That’s my favorite quote from my interview with Tara Setmayer today.

I love interviewing Tara about her more than two-year-long struggle to get Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean out of prison because it’s so obviously personal to her. Those kinds of stories such as the one about the former border patrol agents who were convicted of shooting a drug smuggler and trying to cover it up often yield a lot of emotion, which makes for good writing. She promised “Nacho” Ramos she’d get him out of jail one day and she’s proud she was able to keep it. So it really helps that she’s such an ardent advocate — she goes out of her way to help me tell the tale.

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Former border patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, whose imprisonment for shooting a drug smuggler spurred a protest on Capitol Hill, are on their way back home. President Bush commuted their sentences for shooting Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila and they are due to be released next month. Until then they will serve the remainder of their sentences in home confinement, according to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s office, which led the charge to pardon the men.

Rohrabacher’s spokeswoman, Tara Setmayer, who was so instrumental in fighting to win their release is on a plane with Ramos right now flying back to El Paso. I’ll give you more details as I learn them.

OK, be kind. I spent hours doing this sketch for my new header to replace the one with President Obama that we put up there for my inauguration coverage. I’m way out of practice with my drawing and this is my least favorite subject for portraits so take that into consideration. But what do you think? Should I use this one? I have some ideas for other images in the header, but this will be the dominant one unless I hear howls of protest.

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