As 2021 closes three recent political developments reveal truths we are not always privileged to see: coverage of the death of philanthropist Jerome Rappaport; Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl turning a blind eye to racist attacks against Boston mayor Michelle Wu; and more accurate descriptions of privatization fronts like billionaire funded National Parents Union. Rappaport…
Month: December 2021
MA Lieutenant Governors: Reputation v. Reality
It seems that Matt Stout’s recent Globe article about the 2022 Lieutenant Governor’s race has revived some perennial critiques the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. For example, Globe columnist Adrian Walker and Northeastern Journalism prof Dan Kennedy, two keen analysts of Massachusetts politics, were both moved by Stout’s piece to announce their low opinions of…
Gift Giving Pressure Is On. The Answer Is . . . Books
Two years into this misery just heightens the need for great gift giving. No longer can we get away with a set of hair rollers for her or “a Craftsman model 1019 Laboratory edition, signature series torque wrench” for him. No. We need something that says L-O-V-E. We need books. We pause for a commercial…
Possible Criminality in Ballot Question Signature Gathering? I Am Shocked, Shocked.
Jon Chesto of the Boston Globe just posted a remarkable piece on the ballot question process in Massachusetts, Norfolk DA probing signature fraud on business-backed Uber/Lyft referendum. It helps illustrate how the ballot measure process, trumpeted as a means for the citizens to pass policy over the objections of the legislature, has become a plaything…
Newton Schools Racist Messages: Be Shocked, Not Surprised. It’s Deliberate.
On Friday Travis Anderson of the Boston Globe reported that two Black principals in Newton had received “racist and confrontational” messages for doing their jobs: to help their students process the verdicts in the Kyle Rittenhouse and Tracy McMichael, Gregory McMichael, and William Bryan Jr. (murderers of Ahmaud Arbery) trials. The hate came rolling in…
Baker’s Decision will Help Protect His Legacy & the Statehouse Status Quo
Charlie Baker’s decision not to make an unprecedented run for a third consecutive four-year term in the Corner Office was a wise one for many reasons, most of which have been well and thoroughly discussed by thoughtful observers. The complications of his party having been thoroughly trumpified and the various land mines Democrats could detonate…