Just goes to show the powerful whitewashing effect of time. Why doesn’t he give an honorary pardon to John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy and Lee Malvo too?
Bill Richardson thinks he’s smarter than everybody, including Lew Wallace (who did, I have to admit, go back on his promise). Why is Richardson doing this? Billy the Kid has no descendants who are agitating to restore his reputation. Don’t the governor of New Mexico and that sheriff have anything better to do?
Well, Richardson needs to do this if Billy the Kid is going to vote in November!
Next he’ll have the citizens of Colombus apologize to the descendants of Pancho Villa.
One of my all-time favorite Billy Joel tunes:
The Ballad of Billy the Kid
From a town known as Wheeling West Virginia
Rode a boy with a six-gun in his hand
And his daring life of crime made him a legend in his time
East and west of the Rio Grande
Well he started with a bank in Colorado
In the pocket of his vest a Colt he hid
And his age and his size took the teller by surprise
And the word spread of Billy the Kid
Well he never traveled heavy,
Yes he always rode alone,
And he soon put many older guns to shame
Well he never had a sweetheart
And he never had a home
But the cowboys and the ranchers knew his name
Well he robbed his way from Utah to Oklahoma
And the law just couldn’t seem to track him down
And it served his legend well
For the folks loved to tell
‘Bout when Billy the Kid came to town
One cold day a posse captured Billy
And the judge said string him up for what he did
And the cowboys and their kin
Like the sea came pouring in to watch
The hangin’ of Billy the Kid
Well he never traveled heavy,
Yes he always rode alone,
And he soon put many older guns to shame
Well he never had a sweetheart
Tho’ he finally found a home
Underneath the boothill grave that bears his name
From a town known as Oysterbay, Long Island
Rode a boy with a six-pack in his hand
And his daring life of crime made him a legend in his time
East and west of the Rio Grande
It’s nice to know in these trying economic times that our leaders have their priorities straight.
I never heard that Billy the Kid killed any women, so they could have said men, instead of "people".
So, Gov. Richardson, you’ve handled EVERY other issue on the state’s agenda?
He’s establishing precedent. By pardoning a notorious outlaw, it makes it easier to pardon current outlaws (illegal aliens).
Billy’s tendency for murder is way overblown. Most of the killing was during the Lincoln County War, where what was legal and what was not got a bit confused, mainly depending on which faction you sided with. He was also granted amnesty for the one killing he was convicted of, and then betrayed.
They forgot to mention in the article he is a Democrat! LOL! Surprise, surprise!
It’s criminals in business suits just looking out for their street-level brothers.
Love Billy or hate him, he still murdered two people while escaping from the Lincoln jail.