I heard it for the first time last night — “Benedict Brown”. And read the comments for yourself on Senator Brown’s facebook page. Its going to be a tough few weeks for our junior Senator as the dissonance between his national profile and political reality (particularly the local kind) get reconciled.

Governor Patrick, either through PERAC or through legislation, needs to put the Essex County Retirement Board into receivership until it can demonstrate a minimal level of compliance with basic standards of transparency, ethical conduct, and board governance. It seems support for this position is growing. What should be the final straw occurred at a meeting last week when the board tried to reelect Tim Bassett (yep, that Tim Bassett) after the Essex County DA had ruled that a previous election was invalid. And the state’s pension oversight agency, PERAC, reiterated that they alone had the right to elect the chairman. The board’s blatant unwillingness to comply with the legal and ethical standards set by the Commonwealth are the latest demonstration […]

My youngest has the charming habit of responding to my unwelcome comments with a wag of her finger and “Don’t Say That” sternly delivered. With that in mind, I’ll kick off a new feature on this blog. Today’s example is Governor Deval Patrick in his address to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. In his closing remarks, he relates: ..But I am not motivated by the usual things that motivate people in elected office. I am not motivated by ambition for higher or other office, or by entitlement or powerful connections urging me on. I am motivated by simple gratitude…. At first read, it sounds like a boast about his own virtue, but read it again, its both a boast […]

This has been a tough year for MA politics, with multiple indictments and arrests of public officials. But we always can fall back on our friends in New York and Illinois to make us feel better. New York, fresh off a summer of discontent where leadership of the Senate shifted back and forth (at times, it seemed based on who could physically control the chamber), is now facing some weird sort of slow-motion-sorta-crisis with Governor Paterson. Paterson is desperately unpopular and the NYTimes, allegedly has some sort of ‘bombshell’ story that it is preparing with some observers whispering that it might force him out of office. Its gotten to the point where a Republican gubernatorial candidate has actually called for […]

Adrian Walker picks up where his colleague Yvonne Abraham left off last month. While Abraham’s column was primarily a 640 word exercise in ad hominem attack, Walker actually talks to the current SNESL (and future UMASS law school, apparently) dean. It’s a shame that neither columnist could divert from their talking points to ask a few basic questions, like 1) Why isn’t the current performance of the students at SNESL mentioned in UMASS’ proposal to take over the law school, 2) How do you reconcile the almost $10m discrepancy in library assets between UMASS’ proposal and SNESL’s tax return, and 3) Why would current SNESL leadership (which has failed to achieve accreditation for ten years) be retained? But don’t worry, […]