I think it's time to recognize Bill Richardson as an authentic article

[bigtree]

04/10/2007

Richardson’s N. Korea visit yields nuke breakthrough

Video: http://www.kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=31553&cat=NMTOPSTORIES


New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s visit to North Korea appears to be yielding unexpected fruit.

Richardson, part of a bipartisan delegation dispatched to North Korea to return remains of U.S. MIAs, appears to have secured a concession from the communist state on its developing nuclear weapons program.


http://www.kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=31553&cat=NMTOPSTORIES


Bill Richardson's Diplomatic Missions
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3206381&mesg_id=3206381


http://journals.democraticunderground.com/bigtree

[madokie]

1. You folks in New Mexico have someone to be real proud of

I've been watching and reading about Bill for years now and I have learned he is the real deal

[Rydz777]

2. High time

Yes, it's high time. At the risk of repeating myself, he (1)has broad foreign policy experience, (2) has successfully managed a state government and a federal bureaucracy, (3) served in Congress, and (4) is actually bilingual (unlike Bush.) If he can just raise enough money, he will be a contender.

[Ganja Ninja]

3. Because of his stance on marijuana I'm going to vote for him in

the primary if Gore doesn't get in the race.

[SharonRB]

5. Me, too (not just because of the marijuana issue)

But Gore is definitely my #1 choice and I hope he runs. Richardson is my #2 right now.

[ms liberty]

43. Me three!...

I agree about Gore also - I'm his if he runs, but Richardson has really caught my eye. His signing the medical marijuana bill when he had already declared his candidacy for President was pretty darn courageous if you ask me (although you didn't!!!LOL)

[merh]

4. He is still to close to the corporations

and his ties with the oil companies before he was elected governor will always make me distrust him. Our enemies are not the republicans, it is the corporations and he has been far too close to them for my comfort.

[bigtree]

6. I don't think that 'closeness' has prevented him from championing

and legislating on behalf of workers and workers' rights. Show me a governor who isn't actively engaged in attracting businesses to their state.


"In New Mexico, Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson signed a law in 2003 giving bargaining rights to public workers, after years of opposition from former Gov. Gary Johnson, a Republican."
http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/37/9783


Saturday, March 31, 2007

“In 2008, unions will come out
and we’ll have a Democratic president,” Richardson
said, after citing union turnout in prior elections
and praising BCTD and CWA members for their
get-out-the-vote efforts.

“We’ve got to stand up for the middle class and the
best way to do that is to support unions. Republicans
have passed right-to-work laws, but I’ll fight by your
side for the Employee Free Choice Act until every
worker has the unfettered right to join a union.”

Richardson talked about dealing with workers’ issues,
and foreign policy, and other issues, as a governor,
U.S. ambassador to the U.N., congressman and as a
special envoy named by President Clinton to negotiate
with rulers in world trouble spots.

“Campaign promises may win friends, but performance
keeps them,” Richardson said. He reminded the union
crowds that as governor he restored collective
bargaining rights for state workers, signed the first
project labor agreement for a state construction
contract--a $400 million state hospital that will be
totally union-built--and just pushed through an
increase in New Mexico’s minimum wage, to $7.50 an
hour. GOP opposition has kept the federal minimum at
$5.15 for more than a decade.

Richardson promised an union member would be his
Secretary of Labor.

http://www.ilcaonline.org/ht/display/ArticleDetails/i/44887

[merh]

11. You and I have had this discussion before

and there isn't much you can do to make me trust him. What he is doing now to convince the "workers" that he is for them cannot overcome his past bed sharing with the corporations that are the root of the evil that is destroying our nation. What he has done now cannot make up for his interference in the recount of 2004. If he had acted properly then, we may not be in the mess we are in today, lives might have been saved.

[bigtree]

13. I think it's ludicrous to attach all of that to Richardson's advocacy of NAFTA

And his well-documented efforts in his state on behalf of the citizens and workers of New Mexico are anything but superficial as you imply.

And, your argument about the effect of the failed recount effort initiated by Greens and Libertarians in his state is contradicted by the fact that NM's electoral votes weren't anywhere near enough to make any difference in the election. So much for "lives saved" if the Greens and Libertarians in New Mexico had prevailed.

[merh]

17. We don't know what 2004 recount would have shown, he

prevented it. My opposition to him is more than just NAFTA, but I am glad you admit to his NAFTA errors.

[bigtree]

20. It would have shown an undercount in minority precincts

that's what was proven after the nationally-recognized switch he oversaw, to ballots with a paper trail, was instituted.

But the outcome of NM's election would NOT have affected the outcome of the general, especially after Ohio fell.

He admits to his NAFTA errors, as well as the administration's refusal to enforce the measures which would serve to protect workers and the environment that he pushed to have included in the trade agreement.

[merh]

23. If he had supported it at the time, it would have given Ohio

advocates stronger grounds, but that doesn't matter to you or him. Don't back fairness and the citizens rights to have their votes counted when they need counting the most, wait until after the fact and make an excuse.

As I said, I am glad you see the error of his NAFTA ways, the same errors that many who opposed it opined would occur. Now go look again as his melding with the corporations, his union with Big Oil.

Try as you like, you will never convince me to trust him, so please stop wasting your keystrokes.

[bigtree]

25. I don't think he was in a position to dictate whether the Greens or Libertarians

got to see their recount all of the way through.

As for fairness and the rest, he demonstrated his concern for the paperless system which had so obviously failed in his state and worked to change it; thus, demonstrating his concern for having votes counted.

Show me a western governor who doesn't have a relationship with oil and gas concerns. What you haven't shown is that his relationship has affected the citizens of his state in any adverse way.

[merh]

26. His ties to big oil has adversely affected the entire nation.

I suggest you research the election reform forum after the 2004 election to see how his failure to support the recount also adversely affected the citizens of the nation.

[bigtree]

27. more loose, unsupported innuendo

I don't need to re-read the facts surrounding New Mexico's inconsequential election. In the end, New Mexico's low number of electoral votes would not have affected the outcome of the presidential race. That argument is a false one.

[merh]

28. Only to you

Go ask the folks in the election reform forum what they think about Richardson's abandonment of the voters.

You should just ignore me since you find my arguments false. One might think that debating me gives my positions credence, that they make you nervous so you have to try to belittle them.

[katty]

7. yup, dig deeper into Richardson's ties/history-smiling wolf

[bigtree]

9. yup

pile right on with substance-free innuendo, katty

[merh]

12. That is exactly how I see him.

the smiling wolf.

[bigtree]

15. full of smears, aren't you?

name-calling is a despicable practice. It substitutes for actually having to argue your point.

[merh]

16. I have provided you with links to support my position.

My referring to him as I perceive him is just expressing a personal opinion. If you don't like it, please put me on ignore.

If you want me to provide you again with all of the links which support my position that he is in bed with corporations and part of the wing of our party that is more concerned with corporations than with the individuals, I will be glad to provide you the links.

Attacking me personally is against the rules.

[bigtree]

18. I'm attacking your baseless, factless, name-calling smear

which can't be reasonably defended here with "links"

[merh]

19. You attacked me.

And I suggest you search your other "Richardson is God" threads to find our other discussions. If you do, you will find the links that support my distrust of the man.

[bigtree]

22. yeah, I attacked your factless, baseless, name-calling

which can't be defended here with "links"

[merh]

24. Let me try again to clarify this for you.

I see him as a "smiling wolf" in the same vein as the other poster commented. I agreed with that poster, yet you have taken it upon yourself to attack me (which is against the rules.) I can state my opinion about the candidates, you are not suppose to attack me personally for that opinion. You have the links and since you refuse to acknowledge them, it would appear you would rather ignore them. Is the truth that uncomfortable for you?

[Bluebear]

34. Question: are you a paid Richardson operative?

Just curious.

[bigtree]

35. you got to be kidding

who would waste money for someone to post here?

seriously, I want their number.

[Bluebear]

39. OK just asking. I see you in Richardson threads almost exclusively. nt

[bigtree]

40. I posted some time ago signaling my intention to advocate here for Richardson

in the same aggressive fashion I advocated here for Kerry and Edwards.

Do you ask the same of the Clinton/Obama posters who flood this board with every single utterance about and from their candidate?

here's the post:

Bill Richardson for President

Edited on Mon Jan-29-07 11:24 AM by bigtree
January 29, 2007

I'm going to give my early support to Gov. Bill Richardson for the next President of the United States, if he continues to run into the primaries and beyond. Richardson, 59, has served 14 years as a congressman for northern New Mexico and sat on the Intelligence Committee, served as a U.N. Ambassador, and as Energy Secretary in Bill Clinton's cabinet, and presently, as Governor of New Mexico. I think these four endeavors by Gov. Richardson have made him uniquely qualified to serve as our president in this era of escalating violence associated with the international conflicts that Bush sparked with his exploitation of the 9-11 attacks. Also, I feel that his experience as New Mexico's governor (and as the nation's only Latino governor) has given him a unique insight and perspective into the very important aspects of protecting and enhancing the lives and livelihoods of (southwestern) Americans.

{snip}

I'm going to be advocating for Bill Richardson here in much the same tenacious way that I advocated for John Kerry by posting current news, statements, positions, etc. I'm not given to spending much time pulling other candidates down or criticizing other candidates, except to occasionally compare and contrast records and positions. I hope folks will join with me in helping Gov. Richardson in his exploratory phase, to make up his mind, and to help propel him into the primaries and beyond.

more: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=71189

[watercolors]

8. He's at the top of my list!

nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Maybe as Secretary of State. As, president, no.

[shadowknows69]

14. I have since the beginning

This man has integrity as far as I can see. The media won't give him a shot. We have to be the media, we have to help the dark horse candidates that we like. I'm so sick of the "are they electable" game. If they're the right person they are electable if people get out and fucking vote for them. Turn off the TV.

[Captain Hilts]

21. I really like him. nt

[kath]

29. Does Richardson still think that Alberto G. is just peachy-keen, and that he should remain as AG

because he is the highest ranking Hispanic in the country? WTF???

[shadowknows69]

30. that bothered me too

but what I think Richardson does understand is that all evil flows from the highest offices and they have to go.

[bigtree]

32. here are other accounts of how Richardson feels about Gonzales

. . Among the many blunt but insightful comments Richardson shared were that `Attorney General Gonzales needed to decide if he was the nation's lawyer, the peoples' lawyer, or whether he was just the president's political flack.'

http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/mar/24/gov-bill-richardsons-quest-saturday


Bill Richardson's comments on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales get the thumbs up from Steve Clemons, publisher of the political blog, The Washington Note, in an entry on Huffington Post. He called Richardson's 10-minute interview on "To the Point," "the type of quick-hit common sense that other candidates to try out." As for Gonzales, Richardson said he needed to decide whether "he was the people's lawyer or whether he was just the President's political flack."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-clemons/bill-richardson-is-attor_b_44057.html


The Daily Chatter
March 23, 2007

At the Huffington Post, Steve Clemons, who's written critically about Bill Richardson in the past, positively glows over his appearance on a TV program called "To the Point." (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-clemons/bill-richar... )

"Bill Richardson is on for the last 10 minutes -- and Richardson is just superb. ... Among the many blunt but insightful comments Richardson shared were that `Attorney General Gonzales needed to decide if he was the nation's lawyer, the peoples' lawyer, or whether he was just the President's political flack."'
"Richardson did not feel that matters that were essentially `political' should be shielded by executive privilege. Unless it was a matter of national security, Governor Richardson saw the effort to shield Congressional oversight from the Gonzales attorney firings as inappropriate.

All in all, Bill Richardson's comments were excellent -- and were the type of quick hit common sense that other candidates should try out."

http://blogs.scripps.com/albq/richardson/2007/03/the_daily_chatter_22.html

[cooolandrew]

31. These are all the issues they let fester for 6 years, good to see progress under this 110th congress

[SteveM]

33. How soon we forget. Ricardson is a 2A defender, too (nt)

[bigtree]

36. I love how these '2A' post are so cryptic

is it part of a club? like 4A?

[bklyncowgirl]

37. Excuse my ignorance but what the hell is 2A? nt

[bigtree]

38. It's either a NASA program or a pro-gun stance

both of which Richardson would identify with.

[scrinmaster]

41. Second amendment.

He seems to be the only Democratic candidate who supports it.

[bklyncowgirl]

44. Thanks, and here I thought it was some bizarre conspiracy thingy. Silly me

No shock that a governor from a western state would support gunowners rights.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

42. Throw his ass in jail. Logan Act, Logan Act, Logan Act...

MSM meme meme meme :crazy: