{"id":118559,"date":"2016-01-21T11:38:48","date_gmt":"2016-01-21T18:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=118559"},"modified":"2016-01-22T07:52:04","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T14:52:04","slug":"pizza-socks-emotional-outbursts-exacerbate-nms-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/01\/pizza-socks-emotional-outbursts-exacerbate-nms-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Pizza socks, emotional outbursts exacerbate NM’s problems"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY:<\/strong> When Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson shouted “You lie!”<\/a>\u00a0during President Barack Obama’s health-care speech in 2009, Democrats were rightly upset<\/a>\u00a0and passed a resolution formally admonishing him<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wilson\u00a0apologized<\/a>\u00a0for his “lack of civility.” He called his outburst “inappropriate and regrettable.”<\/p>\n

\"Heath<\/a>

Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n

Contrast that with the situation in the Roundhouse at the start of New Mexico’s 30-day legislative session. “Shame on you!”<\/a> state Rep. Christine Trujillo, D-Albuquerque, shouted during Gov. Susana Martinez’s State of the State Address on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The former\u00a0union activist<\/a>\u00a0defended\u00a0her outburst\u00a0during an interview Wednesday with KRQE-TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I said, ‘Shame on you!’ because I think she was antagonistic.\u00a0It made me very angry,” Trujillo said. “… I\u00a0don\u2019t regret that; you know, I take full responsibility for what I said.\u00a0I regret that I probably didn\u2019t say something sooner.”<\/p>\n

Couple Trujillo’s outburst\u00a0with many Senate Democrats wearing aqua-colored socks decorated with pizza slices and soda cups<\/a>\u00a0during Martinez’s speech, and the level of disrespect too many members of the opposing party showed the governor, a Republican, was outrageous. Offenders\u00a0included Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, who later defended the socks as appropriate<\/a>, and Senate Majority Whip Michael Padilla.<\/p>\n

The context for the socks: Martinez can be heard on several law enforcement recordings<\/a> inappropriately pressuring\u00a0police to drop an investigation into a noise complaint after her Christmas party in December. She said the people\u00a0in the hotel room that was the subject of the complaint were only eating pizza and drinking soda.<\/p>\n

Martinez has admitted to drinking 1-1.5 cocktails earlier in the evening but says she wasn\u2019t intoxicated. The governor has apologized for her actions<\/a>. The pizza-and-soda joke has become a\u00a0way to mock Martinez’s claim that she wasn’t drunk\u00a0and a protest of her inappropriate actions.<\/p>\n

Escalating\u00a0disrespect<\/h3>\n

I realize the Democrats’ protests during Martinez’s speech don’t exist in a vacuum. There is a long history of escalating disrespect, in our overly polarized times, that has\u00a0led us to the point where many Democrats think it’s appropriate to ridicule\u00a0the governor during her State of the State Address.<\/p>\n

For senators, it’s partly about asserting themselves because of a belief that\u00a0the past two governors have been bullies. Former Gov. Bill Richardson was grossly disrespectful at times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And there have been several high-profile instances of back-and-forth disrespect during Martinez’s tenure. Some examples:<\/p>\n