Sheriff Greg Solano has a blog. A blog I’ve noted before that he is keeping alive during his run to be the Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor in 2010. A blog that proudly carries a “leftyblog” and a “True Blue New Mexico” badge. So, is it any surprise that Sheriff Solano has decided to support Martin Heinrich for Congress? No. The sheriff is a partisan politician. I’ve got no problem with partisan politics – obviously.
What I do have a problem with is the fact that Sheriff Solano refuses to state the obvious. Solano should have said, “As a Democratic politician with higher ambitions, I’m proud to fall in step with my party and support the Democratic candidate for Congress – Martin Heinrich.”
Instead, Solano wrote this on his blog:
The really bad part is I have never heard Sheriff White admonish the Bush administration or even lobby the Bush administration to stop the bleeding. Officers across this nation are going with out Bullet Proof Vests, without ammunition for training and with out funding to keep cops on the streets and in the schools. I would love to see a fellow Law Enforcement Officer in Congress, Darren White is just not that officer.
Think about that rationale for a minute. Sheriff Solano is actually on record blaming the federal government for not providing bullet proof vests, amunition, training and funding to keep local law enforcement on the streets and in the schools. This is a guy who is running for Lt. Governor and who is supporting Martin Heinrich for Congress because Martin Heinrich will… What? Martin Heinrich will support the federalization of local law enforcement? Now, there is a scary thought.
I, for one, do not want a national police force only accountable to Washington insiders. Make no mistake, if Sheriff Solano, and apparently Martin Heinrich, had their way, that is exactly what we would have a federally funded, federally run police force. I don’t care which side of the aisle you are on that doesn’t make any sense. There are only two possible results of a movement in that direction, and neither is particularly palapable to me – a facist or communist regime.
Local governments collect taxes. One of the primary purposes of those taxes should be to support law enforcement. As a Sheriff, you would think Solano would know that. As a former City Councilor, you would think Martin Heinrich would know that. Yet, they believe that the reason local law enforcement doesn’t have the resources they need is because the federal government is not providing the funds? That’s ridiculous.