The politicos give thanks:

--ABQ Mayor Tim Keller is thankful that despite a city crime wave, he has two years until the next mayoral election to straighten things out.

--Gov. MLG is thankful that she's not mayor of ABQ. She's also thankful that not a single rural county sheriff caught her speeding this year.

--State Senator John Arthur "Dr. No" Smith is so thankful that he wants to buy an airplane to chauffeur cabinet officials around the state. Now that's thankful.

--Rep. Ben Ray Lujan overflows with thanks, so much so that he's taken down the picture of President Kennedy from his living room wall and replaced it with one of Maggie Toulouse Oliver who dropped out of the senate race.

--Rep. Xochtil Torres Small is thankful that a full 23 percent of the residents of the southern congressional district can now correctly pronounce her first name.

--NM GOP Chairman Steve Pearce is giving thanks for the simple things, like being able to make payroll at party headquarters this month.

--State Treasurer Tim Eichenberg is thankful that State Auditor Brian Colón is already talking about running for attorney general in 2022 which would give Eichenberg a shot at the Auditor's slot when his Treasurer term expires.

--Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales is showing his thanks by donating $100,000 worth of video lapel cameras to APD.

--House speaker and enviro Brian Egolf is giving thanks in secret this year--he sent a thank you note to Exxon for the oil boom that is filling the state's coffers.

--Sen. Martin Heinrich is thankful for the Kevlar bulletproof vest that his staff gave him for his visits to ABQ.

AT THE MOVIES

Reader and film buff Eric Lucero is, as usual, at the movies this holiday:

Pain and Glory(R) Bio/Drama/English subtitles ***1/2 Stars out of 5.

Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar (Oscar for Original Screenplay-Talk To Her, 2003) presents a not for attribution autobiographical sketch of his life.

Almodóvar’s alter ego, Salvador Mallo, is shown transitioning from a Franco Era precocious child to a doubting, drug dependent, contemporary boomer who seeks a reawakened purpose for life, forgiveness, acceptance and a final release from the physical pain that has thwarted his creativity, hence the film’s title.

Antonio Banderas (Salvador Mallo) plays with Oscar worthy delivery the fictionalized filmmaker’s life. His co-star, no stranger in partnering with Banderas, is accomplished actress Penelope Cruz, who plays with poise and authority his resourceful and controlling Catholic mother.

BETTER THAN BURQUE? 

Finally this Thanksgiving week, a note from Lissa Knudsen on Facebook:

Today I learned that the place we think of as Albuquerque in Navajo is Bee'eldííl Dahsinil. 

The mystique of New Mexico is always something to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving, New Mexico!

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019