Today's Opinions

As long as we have been talking about Gov. Susana Martinez and former Gov. Garry Carruthers, we don’t want former Gov. Bill Richardson to feel left out.
While our current governor darts around the nation and world, our immediate past governor, Bill Richardson is doing much the same. He is serving on numerous boards, some of which he heads. He is speaking at prestigious universities.
He is writing a book, “How to Sweet Talk a Shark.” It tells of his experiences successfully negotiating with dictators.
Richardson said the secrets are to connect with them personally. Let them vent about how badly the United States has treated them. Find out what they really need, not what they say they need. And use humor.
Negotiating with dictators is dangerous business. Richardson was basically by himself with no protection other than his own wits. He always had quiet approval of the presidents he served and he was a U.S. official.
But it all was taking place on a back channel. Richardson was good at it and has lived to tell the story. The book comes out this fall, but he already is being interviewed on television and in newspapers.

This Sunday is Mother’s Day. You can’t escape the piles of boxes of chocolates or smell of flowers in the stores, and the onslaught of jewelry commercials on television.
 French novelist and playwright, Honoré de Balzac, wrote, “The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.”
 Ain’t it the truth? When the Boston Marathon bomber’s mother rushed to his defense, people immediately condemned her for advocating his innocence. One can easily argue politics and religion, but I simply chalk it up to her being a mother. It’s just what mothers do.
 So what is it that makes a mother a “Mom?” What makes a 210-pound man sheepishly hang him head and say, “Yes Mom,” when told to wipe his feet when he enters the house?
 Moms have always held a special place in our society. I remember my father getting out of the car, walking around to the other side, and opening the door for my mother.
 There was no doubt who ran our house.

The New Mexico State University did what it probably should have done 20 years ago. It named former Governor Garrey Carruthers its president. 

Carruthers left the governor’s office on January 1, 1991 and entered the world of business, primarily as president of Cimarron Health Care. He then went back to NMSU, where he has served a dean of the business school along with various other university jobs. 

I got to know him well as governor, partly because of his openness. Every Monday morning he held a cabinet meeting with his department heads. Every Monday afternoon at 1:30 sharp, he held a press conference to inform the Capitol press corps what the government would be doing. He also answered every question asked.