{"id":4175,"date":"2009-01-26T23:03:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-27T05:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/01\/fresh-starts\/"},"modified":"2009-08-22T14:08:44","modified_gmt":"2009-08-22T20:08:44","slug":"fresh-starts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/01\/fresh-starts\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresh starts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Carter Bundy<\/p>\n

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While we all would have loved to have been in Washington on Jan. 20, the Herculean tasks confronting New Mexico called hundreds of us to Santa Fe instead.<\/p>\n

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Fortunately, the lieutenant governor and Santa Fe\u2019s Mayor Coss<\/a>, among others, hosted a big breakfast party that let hundreds of us preparing to start the session enjoy the sensation of being part of a huge community event.<\/p>\n

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The Santa Fe Convention Center\u2019s main room was packed, with every table filled and standing room only throughout the back and sides of the room. Two moments and one non-moment stood out for me.<\/p>\n

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Quiet political activists?<\/span><\/p>\n

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The first moment I\u2019ll never forget was when Sen. Dianne Feinstein<\/a> asked the crowd in Washington to stand up right before the actual swearing-in. Immediately, everyone in the room in Santa Fe who wasn\u2019t already standing virtually leapt out of their chairs.<\/p>\n

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It wasn\u2019t one of those deals where a few people stand up and everyone realizes they should, too. As far as I could see, every person able to stand up did so as if Sen. Feinstein had personally asked them.<\/p>\n

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It goes without saying that everyone stood through the entire (mildly bungled) oath, without so much as a cough or sniffle to break the perfect silence in the room.<\/p>\n

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No group that large, least of all gregarious political junkies, lobbyists, elected officials and activists, is ever that disciplined (well, at least not Democrats). It was a truly special moment.<\/p>\n

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All we are saying\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

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The second moment that stood out was when President Obama<\/a> said \u201cKnow that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child.\u201d The convention center went wild. There were qualifying words \u201cwho seeks a future of peace and dignity,\u201d but they were drowned out by the roar of approval from the hundreds assembled.<\/p>\n

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Often-jaded activists and politicians alike were thrilled to witness a new approach to the world, where America would lead by seeking peace first and war only as an absolute necessity.<\/p>\n

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The near-immediate appointment of former Sen. George Mitchell<\/a> shows that this is a fresh start for peace. We\u2019re sending a high-level man who was largely credited for creating peace in Northern Ireland to do the same in a place where, like Ireland, many thought peace impossible.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

All we are saying is give peace a chance. We haven\u2019t had that approach in eight years. A return to smart power explains the exuberant response to Hillary<\/a> as she moved to the helm of the State Department.<\/p>\n

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But President Obama\u2019s no one\u2019s fool, either. The real enemy — the Al Qaeda extremists largely camped out along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan — also found out in the first week that a peace-loving America isn\u2019t a weak America, and we\u2019ll still defend our national interests.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Peace for those willing to work with us for it, and punishment for those determined to hurt us. Now that\u2019s change.<\/p>\n

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An end to pettiness<\/span><\/p>\n

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The third thing from the inaugural party at the convention center that stood out was the forward-looking nature of it. The talk, the buzz, the focus was all on Obama and America\u2019s new direction. The one notable exception was that former vice president Cheney<\/a> (how nice is that to say?) was roundly booed, but if ever a guy earned it\u2026<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

On the other hand, there was very little badmouthing or booing of former President Bush<\/a> (how nice is that to say?). Dems seem, for the most part, to be willing to move on from the disasters of the last eight years. Not only are the challenges too big to divert attention from the multiple crises we face, but there seemed to be a respect for the beauty of a peaceful transition of power.<\/p>\n

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I think it\u2019s wise to move forward, with the exception that truly egregious abuses of power, like any deceptions leading up to Operation Iraqi Freedom or politicization of the Department of Justice, must be pursued as a deterrent to such abuses in future administrations.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

New Mexico in step<\/span><\/p>\n

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Regardless of what one thinks of the leadership battle in the Senate, New Mexico\u2019s Legislature, at least in the first week, seems bent on following the national example.<\/p>\n

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What could have turned into an intra-party bloodbath has been averted, it seems, by President Pro Tem Jennings\u2019<\/a> insistence on not punishing most of the 19 Dems who voted for the Democratic caucus\u2019 choice for president pro tem, Carlos Cisneros<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

While there are disputes about which capital projects need to be put on hold to balance the general fund, there seems to be near-universal agreement about the need for immediate action just to ensure that New Mexico stays up and running for the remainder of 2009.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Democrats and Republicans, House and Senate, executive and Legislature, all seemed to be focused on reaching quick agreement on how best to shore up FY \u201809\u2019s books. Expect some sparks this week and next as details are hammered out, but I wouldn\u2019t count on the normal political acrimony and crossfire that traditionally permeates the Roundhouse, at least not on our near-term budget needs.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Between our new national leadership and the severity of crises abroad, at the national level, and at the state level, there\u2019s a fresh start and fresh approach to problem solving that is long overdue.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Bundy is the political and legislative director for AFSCME<\/a> in New Mexico. The opinions in his column are personal and do not necessarily reflect any official AFSCME position. You can learn more about him by clicking here<\/a>. Contact him at carterbundy@yahoo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Carter Bundy While we all would have loved to have been in Washington on Jan. 20, the Herculean tasks confronting New Mexico called hundreds of us to Santa Fe instead. Fortunately, the lieutenant governor and Santa Fe\u2019s Mayor Coss, among others, hosted a big breakfast party that let hundreds of us preparing to start […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bundy-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}