Thursday, January 21, 2021Joe Biden: What America Needs Now, Plus: Readers Debate ABQ's Space Command Miss And watching Joe Biden take the reins of the presidency was as comforting as watching a grandfather gently separating grandchildren who are getting a bit out of hand. Will this welcome and overdue return to decency and respect of others be merely a blip or does the monstrosity of social media resume doing what it does best--divide and poison our culture and politics? The USA is exhausted and depressed from having its worst traits amplified over and over, leading the unstable among us to fall victim to untruths and conspiracies that in turn lead to bizarre events like the Capitol riots. Biden, 78, is from the days when you looked the other guy in the eye, told him what you thought, argued it out and shook hands when it was over. It's hard to hate when you are looking someone in the eye but not so much when a smartphone is the other guy. Joe Biden is so yesterday, so retro and so unhip. And he's just what America needs in her hour of need. SAME CHALLENGES The Governor postponed the traditional State of the State Speech at the opening day of the legislative session because of the pandemic. But you don't need a speech to know that familiar and steep challenges are back at the Roundhouse. From WalletHub: The worst state to raise a family is New Mexico, according to WalletHub. It is in last place for education and child care and is said to be the state with the third highest child care costs. Moreover, the Land of Enchantment has the third lowest median family income in the country while being the second highest in the number of violent crimes per capita. New Mexico also has some of the highest rates of family poverty, separation and divorce. DEFENDING THE SCHOOLS  ABQ didn't get Space Force HQ because our public schools (APS) suck. . . really? Blaming ‘poor schools’ every time ABQ loses a bid to land a major multinational business or major installation is lazy, disingenuous, and not factual. Are our public schools perfect? Not really, just like any public institution. However, a strong argument can be made on how our public schools are the most effective, transparent and equitable social service agencies in the region/state, providing first line services to our communities in education, transportation, nutrition, health care and recreation. The knee-jerk "bad schools" myth is a manifestation of a concerted "government-is-the-problem" fantasy that often doesn't stand up to objective scrutiny. Please define what you mean when you say "bad schools." Is it bad test scores, inadequate infrastructure/equipment, unqualified personnel/teachers? Or are overall student outcomes over time the result of a multiplicity of social and economic factors? Read Alan Schwartz also has thoughts on the Space Command miss: Joe, Why do we continue these futile pursuits of the "Big Catch." No disrespect intended but Tempur-Pedic and the Amazon warehouse project are two examples that realistically can fulfill jobs locally. How many times has the promise of thousands of jobs and/or billions invested evaporated? Remember Green2VV, Tesla, Amazon 2 Headquarters, Eclipse Aviation and the current work in progress Virgin Galactic. Now comes the Orion Center, a satellite company that has never launched a satellite and whose "Corporate Headquarters" (Theia group) is rented office space in a DC office building with scores of other renters. One can only speculate how many dollars of state LEDA funds they will milk from our treasury. Thanks for stopping by. This. . . is the home of New Mexico politics.
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