John Grubesic

This is a statement just released by Senator John Grubesic (D-Santa Fe), who was one of the sponsors of SJR 5, the impeachment resolution that was killed without debate this afternoon. He's one of the patriots in our NM Democratic caucus and in today's America, along with co-sponsor Gerald Ortiz y Pino, all the other Democratic Senators who voted for the resolution as it was passed through three committees and all the ordinary citizens who worked so hard on this effort. I hope future generations will know that there were many who dedicated themselves to stopping the madness of the Bush era, whether we are ultimately successful or not. Not everyone clung to business as usual, in the worst possible sense.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SENATOR JOHN T.L. GRUBESIC
MARCH 8, 2007

This country was founded by rebels.  This country was forged in violence, ferocity, dissent and uproar.  This country is vanishing before our eyes, not because we are blind, but because we are willing participants in its destruction.  Today on the Senate floor you witnessed an excellent example.  The Impeachment Resolution died quietly with no debate whatsoever.  The dignity of the New Mexico State Senate was maintained as we followed carefully designed rules of procedure to ensure that nothing disrupted the workings of this austere body.  We did a great job of making it appear that government was working.

However, we have to ask, which government and on whose behalf?  The action taken by the Senate was not the action taken by a body that protects the freedoms of a sovereign people.  The action was a carefully orchestrated option designed to protect the integrity of an institution and perpetuate the well oiled workings of government.  A government that has evidently forgotten that we serve at the pleasure of those we govern.

It is clear, that from the highest levels of government in our country down to our State, very few of us want to deal with the unpleasant political mess that impeachment could become.  Our actions today showed where our priorities are, we forgot that the Constitution was not designed to serve government, but to protect the people.  There should have been a debate, argument, uproar.  Instead, we quietly gutted the sovereign power of the people with polite political procedure.

When future generations look back on our time, the shock will not be because of the violent, impolite nature of the fight that preceded the destruction of Constitutional government, but by the meekness with which we watched it die.

Text provided by rawstory.com

You can listen to a discussion of these events, and learn more about the status of SJM 5, in a recently-recorded Impeachment Channel interview with Desi Brown, a staffer in the office of New Mexico State Senator and SJR 5 co-author Gerald Ortiz y Pino.

Carlos Cisneros

Pete Campos
(505) 986-4311
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Ben Altamirano
986-4733

Carlos R. Cisneros
(505) 986-4863
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Timothy Z. Jennings
(505) 986-4362

John Pinto
(505) 986-4835

John Arthur Smith
(505) 986-4363
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James G. Taylor
(505) 986-4862
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David Ulibarri
986-4265

It seems that the vote would have been 22 to 17 in favor, if the 9 Democrats had voted to allow debate. Isn't impeachment of Bush the official position of the Democratic Party of New Mexico? Maybe not.