Judge Kent's municipal court is now in session

Just kidding. But.... I was just fantasizing about how much fun it would be to be a judge here in this town.

Zombie judge is bound to die of advanced old age soon and will need a replacement. Considering the glowing report about him in the local paper, talking about, among other things, how he was there when John F. Kennedy became a "good politician", I doubt anyone would be successful in voting his decrepit rear out of office.

In these modern times a judge is supposed to know "the law", but that's ridiculous. No one can know all the "laws". A real judge should be able to look at a situation and determine who was harmed, and how much restitution is owed. Sometimes with the help of a jury.

I could do that. The city government wouldn't like me though.

First of all, I wouldn't accept a paycheck from the city since it would be stolen money. The other government parasites might not like me making them look bad by comparison. I don't anticipate the job taking up much of my time, anyway, so I could do that for free.

Second of all, no "fines" would be placed against anyone in my courtroom. Only the injured party- an individual who was harmed- would get any restitution. Running a stop sign or "speeding" that harms no one has no victim to recompense. I might scold a person brought before me for such things, depending on the circumstances, but his actions didn't hurt the town so the town is due no money. And, as should be obvious, accidents are NOT "crimes". I would arbitrate in case of an accident as a part of my job, but wouldn't demand a monopoly.

I would also scold any law enforcement officer who brought such trivial victimless "crimes" before me and warn him to not do so again. Right in front of his victim. Just before I ordered him to pay restitution, for wasted time and wages, to the person he brought before me. He should also probably pay me restitution as well, but it wouldn't be right for me to impose it to my personal benefit. Oh well.

So, no, I don't see myself becoming a judge anytime soon. I'd be a good one, though. I'm sure there will be a popular write-in campaign to make me the Farwell, Texas municipal judge as soon as the zombie is gone. Right?

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Guest commentary: Angela Kissell

Note: I am doing this as a favor to a friend; the opinions expressed therein are hers. This was to be a Letter to the Editor of the Clovis News Journal, but was rejected because she had previously written a very different LTE on the same subject. I don't do this often (in fact, I don't think I have ever done this), but this needs to get some local exposure and I am glad to give her a forum for that. KM

I have had my eyes opened.

Monday night at the affordable housing town hall meeting, Ms. Brumfield proudly declared that "for every one dollar sent to Washington DC, New Mexico receives TWO back." As if taking money from other states, shifting money from the pockets of hard working individuals in one area to another area is a great thing. The term for that is "wealth redistribution."

Back to affordable housing. I would like to point out that the affordable housing idea grew in places like California and in the East Coast states (think Maryland). If this ordinance passes, we will match up with those states, not to mention places within the state like Santa Fe, NM. In my opinion, those states and town are NOT known for fiscal or moral conservative values. I used to believe Clovis was a fairly conservative town. I believe that no longer.

An interesting fact: the name of the group that supports the affordable housing ordinance is "Clovis People for Progress." Progress is the root word of progressive. Progressivism is a political attitude favoring or advocating changes or reform through governmental action. This is the aim of the AH plan and ordinance, to use government (local, state and federal) to "fix" a housing "problem" in this city.

After last night's meeting, after hearing the city council members, mayor, MFA representative, some city staffers and a few Main Street business owners state their support for this AH ordinance, and pairing that with some other things that have happened in the town, such as the sudden purchase of the golf course, I had an epiphany. In Clovis politics, there are 3 groups: the apathetic, the progressives, and those fighting the progressives and their progressive agenda to spend us into oblivion.

Fight on, Clovisites!!

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