One Woman's Viewpoint
Merritt Hamilton Allen, whose work is published previously in the Edgewood Independent, will also provide her columns to the Grant County Beat.
What do you stand for? What time is it?
- Category: One Woman's Viewpoint One Woman's Viewpoint
- Published: 25 April 2024 25 April 2024
So it's been a pretty exciting week in Washington. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson's legislative package for the most part passed on a bipartisan vote, with the exception of the border security piece. The Senate rejected the impeachment articles against the Secretary of Homeland Security. The howler monkey caucus wailed and gnashed their teeth but did little else, like actually fire the Speaker, as they have been threatening for some weeks now.
The first criminal trial began against former President Trump. Unsurprisingly, a stern warning has already been delivered from the judge to the defendant regarding the proceeding's gag order which is largely being ignored.
The opinions of political candidates
- Category: One Woman's Viewpoint One Woman's Viewpoint
- Published: 22 April 2024 22 April 2024
Possibly my favorite thing about writing this column is interacting with readers. That goes for the critical comments as well as the positive. I try to reply as my day job and bourbon consumption allow.
(Here's a tip: if you want to criticize me, please make it conversational. Screeds that just focus on calling me a fascist/RINO/moron with no contribution to the political debate do not receive replies. Pejorative profanity gets blocked. Repeat screeds get blocked. I mean, I understand it is probably pretty fun and cathartic each week to break out the keyboard and tell me what a fascist/RINO/moron I am, but please know it's going straight to the spam folder after the second message.)
Every now and then I get what is for a pundit high praise: A suggestion I run for office. I simply cannot think of enough swear words to put in front of my very emphatic "no." For print propriety standards, I'll just say, "hell, no."
American global resolve is shaky
- Category: One Woman's Viewpoint One Woman's Viewpoint
- Published: 18 April 2024 18 April 2024
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, trying to simultaneously do the right thing, not trigger former President/current GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, and keep Congressional howler monkey Marjorie Taylor Greene from formally moving to remove him as Speaker (a "motion to vacate"), announced on April 15 his intent to split the Senate foreign aid package into four separate bills.
Johnson proposes a bill for aid to Israel and is silent about whether that will include humanitarian aid for Gaza. A separate bill would provide aid to Ukraine. The remaining two bills would be for aid to Taiwan and a bill comprised of several measures, including seizure of Russian assets and banning TikTok. Border security measures could be added to this last mop-up bill.
Is it good PR, or Russian propaganda?
- Category: One Woman's Viewpoint One Woman's Viewpoint
- Published: 12 April 2024 12 April 2024
You might have missed it. On April 7, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Mike Turner (R-Ohio) announced on two different Sunday news programs that members of his caucus were repeating Russian propaganda in their arguments against foreign aid for Ukraine.
Just let that sink in for a minute.
Turner said on CNN's State of the Union, "It is absolutely true we see, directly coming from Russia, attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor."
Anti-Ukraine sentiment in the most extremist arm of the GOP has been simmering since Russia invaded in February 2022. U.S. intelligence data shows a proactive Kremlin campaign to undermine American support for Ukraine has been ongoing since at least May of 2022, and underway in earnest since January 2023.
The 21st Century Elmer Gantry
- Category: One Woman's Viewpoint One Woman's Viewpoint
- Published: 04 April 2024 04 April 2024
Holy Week and the Easter season in New Mexico is a special time. While the rest of the country dyes eggs and buys chocolate, New Mexicans go on pilgrimages. Every Good Friday, thousands of New Mexicans either walk to El Santuario de Chimayó in the village of Chimayó or climb Tomé Hill between Los Lunas and Belen. Chimayó pilgrims sometimes walk all night, and the highway department sets up special lights along the highway and routes on frontage roads between Nambé and Chimayó.
New Mexico is a state of unique faith. Growing up here certainly shaped and informed my own faith journey.
The hiring of talking heads
- Category: One Woman's Viewpoint One Woman's Viewpoint
- Published: 29 March 2024 29 March 2024
This spring, Ronna McDaniel of the RNC needed a job. As national chair since 2017, she needed to replace the $400,000/year income loss resulting from her forced resignation as Donald Trump clinched the GOP presidential nomination.
There's quite a bit to unpack in that lede, but there really isn't column space for it. Let's just move on to her job search.
We all know the path of least resistance for recovering politicos looking for work is to get picked up as some network's "political analyst." McDaniel did her due diligence, signed with the top-tier Creative Artists' Agency, and started negotiations. She was ultimately hired by NBC, to the general shock and outrage of its news staff.
NM GOP legislative leadership calls it a day
- Category: One Woman's Viewpoint One Woman's Viewpoint
- Published: 15 March 2024 15 March 2024
The deadline for filing for candidacy in New Mexico just passed and there were several major surprises, including the sheer number of incumbents not running. Nearly a third of the state Senate is not standing for re-election – 13 of 42 members, and 10 of 70 members of the House of Representatives are not running to keep their seats.
Three of the departing House members are running for vacant Senate seats, one of whom, former House minority leader and current House minority whip James Townsend of Artesia, is unopposed in both the primary and the general election. The House majority leader and longest serving member of the House, Representative Gail Chasey of Albuquerque, is stepping down. The only remaining Republican member of the House from the City of Albuquerque, nine-term Representative Bill Rehm, is retiring.
A must-win race where there are no winners
- Category: One Woman's Viewpoint One Woman's Viewpoint
- Published: 08 March 2024 08 March 2024
Three things were striking the morning after Super Tuesday: Nikki Haley's declining to endorse former President Trump as she withdrew from the Republican primary; a new poll showing 6 of 10 Americans doubt both President Biden's and Trump's mental acuity when it comes to serving as President; and the Ukrainian's First Lady rejecting the invitation to attend the State of the Union address.
In 2024, America is a divided nation with weak political candidates whose own political inertia is earning it international snubs.