Secretary Schmecretary

The news broke this afternoon, and all the kings horses . . . OH, nevermind.

It was reported this afternoon that NM Gov. Bill Richardson (who conveniently hadn't yet resigned his post as governor) has withdrawn his name from nomination as President-elect Obama's Secretary of Commerce. He expressed his concern for possibly slowing the confirmation process because of the on-going investigation into a pay-for-play allegation that is similar to, but does not exactly mirror, the Gov. Blago scandal in Illinois. The people of the State of New Mexico thank him for his concerns.

The bad news is that Gov. Richardson, unless the investigation succeeds in deposing him as governor, will serve out his term that ends in 2010. The good news is that he will have to stick around and deal with the consequences of his egregious spending spree on highway projects and commuter rail - projects that would not have been funded during his tenure had he not convinced the legislature to use non-recurring funds (which have dried up).

Pity the New Mexico taxpayer who will now have to foot the bill for completing some projects and subsidizing others.

And pity the poor Lt. Governor, Diane Denish, who was preparing to step into the office of governor in February, and who had to do the job without any thanks from Gov. Bill while he was off campaigning for President. (Hmmm, it seems he pulled out of that race just about when the investigation was started. Hummm!)

To be fair and balanced, Mr. Richardson asserts that he will be cleared of any wrongdoing, and no charges have actually been filed, no arrests have been made, and no indictments have been handed down. Driven snow, my boys! Driven snow.