Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

11/13 Letters to the editor

Tourism real reason De Baca sheriff ousted

Recent published reports regarding De Baca County Sheriff Gary Graves made me chuckle. The Albuquerque Journal reported:

“The sheriff also upset many locals by joining Lincoln County investigators in a probe of Billy the Kid’s death. The investigators sought to dig up the Kid’s remains in Fort Sumner — a move Fort Sumner officials feared would devalue the Kid’s grave as a tourist destination.”

This is the real reason Sheriff Graves has been ousted from public office.

Listen, folks: It isn’t about the devaluation of the Kid’s grave— the only fear Fort Sumner officials have is that there is no body — not Billy’s or anyone else’s — in that grave site. They do not want an empty grave to ruin the jingling in the pockets from local tourism dollars.

How sad officials cannot find a creative way, as Sheriff Gary Graves did, to unite with Texas and Lincoln County to capture the heart and romanticism of the Old West and to enlighten the general public about the life of Billy the Kid.

So dust off your boots, Sheriff Graves, and move on where you are appreciated, respected, and needed.

It won’t be long before the real truth of the real Billy the Kid surfaces.

Emily Smith

Hayden Lake, Idaho

Thieves making off with firewood

Someone has stolen firewood from our residence on Fred Daugherty Street.

We have been stacking firewood for many years in our back alley without incident. But due to rising heating costs, we suspect robbers will be on the prowl for many months to come.

I encourage residents to be aware of those pesky little thieves patrolling the alleys.

Jan Elliott

Clovis

Bush’s policies bad for country

Cold, hard reality is finally convincing many of us what learned predictions could not: Most of the policies of the Bush administration are tearing our country apart. Many good Republicans, especially, are wondering how and why we’ve come to this point.

Speaking from the right, noted columnist Pat Buchanan said of the recent Harriet Miers withdrawal: “We’re the loyalist party. We don’t like to fight with the king.”

Excuse me? The king?

For several generations, historians have been discussing what is called the Imperial Presidency, especially within the context of arbitrary rule that has stepped out of political bounds.

Kings rule by decree, backed by usually forced loyalty.

Presidents are supposed to lead, not rule, by the consent of those being led.

President Bush, along with his inner circle and Republican Congress, is enacting often unusually foolish national policies with a kind of kingly arbitrariness, which is stunning, even to the majority of Republicans who thought they were voting for a compassionate conservative.

Whatever we think of Bush personally, many Republicans (as opposed to those at the far right) are in grudging agreement.

Kirby Rowan

Portales