud to win. Just look at people in extremely competitive districts like Republican state Rep. Stefani Lord. She had a tough election fight, but she did not sway in the wind like a Moores. She stuck to her pro-gun, pro-life, pro-Trump convictions. Despite the closeness of her race, she annihilated a well-funded Democrat who now sits as the Chair of the Democrat Party of New Mexico, Jessica Velasquez. And Rep. Lord did not swing to the “middle” when she got to the House. She stuck to her convictions and voted against radical bills, even if many of the limp “Republicans” voted along with the Democrats and admitted defeat.

Strong Republicans win elections (even in competitive districts) and RINOs lose. Take those words to the bank in 2022 and prepare for a Red Wave come next November. It’s time to clean the swamp.

Moores lost in the final vote numbers by 24 points, garnering 36% to Stansbury’s 60%, a larger margin of failure than 2020 for the Republicans in the District.

Moderate Moores walloped by socialist Stansbury in CD-1, teaches big lesson to GOP Read More »

Why are NM officials pushing for COVID-19 vaccination in children?

6 Comments / Opinion / By

School districts and elected officials all over the state are pushing for students 12 years or older to be vaccinated with COVID-19 injections.  Incentives are being offered to kids for being vaccinated. For instance, some teachers are offering students extra credit for taking the shot. Coercion is a violation of Informed Consent.

Look at the data, from the May 24, 2021 NM COVID-19 Pediatric Case Report. 

  • Total COVID-19 cases in Age 0-17 = 29,404
  • COVID-19 Hospitalizations in Age 0-17 = 192
  • COVID-19 Deaths in Age 0-17 = 1

Based on these data, 99.4% of NM pediatric COVID-19 cases did not result in hospitalization.  NM kids have a 99.997% survival rate from COVID-19. And these numbers only include the kids who tested positive, and does not account for the many who likely developed immunity asymptomatically.

It is clear that children have extremely low risk from COVID-19. None of the COVID-19 injections have received full FDA approval, and they are authorized for Emergency Use only. All three COVID-19 injections include technology that has never previously been approved for use in vaccines (mRNA for Moderna and Pfizer, genetically-engineered adenovirus for J&J). There have been no long-term safety tests on COVID-19 injections. That means that we do not know what will happen to people who receive these injections 6 months from now, a year from now, or longer. 

As of May 14, the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS, which is at vaers.hhs.gov) has 227,805 negative reactions that have been reported for experimental COVID-19 vaccines. That includes:

There have been more deaths reported in the VAERS after COVID-19 vaccination in the last 5 months than there have been deaths reported from all other vaccines combined for the last 15 years. Over a third of the deaths reported after COVID-19 vaccination were in people who became ill within 48 hours of getting the shot.

It is known that adverse vaccine reactions are greatly underreported, and it is estimated that only 1-10% of these reactions are actually reported to the VAERS system. That means that the VAERS data potentially represents millions of adverse reactions and tens of thousands of deaths related to COVID-19 vaccines.

Reports of teens who have developed heart problems after COVID-19 vaccination are coming out from around the country. The two fifteen-year-olds who died after COVID-19 vaccination both died of heart failure (VAERS ID 1187918 and 1242573). The 16-year-old who died after COVID-19 vaccination (VAERS ID 1225942) had a pulmonary embolism (blot clots in the lungs). 

An 18-year-old who died (VAERS ID 1078352-1): he was vaccinated on March 2nd. The next day, on March 3rd, he complained of fatigue, body aches, and headache. On March 5, he said his chest was hurting. A few hours later, he was dead. 

Remember, NM kids have a 99.997% survival rate and only a 0.6% hospitalization rate from COVID-19.  The CDC said it was safe to re-open schools before vaccines were rolled out. Evidence from around the globe has shown this to be the case, even in countries that do not require masking, such as Sweden. 

The current push towards vaccination of children is not based on risk to kids.  Asymptomatic transmission has already been proven to be extremely rare, such that it should not be used to drive public policies. If we are going to actually follow the science, it is clear that there is no justification for pushing COVID-19 vaccination of NM children. 

The unknown long-term risks combined with children’s extremely low risk from this illness should make us all pause for careful consideration of the facts. Informed consent requires that people be made aware of potential risks and be free to make decisions without threats or coercion.  NM officials and school districts have no justification for pushing vaccination on school children, and this decision needs to rest securely in the hands of parents. 

Sarah Smith has been a natural healthcare practitioner for 8 years and is a former NASA aerospace engineer and scientist. Sarah is one of the leaders of the New Mexico Freedoms Alliance, a non-partisan grassroots coalition which advocates for civil liberties and constitutional representative government.

Opinions expressed by Piñon Post contributors do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the publication or its editorial staff. Submit an op-ed to the Piñon Post at news@pinonpost.com.

Why are NM officials pushing for COVID-19 vaccination in children? Read More »

Underdog to big dog: Will Karen Bedonie be New Mexico’s next governor?

8 Comments / Opinion / By

Everyone loves a good underdog story. If Americans have a story genre, that has to be it. Even with all its faults, America still is the Land of Opportunity. We’re not born in a caste system; we have no official royal class. Our very Declaration of Independence states:  We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. 

It’s not hard to find voices that point out ways in which the United States and its political leadership has and does fall short in its interpretation of the rights named above. Conversely, it can be challenging to find people who celebrate the founding principles of the United States, actively exercise them in a way that benefits communities, and seek public office. If you’ve not been watching New Mexico political races on Facebook in the last two years or so, you may have missed a loud, proud American who has just become a serial political candidate. Her name is Karen Bedonie. 

The race that put Bedonie on my social media radar was the most recent race for the Third Congressional District. It’s not even my district, but that didn’t stop Bedonie from putting energy into understanding the Second Congressional District, where I live. She never lost steam after running a tireless campaign that resembled a combination of a university-level cultural research project and TripAdvisor restaurant tour—sans the negative food service feedback. Bedonie’s tenacity in logging miles, meeting, and listening to people statewide is remarkable. 

Her Facebook account is populated with pictures from the state’s more-populated as well as its obscure corners. There are nearly countless pictures and heartfelt accounts of exchanges with people of every age, socioeconomic status, and skin tone. There are snippets from frank conversations over red-checkered tablecloths and views from the insides of sometimes gritty but functional business establishments. Follow her long enough, and you’ll get the feel of holding a gigantic family album. Aside from the numerous travelogues, Bedonie’s honest portrayals of her personal and family history, based in the Navajo Nation, have been alternately heart-wrenching and inspirational. If you’ve not yet seen it, take in “A Long Walk in Socialism,” a Turning Point USA video that includes interviews with the Bedonie family. 

Now, in 2021, Bedonie has announced her candidacy for Governor under the GOP flag. After a short hiatus, she’s been back on the highway, sometimes with her daughters or husband riding shotgun, visiting New Mexicans and their businesses across the state. Bedonie, a small business owner and operator, has bootstrapped herself and her family up from the socialistic structure and expectations of reservation life and, despite the scourge that Covid restrictions put on some aspects of her businesses, it appears she and her family have adapted and thrive, even as they prioritize charity on many levels along with her ambitious getting-to-know-New Mexico travel schedule. 

Speaking of charity, Bedonie’s goes beyond people. While traveling New Mexico’s eastern tier last month, she visited a city animal shelter and adopted a dog—a Corgi, now named Darlene. When asked why she chose Darlene, Bedonie said,

We wanted a female dog for my big boy Crash to hang out with. I also am a very slow runner and needed a short-legged sweetheart to accompany me while Crash logs miles and miles with my daughters that run. Darlene was available and she was older. I love older dogs, because they are mellow and decent. We have a fireplace they can curl up at. Our home is loving and friendly. Darlene was so happy to get in the car. She rode well. So far, she loves our businesses and has been going everywhere with my girls. She’s a great companion. Eastern NM is as good as any. I have always rescued my dogs. I have one from Santa Fe, Los Lunas, Belen, Farmington, Albuquerque, and now Portales. My two cats are from Albuquerque and Gallup. Opening our home to more has airways been easy.

What she didn’t mention is the fact that she likely saved a furry life by creating an open spot, however temporary, in a busy shelter. Animal Control agencies in eastern New Mexico struggle to place burgeoning numbers of animals in communities where the pet-to-human resident ratio is especially high. And while no one outside of dog and cat rescue circles talks about it much, many animals’ lives end prematurely as a result. 

Rugged tenacity and almost boundless kindness are rare qualities in the same person. Combine these with a thorough understanding of the founding principles of our United States, and a proven ability to keep multiple budgets with an eye toward conservatism and respect for nature, and a picture is painted that strongly resembles Karen Bedonie. Critics within her own party have decried her inexperience, but her life experience and understanding of history and politics are a glimmer of hope in comparison to what career politicians and bureaucrats have accomplished—or not—in New Mexico. 

Yes, she has on at least two occasions had an unflattering moment of overreaction pursuant to taking a well-intentioned comment as an insult, but each time has shown a quick recovery. In more than two years of watching Bedonie fairly closely, I’ve not known her ever to wag a finger at anyone, to brush off a question with a haughty laugh, to have security called to her hotel room for a loud party, to grope, or….surely you get the picture. 

Is there a perfect candidate for governor? Of course not. What’s for certain is that professional politicians of both parties have given us a load of trouble related to their behavior both on and off the clock, not to mention various digressions from the Founders’ written intentions. Bedonie has already shown she’s not the type to stir the kind of trouble we’ve seen enough of. She’s gone toe-to-toe with some of the crustiest elements of the state over just about all the issues. At day’s end, she manages to be a Constitutional thinker and principled, compassion-filled human being. 

I, for one, am weary from seeing our state fail and flail. Karen Bedonie may hold the vision and capacity for action New Mexico needs. I’m ready to give her a chance.

Opinions expressed by Piñon Post contributors do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the publication or its editorial staff. Submit an op-ed to the Piñon Post at news@pinonpost.com.

Underdog to big dog: Will Karen Bedonie be New Mexico’s next governor? Read More »

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