Category: Commentaries

Walt Rubel Commentary: Mr Biden, tear down some of this wall

11/25/2020

No, Mexico didn’t pay for it. And no, it doesn’t stretch for the entire length of the border. But when he leaves office in two months, Donald Trump’s administration will have completed construction on hundreds of miles of new barrier along the southern border.

Rafael Carranza of the Arizona Republic reported last week that the Trump administration has completed work on 400 miles of new barrier in Arizona alone, and is expected to add 50 more miles before his term ends. That may come as a surprise to some. During his first two years in office, Trump routinely lied about how much progress was being made on the wall. That created a false narrative that some commentators on the left have held to throughout his term.

Walt Rubel Commentary: Don’t let me bleed to death in the street

11/18/2020

I was originally not going to include Libertarian candidate Bob Walsh in the U.S. Senate election interviews we conducted recently on community radio, but my co-host Peter Goodman argued that if Walsh was on the ballot he needed to be invited.

I’m glad he did, as Walsh provided my favorite moment of all the campaign interviews this year.

Walt Rubel Commentary: A return to blissful, maddening normalcy

11/11/2020

More than 160 million Americans voted this year. While we may not have all had joy in our hearts, it was a peaceful process. And, in two months we will have a nonviolent transition of power. Whatever the motivation, the turnout this year was impressive. And on both sides. This wasn’t a blue wave or a red wave. It was a concerned wave. And it has left us with a split government in which both sides will have to temper their expectations for the next two years. Spending too much time on cable news channels or social media can lead us to believe that more people agree with us than really do. Elections force us to recalibrate.

Walk Rubel Commentary: Elections are easy; governing is hard

11/4/2020

Now comes the hard part.

For the past several months, Republicans and Democrats have spent millions of dollars and invested countless hours to convince us that those on the other side are not just wrong, they’re corrupt, dishonest, greedy, thieving cowards. That was the easy part, at least for them. Those dishonest attack ads may have been painful for us, but the creativity behind some of them suggest that somebody was having fun making them. Now, those same Republicans and Democrats will have to work together. That’s going to be hard.

Walt Rubel Commentary: Six ways to make our elections better

10/27/2020

Every four years at this time I have the same thought, isn’t there a better way to do this?

Much of my frustration is tied to the fact that we don’t pick our nation’s leader in a national election. Instead, we have 50 local elections held on the same day, providing 50 opportunities for local officials to tinker with the process.

Walt Rubel Commentary: A debate where nobody has the answer

10/21/2020

It was less than a year ago that Russell Allen, vice president of operations for Allen Theaters, announced a major expansion for the Telson 12 complex in Las Cruces. Along with a new game room, bar, restaurant and party room, the 31,000-square-foot project also called for a 16-lane bowling alley, bringing bowling back to Las Cruces for the first time since 2018, when 10 Pin Alley closed. I’ve never been an avid bowler, but for some reason it bothers me that Las Cruces doesn’t have a bowling alley.

Walt Rubel Commentary: A plan to avoid breaking the U.S. Senate

10/14/2020

I fear the unfortunate timing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death may break the U.S. Senate. It is, perhaps, the inevitable culmination of a battle between Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid that started years ago, where every time the majority changed, so did the rules. About the only thing left protecting the minority party is the filibuster rule, and its days may be numbered. With his term as majority leader in danger, McConnell is rushing to get Amy Coney Barrett confirmed to the Supreme Court before the election. To do so, he has changed the rules established four years ago in declining to consider the nomination of Merrick Garland. Back then it was critical that voters had a voice. Now it is critical that they don’t.

Walt Rubel Commentary: Time for the country to don a raincoat

10/7/2020

If your neighbor doesn’t have the sense to come in out of the rain, you aren’t surprised if he gets sick. When that happens, you hope he gets well soon and learns from his mistake. Based on all the public information available as I write this Monday, President Donald Trump is getting better now after being hospitalized with symptoms caused by Covid-19.I wish him a full and complete recovery, as I wish for the thousands of others who are hospitalized and fighting for their lives. If, in fact, the president does recover, his illness could save more lives than anything he has done since the virus first reached our shores. Or not. It could go either way.

Walt Rubel Commentary: Two predictions for the presidential election

9/30/2020

I’ve been writing this column in my head ever since election night in 2016. I decided that night to stay focused on local issues, and to not allow myself to get outraged every time the president says or does something outrageous. You can count on one hand the number of columns I’ve written since then about Donald Trump. But I also decided that when the time was right, just before the start of early voting, I would craft a column that was so persuasive it would convince undecided voters of the need to make a change. Early voting starts Tuesday, Oct. 6, but I’m not sure there are any undecided voters left.

Walt Rubel Commentary: Athletes Protest

9/2/2020

Athletes can only draw attention to the problem. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947, but change came slower to Birmingham, Alabama. The minor league Birmingham Barons played in the Southern Association, which had just one black player in its history. Nat Peeples played in two games for the Atlanta Crackers in 1954. The Southern Association went under in 1961. After two years without baseball, the Barons were ready to make their return. But there was a problem. All of the leagues by then were integrated. In Birmingham, segregation was more than just tradition. It was the law. The so-called “checkers law” made it a crime for blacks and whites to compete against each other.

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