XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities, alt.politics.democrats.d, sac.general   
   XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh   
   From: bksherman@sunpower.com   
      
   New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is among the women on   
   the shortlist of Joe Biden’s choices for a running mate. She   
   finds herself in some hot water over what looks to be asserting   
   some personal privilege during a time when the state is under   
   stay at home orders due to the coronavirus pandemic.   
      
   Grisham issued a stay at home order for the state during a press   
   conference on April 3. The governor told the people of New   
   Mexico to only go out for essentials, like food, and that all   
   non-essential businesses must remain closed. “We are in really   
   tough financial times as a state. It mirrors the incredible,   
   personal sacrifices that happen every single day because people   
   have limited their ability to work, telecommuting and many   
   people, in fact, have lost their jobs,” she said. Little did   
   anyone know that what the governor meant was everyone should   
   limit purchases to essential items … except her.   
      
   An Albuquerque news station is reporting that just a matter of   
   days after that early April press conference, and one week   
   before Easter, Governor Grisham seems to have breached her own   
   orders. Apparently, for the governor, expensive jewelry is an   
   essential purchase that requires a shop clerk to open up the   
   store. The jewelry store’s manager said Governor Grisham called   
   up a jewelry store employee with whom she has “a longstanding   
   personal relationship”, ordered what she wanted to buy, and then   
   asked the salesperson to open up the store to get the item (s).   
   Then that person took the purchase to her own home, set the   
   package outside her door, and someone else came to pick it up   
   for the governor.   
      
   My first thought was that the salesperson/friend must really   
   trust her neighbors to leave expensive jewelry out for someone   
   to pick up. The governor’s purchase brought questions from the   
   news station but she refused to go on-camera for an interview.   
   Grisham’s story is different than the store owner’s story. The   
   governor’s office first tried to throw a staffer under the bus   
   but later admitted it was picked up by a friend. The purchase   
   was justified by a spokesperson for the governor as just   
   following the governor’s orders or something.   
      
   The governor’s office first said it was a campaign staffer, then   
   later told KRQE it was the governor’s friend, but wouldn’t   
   release a name. They also said the transaction was entirely   
   contact-less, remote and permissible.   
      
   The spokesman also pointed to the governor’s order at the time   
   stating “none of the state’s public health orders have   
   restricted the conduct of business operations in which an   
   employee only interacts with clients or customers remotely.”   
   However, that same order also states it requires the closure of   
   physical retails spaces and doesn’t mention anything about home   
   delivery.   
      
   This was also at a time when curbside pick-up was not allowed.   
   Curbside pick-ups were allowed starting May 1. When asked if   
   home delivery was allowed under the governor’s stay at home   
   order, the spokesperson said it wasn’t a delivery. Um, what now?   
      
   In a time of non-essential closures where curbside was not   
   allowed, KRQE asked if home delivery was okay. The governor’s   
   spokesman said it was not a home delivery and businesses were   
   encouraged to find creative ways to conduct business safely. He   
   also added the store was not opened for the governor and stated   
   that “turning the key inside a door to ‘open’ a store wouldn’t   
   violate the order…” He also said non-essential businesses all   
   across the state let employees in to do inventory or clean.   
      
   That’s a stretch, to put it kindly. The governor’s person picked   
   up the jewelry and delivered it to the governor – that person   
   just didn’t go to the jewelry store directly, he or she went to   
   the salesperson’s home according to the manager’s story. When   
   asked about having two people leave their homes to fetch some   
   bling for the governor, her office admits it was an “unusual   
   transaction”.   
      
   KRQE News 13 asked about the two people who left their homes to   
   get jewelry to the governor. Her office says this was an unusual   
   transaction and while “of course the governor has been telling   
   people to stay home to the greatest extent possible, it also   
   true she’s been urging New Mexicans to find ways to support   
   local businesses.”   
      
   As you can imagine, other jewelry store owners aren’t pleased   
   with the governor’s self-indulgence. The governor’s office   
   points to the personal relationship she has with the salesperson   
   and told reporters that “if a New Mexican has that kind of   
   personal relationship with a local business and local businesses   
   are trying to operate creatively to keep themselves and their   
   employees afloat while staying safe, certainly this kind of   
   transaction could have occurred.” So, apparently who you know   
   trumps a stay at home order. Is that what we are to take from   
   the governor’s office’s statement? Other businesses haven’t   
   interpreted the stay at home order that way and say that they   
   thought online orders were their only option to serve their   
   customers.   
      
   So, if she is chosen to be Working-Class Joe’s running mate, she   
   may want to check her privilege. Or not. The media is invested   
   in the election of Biden so the governor could likely not even   
   be asked about violating her own order while regular working   
   folks were cooling their heels at home without a paycheck. I   
   like nice jewelry as much as the next woman, but c’mon, what was   
   so important that this purchase couldn’t wait? The governor   
   hasn’t offered up any explanation about that part of the story.   
      
   A recent list of ten potential vice-president candidates on   
   Biden’s shortlist includes Governor Grisham at number 8. She’s   
   someone who fills the Latino vote outreach slot. Coming in at   
   number 4 is Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, the choice   
   being pushed by Harry Reid. Governor Grisham acknowledged she is   
   being vetted for the job.   
      
   Just like the kerfuffle Governor Whitmer tried to explain away   
   by claiming her husband was only joking, not exerting his   
   privilege by invoking her name when he tried to jump the line to   
   get his boat in the water at a Michigan marina over Memorial Day   
   weekend, Governor Grisham will have to do better than trying to   
   blame a staffer for her self-indulgences.   
      
   https://hotair.com/archives/karen-townsend/2020/05/28/another-   
   woman-bidens-vp-shortlist-treads-troubled-waters/   
        
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)