Category: Commentaries

Walt Rubel Commentary: Plastics ban needed; new fee is not

8/25/2021

I don’t like plastic bags any more than members of the Las Cruces City Council, who recently passed a ban on them starting Jan. 1.

It’s not just their uncanny ability to escape confinement and sail into the nearest tree or bush, where they will flap in the breeze until somebody comes along and dislodges them. The health and ecological damages caused by plastic bags goes beyond just being an eyesore.

Walt Rubel Commentary: War on terror no longer on foreign soils

8/18/2021

This week, the United States joined a long list of nations that have tried and failed to rule Afghanistan.

The Soviet Union came immediately before us. Their adventures in Afghanistan left them vulnerable to the collapse of the Soviet empire that was to follow. The British, Sikhs, Persians, Mongols and Greeks all suffered the same fate, dating back to Alexander the Great and Genghis Kahn.

Walt Rubel Commentary: Effort to keep vaccination rates down

8/11/2021

When President Joe Biden announced a plan to send local public health workers door-to-door on a mission to increase COVID-19 vaccinations, conservative pundits warned that those foolish enough to open their doors would be forcibly vaccinated against their will.

Walt Rubel Commentary: Bill would further politicize health care

8/4/2021

One of the few things Republicans and Democrats seem to agree on in our divided nation is a desire to restrict speech on the Internet.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 has become a favorite target for partisans on both sides. The provision states that owners of an Internet platform “shall not be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information” posted on their site, and are therefore protected from libel laws.

Walt Rubel Commentary: Lawmakers must serve state before church

7/28/2021

In 2019, the New Mexico Senate rejected a bill that would have removed an old, invalid abortion law from the books.

One year later, voters had their say. Six Democratic senators who had voted against the bill were removed from office, including powerful veterans such as former President pro tem Mary Kay Papen and Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith.

Walt Rubel Commentary: What comes after the last Qdrop falls?

7/21/2021

A few years ago I was scammed by callers claiming to offer a great deal on my satellite TV service. I felt bad about losing the money, but felt worse about being duped.

It’s a human reaction. All of us like to think we’re too savvy to be taken in, and it stings the pride to admit it when we’re not.

Walt Rubel Commentary: Money for nothing and the checks for free

7/14/2021

There are no free lunches. If you don’t work, you don’t eat. Everybody has to pitch in and carry their weight. These aphorisms from my youth, passed on by my parents and others from their generation who survived the Great Depression during their childhood, pop into my mind each time I hear about a new government plan to give people free money.

Walt Rubel Commentary: Future for NCAA on display now at Olympics

7/7/2021

When the New Mexico Legislature passed SB 94 earlier this year, allowing college athletes to profit from the use of their name, image or likeness, some lawmakers feared we were picking a fight with the mighty NCAA. If that was the case, the masters of collegiate sports just cried uncle. The NCAA changed its rules last week, just as new laws here and in other states were taking effect. College athletes will now be able to hire agents, sign endorsement deals, make commercials, leverage their presence on social media and get paid for promotional appearances, autograph-signing sessions and coaching.

Walt Rubel Commentary: Policing changed this week for the better

6/30/2021

Frank and I were home after our first year of college, and Bruce had just graduated from high school in the summer of 1977 when we decided it would be safe to smoke pot in an abandoned field off a quiet road. We were in an abandoned field because none of us had a home of our own at the time. We were all staying with our parents for the summer. Several years ago, a Sunland Park City Council member got caught driving around town getting high with his buddies. And I wondered, doesn’t that man have a living room? The abandoned field wasn’t safe. The police officers dumped our baggie into the wind, took down information from our IDs, gave us a stern talking to and ended by threatening that they would, “talk to their shift commander about what to do next.” There was no next.

Walt Rubel Commentary: Griffin has become an embarrassment to NM

6/23/2021

I wish Couy Griffin would do us all a favor the next time he goes on national television and tells them he's from Texas. Griffin was one of a handful of Jan. 6 insurrections featured Sunday night on a two-hour CNN special about the riot that day at the U.S. Capital. He was later arrested by FBI agents on federal charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority.

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