Her handling of Gary Smith case is testament to her kindness
Gary Smith, who ran a long-shot campaign for Congress last spring, is doing his best to help us envision what Travis Bickle would be like at 65.
Smith, right, was arrested last week by Albuquerque police on suspicion of slashing tires on the vehicles of his one-time political opponent, Janice Arnold-Jones.
Video from a surveillance camera at Arnold-Jones' home shows the culprit in all his criminality and dishonor.
Either Smith has an evil twin, or he used an icepick to flatten tires on two vehicles owned by Arnold-Jones. She said she was victimed by a tire stabber during much of 2012, notably after she successfully challenged Smith's nominating petitions.
Other Republicans with links to Smith or his campaign also have been victimized by a serial tire vandal.
After bailing out of jail, Smith on Tuesday told Peter St. Cyr of the Santa Fe Reporter that he drove to Arnold-Jones' house, just to see where she lived. This confirmed the account of Arnold-Jones husband, John, who said he saw Smith lurking, apparently in violation of the terms of his bail.
Smith, adding to his bizarre behavior, also told St. Cyr he wanted to find out if he indeed was the thug who had puncturedArnold-Jones' tires. Perhaps this was the beginning of a diminished capacity defense, or maybe Smith enjoys adding a sense of eerieness to his crimes.
Either way, Smith hardly seems like the good Republican who preached about personal responsibility.
Fellow Republican Arnold-Jones said in television interviews that she wanted to see that Smith got the help he needed. This was before he skulked along her street Tuesday, again eyeballing her property.
St. Cyr did a fine job on this rarest of crime stories -- one that that still makes jaws drop.
One element that shined through is that Arnold-Jones, a good woman who could have been a good congresswoman, took no pleasure in Smith's fall.
She sensed that the man who was going nowhere in politics had done enough damage to put himself in prison. For all that Smith may have done to her, she still spoke of him without animosity and with regard for his well-being.
Few knew Smith from his campaign, but thousands know him now as a squeaky-voiced, sinister character whose image will live on YouTube.
Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham, who defeated Arnold-Jones in November, is about to take her seat in Congress. How odd that a man with an icepick and line of babble made more news than she did at year's end.
Smith moved to Albuquerque from El Paso in March of 2012, to run for Congress ...
Posted by: Jerry Lee | 01/01/2013 at 11:11 PM