In a dog eat dog world we are cannibals.
An important choice has to be made in southern New Mexico's district 2. Either voters will continue with 28 years of one party republican rule or they can join the national tide to sweep out those who no longer believe in the Constitution and the rule of law, but instead want to govern by the rule of men.
In the America I lived in we elected public servants, not rulers, aristocrats, or insiders who wanted us to believe that they were above the law. What is astonishing is the complete lack of resistance among republican representatives to rule by fiat, propaganda, dogma, and the promotion of ignorance.
The following is a letter about one wannabe aristocrat, Ed Tinsley.
October 13, 2008
Dear Editor,
"Some people say that you find out who your true friends are during a time of misfortune. There was a man who I thought was a friend. I thought very highly of this man; my family and I even spent Thanksgiving with him and his family.
I worked for this man for a number of years, managing his ranches. But when I faced a serious injury that made me unable to work any longer, Ed Tinsley, who is now asking for your vote so he can go to Congress, showed me his true self.
Part of my compensation was living at a house at Tinsley’s ranch in Capitan. Over the years I worked for him, I can say I got to know Ed really well. In 2003, while working on his ranch, I suffered a terrible back injury that required surgery. My surgery didn’t go so well. The doctor told me that it would take more time to get to good health and to get back to work.
It was during this time that Ed Tinsley gave me the notice giving me 30 days to get off his property. This was my home, and when I was down on my luck after injuring myself while working for Ed, I hoped he would do what any decent person would do: show a little bit of compassion, at least until my back healed up. But I guess that was just too much to ask from Ed
Tinsley, you see he had done that before when his airplane pilot was killed in a car accident he kicked that guy's family off the ranch and gave them 30 days on the day of the funeral.
Ed Tinsley didn’t have workers compensation available for those of us working at the ranch. The healthcare I had under Tinsley was one that I had to pay for, and it didn’t provide complete coverage. Eventually, I had to declare bankruptcy.
Now this man is asking for our votes, so he can go to Congress and represent us. But the Ed Tinsley I got to know showed himself to be a deceitful person. He’s been showing that same deceitful person to all of you and I bet you don’t even know it.
He says he lives at the ranch in Capitan, but that house was built as a vacation party house. I should know, because I helped build it. I’ve never been one for politics, and Ed Tinsley is the only politician I’ve known on a personal level. Sometimes I think that if he treated me this way, how would he treat the rest of us in Southern New Mexico?
Based on what I know about the man, he’ll pretend to be your friend as a candidate, and turn his back on you as a Congressman."
Bill Vance
Eunice, NM