Michael Morris – In Focus

For me the race for District Attorney in the 12th Judicial District had the potential to be an exceptionally gratifying event. Now I am so glad it is almost over. Ever since day 1 of the “Throw away the Key” campaign one sage after another told me I had no chance of getting rid of the district’s south bound compass needle, Scot Key, or even of getting someone to run against him. As you can see they were wrong. At the same time I have 3 full-time years of my life invested in the improvement of this community and don’t appreciate the juvenile tactics some “adults” have chosen to employ in order to demonize the candidate they do not support. It is your mentally challenged antics that discourage qualified candidates from facing your asinine and childish pranks. Your reward awaits you.

There are two distinct types of offenders – the liar and the overzealous. The overzealous are merely overcome by emotion. These offenders are often the prey of the liar. The liar, because he is without conscience, will say anything in order to convince the unwary to vote the liar’s way. This results in votes being cast based on the liar’s lies thus stealing a vote. In the case of a DA election we see that it is not always necessary to invent the events being misrepresented merely what the events mean. Even better is when someone puts an idiot up to try to explain what his small mind has no chance of comprehending. Talk about confusion.

The net result of all these sandbox antics is something other than the reverent selection of the person responsible for the administration of criminal justice in this district. If you cannot see fit to tell the truth then I cannot see fit to bypass the process of explaining why.

There may not be much time left in the campaign, but there are 4 years of office holding beginning in January. That is the point. Unlike the politically motivated there is no candidate who can win and begin taking mulligans from me. I like both of Diana Martwick and Dave Ceballes. I trust both of them having spent many hundreds of hours with both in the course of this campaign. It is the office holder I distrust. Any office holder. That is not negative. Someone needs to watch this office holder since the only tangible supervision of this office is the polls. Without a critic the current office holder has turned the place into the three ring circus that is the fodder of this most spectacular of local office contests. Both candidates know exactly what I am. The only reason either knows me is my now finished quest to throw away the Key. It could just as easily be “Ditch Dave” or “Douse the MartWICK” next time around. This is a continuing process.

I guess statements like those above need some splainin’. Most of this campaign has been nothing more than the dramatizing of the nitpickiest of points apparently to appease those around the candidates who cannot be categorized as their friends. I am just thinking neither of the candidates has come to fully understand this though it is not for my lack of informing them in a way sure to gnaw at their consciences which I believe them both to possess. So why all the drama? Simple, they both agree the problems of the past ended when Key did not file a nominating petition. You do understand why we have this office contested by these two, right? The bottom line here is there are few credible candidates that have the capacity for deceit and shysterism demonstrated by Scot Key during his 12 year siege on justice. Neither of these two contenders is among that select group though some are endorsing which is mildly troubling.

What really disappoints me in this campaign is the politics of the matter. As much as I like both of the candidates personally I find myself laughing at the senior class president tenor of the campaign. We have the Buffy promising to fire all the lazy boring teachers and Napolean Dynamite going, “What? That can’t happen! The bureaucrats will never stand for that!” running at the same end from different directions. So why are two friends who privately, away from those defined above, express strikingly similar views of the issues here? That would, of course, be those idiots that told you that this slam thing was the way politics are done. I even watched it happen to the both of you. To an absolute extent neither of these candidates adhered to the promise they made me regarding negative campaigning. Today’s paper will show you where they stand on the issue today. Though Diana has not repented yet I feel certain that before this is over she too will understand what a friend is and why it is the positions of the candidate and not their coattails that thinking people care about. While you may get elected without the thinking you cannot enforce a mandate for change without them. The object lesson for both is the dangers of blind trust. Look what it did to both Atkins and Key.

In a way the outcome in this election is largely anti-climactic. While I have no bias whatsoever in this the excision of Mr. Key from the bossman’s chair was the real victory for the people. That is all I care about. Win or lose Ceballes isn’t going anywhere unless his platitudes about improving the community are bunk and/or Diana loses her mind. That is what is pissing me off here. I actually think both of these two feel an actual real duty to the community. Given that, I am accepting suggestions as to the need to get negative. All I do know is that with particularity the candidate running negative really needs to look around at the vultures that have turned you to this. I have to thank your opponent for repenting after a brief lapse of reason. These are some really lame bastards, these leeches that attach themselves to the persons of otherwise civic minded people honestly running with the idea of betterment for their community. These dark Pandora’s Box-like contents are able, through the means of “friendship” to inject their obviously unwholesome ideas that serve to disqualify them personally from selection for public trust by the people using these tenuous “friendships” as leverage. In no time at all we have this extravaganza complete with sideshow perversions funnier for their mere existence more than their substance.

Here goes. This one guy, Eddy Burkes, has to be the only recorded case of a caricature coming to life and escaping into our realm. Like something out of the $1 DVD bin Burkes plays a perennial would-be somebody who, no matter how he tries, never seems able to win even the little ones. With his luck I imagine Burkes sees soda machines as slots. Seriously folks, the Burkes Factor can only have two effects – defame himself and/or anything or anyone with which he is associated. For those of you unfamiliar with Eddy Burkes let me give you a little rundown. Eddy Burkes was supposedly a competent detective at one time though over the last several years he has become a furiosus, or so insane that we almost have to ignore his presence, but we can’t since this jackass cannot seem to help but act like a madman at every opportunity. Oh yeah, context, Eddy Burkes, obviously not a member of the Republican Women of Otero County, showed up at their monthly meeting last month with his partner, Lord Karl Anderson from the Alamogordo Daily News, intent on making a scene to effectuate some purpose known only to these two savants. Eddy did succeed if we assume his purpose was to define himself as an idiot who should be alternating between extra long sleeve jackets with a “Silence of the Lambs” mask and a more traditional jester’s costume.

Poor Eddy ,with a limited understanding of the facts of the case and even more invisible comprehension of the law, proceeded to ramble on with a two page prepared diatribe attacking Mr. Ceballes using a case discussed only here in which I referred to Mr. Ceballes as Scooby Doo. Unfortunately Burkes assumed that his wise self was somehow in possession of some kind of talisman the shaking of which at the demon Ceballes would result in disintegration or some other foolish notion that he and the Lord of the Loon cooked up after watching a movie. The case was that of Robert L. Jessie, a young man who got an even younger girl drunk and naked. Through some unclear happenings including the real possibility of an uncooperative witness, the case was lost on time limits. The point is there is no case to be made on this one for some kind of egregious conduct to justify Anderson bringing his henchman in to be disrespectful to the group launching an incoherent attack speckled with few facts and much feminine drama. Most of Anderson’s most interesting stories lately have been lame jock riding hijacks of materials provided by my wife and me, so Burkes babbling incoherently from notes gleaned from the best interrogation the poor fool had ever witnessed – lol – cross by Mike. Of course you would only know us as un-named callers on an un-named radio show. Even an idiot can see that Anderson put this poor delusional fool in a position where he could demonstrate just how deranged he is. Eddy did not squander this opportunity. Those of us here at Sirius Group Inc would like to take a moment to thank Eddy Burkes for inspiring SG AI’s newest product, tentatively named the “Pocket Slander Wizard”. The form driven PDA like device will be able to quickly construct for the user customized slander for any occasion where the need to make a public ass of yourself just cannot be resisted. It’s Slanderiffic®!

Well, now comes the time when I have to bash a friend with the same gusto as foe. In the hot seat is Ruidoso News editor Marty Racine. The background here is that his paper requested reprints and ran 4 of my ramblings to counter the ridiculous assertions of Scot Key regarding his lackluster performance that he felt compelled to mail to the newspaper. Now the RN through Marty has endorsed Diana Martwick for DA. This is fine on the surface as they should endorse the candidate of their choice. Unfortunately Marty was unable to stick with the actual facts instead creating some rather amazing legends of Ms. Martwick. The problem is that some people are going to think that Diana lied to Racine rather than figure that the partisanship coupled with a bottle of vino might be the way by which the endorsement left the plane of reality traveling to fantasy island where the shrooms are needed so you can ask the trees for directions back to Kansas. How did this man get things so wrong? Easy, he let his emotions get the better of him. Man up dude. Example. According to Marty Racine Martwick has 18 years experience as prosecutor and defense attorney. Diana has never made this claim and would be an utter fool to start now. Really, 5 glasses of hooch is the only way I can explain it since Martwick is about 10 years licensed with something like 8 years before that as a para professional in the legal field. If I did this folks would be calling for my lynching.

Here is another example of my friend eating bad rye bread. Marty refers to Ceballes as Scot Key’s hand-picked successor. On what he bases this I have no idea and I have been following this thing every day for 3 years. If the way Key has acted throughout this campaign is any indication of his intentions then it seems more like he is supporting someone else. In fact if Marty is correct in his assertion Scot owes Dave a refund of whatever he spent on this campaign. About the most reasonable explanation for Ceballes not denouncing this unwholesome growth on justice is some sort of misplaced loyalty tied to a long apparently one-sided friendship. While I wish I had a friend like that I am not so happy that Key does. What I see is a guy willing to forfeit this election out of loyalty to a guy who knew he was the kiss of death to any integrity driven campaign yet refused to be of any use except as a lightning rod for about any bolt fired. Yes I fault the candidate for not simply openly denouncing the architect of his opportunity to run for the office. If Ceballes loses he can look to this loyalty as the choice that sank him in a sea of people who have seen this DA do everything he could to erode the confidence of the We the People in the system. Hardly hand-picked sir.