Anyone here from Taos?

[rabs]

Was wondering whether anyone knows if Donald Rumsfeld is still living in Taos as the local war criminal.

Saw a news story last year that he had taken up residency there.

[abq e streeter]

1. Just emailed this to a friend who's from Taos, and still has a lot of friends and family there.

I'm guessing that he'll know ,and post here when I hear from him.

[rabs]

2. Many thanks, hope you hear something from your friend

As you know that is a big fuss about the seven military bases the Pentagon is hurriedly trying to get in Colombia.

About two/three years ago Rumsfeld wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in which he basically outlined the script for a war against Venezuela to take over its vast oil deposits.

There is much concern in Latin America that the seven bases in Colombia will be seven daggers pointed directly at Venezuela and to a lesser extent, Ecuador, which has oil under its jungle floor.

That was what reminded me that Rumsfeld had been reported living in Taos and I am curious whether he is still there and what he does around town.

p.s. drop into the Latin America forum now and then, interesting topics there that are hardly mentioned in the English-language media.

[abq e streeter]

3. Finally talked to my friend; he didn't know anything

but I will be in Taos later this month , I'll try to remember to ask around. My hope is that people there, if he is still around there, and shows his ugly criminal face , are rude and maybe verbally confrontational with him, but nothing more. I hope he does not get actual threats or anything; that shit is something the other side does; our side needs to be above stuff like that.

[rabs]

4. This is the story I remember reading a couple of years ago ..

and it wasn't really a threat, just a juicy (and funny as hell) insult.

How to Talk to a War Criminal
Greeting Rumsfeld in Taos
By JEFF CONANT

It was one of those crisp, clear 50 degree winter days with hard-packed snow that makes Taos, New Mexico a world-class ski resort and brings a steady stream of celebrities to this remote mountain hamlet. I'd taken the morning off to ski with a friend from out of town and two of his kids. Our wives had planned to meet us for lunch at a restaurant at the base of the ski-hill, so when lunchtime came we glided in, unbuckled our skis, and headed in to eat. But before I entered, I was stopped in my tracks when, from the corner of my eye I noticed a familiar-looking white-haired and bespectacled old man sitting with two others at an outdoor table. Among those whose names are regularly invoked as testament to Taos's celebrity appeal is former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and indeed, here I was, face to face with Rummy himself. Knowing that the former Secretary of Defense frequented the Taos Ski Valley, I had fantasized this moment many times. To my good fortune I was surprisingly prepared to greet him.

I halted and took a step towards the table where he sat, not five feet away. I stood up tall on my ski boots and looked him right in the eye.

I raised my voice so everyone within earshot could hear, and I said, "Well lookee here! If it isn't Donald Rumsfeld, our favorite local war criminal!"

He and his guests looked up. Rumsfeld himself looked exasperated. His two guests just stared at me in reproach. So rude!

I shook my head, looking him in the eye still, and I said, "Mister Rumsfeld, you have killed so many people, you have murdered and tortured so many people, that it makes me sick to think about it."

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/conant03132007.html

[abq e streeter]

5. never had heard that one--no problem with him being confronted and "outed"

I also thought I remembered stories that he was refused service in some restaurants etc when he first arrived there. I go back and forth on whether I agree with that or not. The guy certainly has brought it on himself, yet I'd hate to think I could be refused service somewhere because of my politics ( and yeah ,I realize it's more than his politics, it's his actions that have destroyed so much and so many).
Completely unrelated: I never think of Taos as being "remote" or a "hamlet'. I suppose compared to the rest of the U.S. , it is...

[all.of.me]

6. he does not live here full time, but

he owns a lot of property.

[rabs]

7. Thanks for the update

Guess that makes him a part-time local war criminal. :-)

"owns a lot of property?" Ranches, condos, undeveloped land? Wonder what he plans to do with it, at his age?