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Playing the Race Card

Give me a break. Read this excerpt from Jim Baca’s blog and tell me if this is not the oddest statement you have ever read:

I wish I were the editor of the Albuquerque Journal. Just for a day. Today there were three stories on the front page that belonged elsewhere not because they were not important but because of the news that was relegated to the back pages. The Journal’s continuing stories on Manny Aragon, Robert Vigil and Eric Serna, all Hispanic Democrats, might be newsworthy. But the continued violence in the middle east and Iraq should, in my opinion, be front page stuff these days because of their long lasting effects on our country.

So, is it just me? Didn’t this guy work in television news at some point? And yet, he is expressing surprise that a local newspaper would put local news on the front page. Give me a break. Plus, how can a person who is savvy enough to blog put forth the ridiculous argument that not being able to afford a subscription to the New York Times in this day and age is going to keep anyone from accessing world news?

Now, I admit there is something else that bothered me more than this silliness. In fact, if I’m reading it correctly, I find what Mr. Baca is trying to do downright offensive. He makes a point of indicating that Aragon, Vigil and Serna are “all Hispanic Democrats.” What is the point of this? If Jim Baca is trying to play a race card to spin these corruption scandals, he never deserves to hold another office in New Mexico – appointed or elected.