I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
There have been two common themes about Gov. Bill Richardson and his probable new job as secretary of commerce: he was snubbed for secretary of state and, of course, what happened to the beard? Now we’ve got a third theme.
A column by former Richardson press secretary and Knight Ridder national correspondent Richard Parker takes a slightly different look at the first question than many have so far. Instead of just asking if Richardson is taking a lesser job than the more desirable secretary of state, Parker wonders if Richardson would instead transform the position of secretary of commerce into a more prominent position.
Ambitious even for a politician, Richardson will likely seek to transform the job and position himself as the most public Cabinet figure in righting the domestic economic disaster and transforming international trade.In doing so, he will form ties here and abroad that may ultimately write his biography in political history as a senior statesman, if never a president. As a result, more people may be affected by the new secretary than any other Cabinet figure.
Parker wonders if Richardson will attempt to make the Commerce position into one of the more prominent positions, or an “‘A’ position, effectively and even formally alongside State, Defense, Treasury and others.”
So will Richardson use this opportunity to expand the public scope of the secretary of commerce to areas never before seen? Parker thinks that Richardson has the ability to do so.
Still, many media types have focused is on Richardson’s beard — or more specifically his new lack of a beard. The Los Angeles Times’ Adam Tschorn, who admits he is a “seasonal beard-grower,” looks at the facial hair in the Obama administration. The first paragraph calls Richardson’s newly clean-shaven face “another devastating blow to facial hair in the long-running battle of beard versus Beltway.”
For some reason, people are fascinated by politicians with beards. When Al Gore grew his beard after controversially losing the 2000 presidential election, he grew a beard. When Richardson failed at his bid to become president, he followed the former Vice President’s precedent and stopped shaving — much to the reported chagrin of his wife, Barbara Richardson.
Perhaps it is because, as Tschorn notes, no president has sported a beard since William Howard Taft. Beards are more likely to be worn by comedians and musicians than American politicians.
Even President-elect Barack Obama commented on Richardson’s lack of a beard, saying at the press conference announcing Richardon’s nomination for the press secretary position, “We’re deeply disappointed with the loss of the beard.”
