New Mexico, despite its relatively small size,...

Measured how? With an area of 121,593 square miles, New Mexico is the fifth-largest state in the union.

I was worried that fascist piece of shit albuquerque mayor martin chavez would get the dem nomination and perhaps make it to DC. Thereby extending his corrupt political career.

He's the guy responsible for all our red light cameras and other ordinances whereby the city automatically finds citizens guilty of various infractions and demands a pay off lest they put liens on personal property. The city makes a lot of money off these schemes.

The red light cameras are the worse. A ticket written by a traffic cop costs less than a third of the automated ones. The company contracted to issue the tickets gets a portion of each fine. It's a civil offense, so the city's burden of proof is a preponderance of the evidence (aka more likely than not). The hearings themselves are a crap shoot because some of the judges are professional while others ignore the law. Finally, the appeals process is very shakey.

Basically, chavez is kind of like giulianni but registered dem.

This family is maybe even more creepy than the Kennedys, as political dynasties go. I know Tom Udall is generally a progressive congressman, but the whole "politics is the family business" does not seem healthy.

Note that Tom Udall's cousin Mark Udall is on a fast track to become junior senator in Colorado next year, and that Gordon Smith, Republican senator from Oregon, is also a cousin.

Wikipedia has the... interesting... Udall family tree http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udall_family

Tom Udall in the senate. If ya gotta have a dynasty, at least let it be a GOOD dynasty - Mo, Stuart, and now their kids - works for me!

"Small" as in few people - see, we only have three congresspeople because we don't have many more than a million people living in all that square miles you cited.

Is it because of the purported split between liberals and conservatives? Most people call the state the Land of Enchantment (locals sometimes call it the Land of Entrapment). If Wilson loses the Senate race, then it would be a great thing because she is one step below the Anti-Christ.

And, the writer complaining that Chavez is a Facist for the red light cameras. If people would drive better in this state then, these measures would not be needed. from what I have read, Chavez does seem corrupt. But, New Mexico drives are some of the worst in the country. Running red lights is pretty common down here in Las Cruces. These cameras are a response to a problem. If you don't like the solution, run for office, elect people you like, or stop running red lights.

but it's only the 36th largest in population. New York City is four times as populous as the entire state of New Mexico!

I think that 1,928,384 is in fact many more than a million. It's almost two million.

Maybe we can have FOUR congresspeople??

losing out to the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming and Alaska.

I don't have a problem with politics being "the family business" if family members 1) don't feel forced to take the path, 2) don't become overly-insulated in their narrow world, and 3) still engage in robust debate. Which sort of goes for any family business, I guess.

Meanwhile, isn't it time to can the whole notion of Red State vs. Blue State? I know reductionist categories make it easier for us to talk about these sort of things, but geez. If a state really were "Red" how could it turn "Blue" from one election to the next? Don't most of the same people still live there (exceptions, I suppose, for certain cities)? I think "Red State vs. Blue State" was created just because it looked good in PowerPoint.

We all live in fundamentally like communities in the U.S. We're mostly the same. What makes us different are very small points. These points give pollsters a job and incite some lively debate, but human beings have entirely too many variables to be neatly confined to two distinct categories.

If people would drive better in this state then, these measures would not be needed.... New Mexico drives are some of the worst in the country. Running red lights is pretty common down here in Las Cruces. These cameras are a response to a problem.

So, when democrats promote a surveillance state in the name of public safety, it's OK? You deserve to be spied on.

So, when democrats promote a surveillance state in the name of public safety, it's OK? You deserve to be spied on.

Huh? I repeat: Huh?

Anyway, Marty Chavez and his "beautification" schemes resulted in my (really nice) landlord having his property condemned because the stucco wasn't pretty enough. I can't say it's fascist but it is asshole-ist.

"So, when democrats promote a surveillance state in the name of public safety, it's OK?"

Red light cameras are far less invasive than the security cameras in stores, at ATMs, etc. These cameras capture the faces and movements of anyone visiting an establishment or in the public streets in their vicinity. Red light cameras, when working properly, capture one thing only: the license plate of someone breaking an MPH law. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/red-light-camera.htm

Red light cameras certainly have their issues: whether they're programmed properly, the money made off of them, whether other traffic changes should be made to discourage speeding, etc., but privacy is not the nost compelling argument against the cameras.

A surveillance state occurs as the government increasingly watches the activities of the citizens. With the red light cameras, it is the government (via private contractor) watching. ATMs, stores, etc are not. If those ATMs and stores patched their video feeds into government entities, then it is yet more of a surveillance state.

I know my notions of privacy and anonymity are dated. who'd have thought 20 years ago that so many of us would simply expect to be videoed while shopping. Meanwhile, we monitor our kids with technology and then act surprised when they share videos of themselves screwing. Who knows where this will lead.

As such, I agree that privacy is not the biggest issue with the cameras. The biggest issues are the presumption of guilt, the shoddy evidence, and the out sourcing. The city really has no idea who is driving the car (it is declared a public nuisance regardless of driver). The city can't tell the difference between a license plate's picture and a piece of cardboard's picture. The calibration data on the MPH sensors has yet to be divulged. There is no way to tell if the private company (redflex) is making stuff up. Also, there is evidence that the city is shortening yellow light intervals below accepted norms with the result that more cars enter the intersection on red or fail to screech to a stop before the stop line.

Still, even if everything worked perfectly, I'd still be extremely uncomfortable with a government that contracts private companies to ferret out and fine law breakers.

Especially with the laws these guys are getting passed. Houses condemned for poor stucco. They can do the same if someone (anyone) reports you for chaining a dog in your yard. Even if there was never a dog or a chain. Paranoid? Some, but by the letter of the law it can work out that way.