Fox News favorite “liberal” “Democrat” Keri Rodrigues is once again swaddling in love from America’s most penalized media outlet. This time Fox gets to use Rodrigues’ criticism of the Biden administration from the “liberal” position, allowing Rupert Murdoch’s $787,500,000-poorer outfit to get huffy from the left. Unless of course you know and acknowledge absolutely anything—a…
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Moms for Liberty Quotes Hitler. It’s No Accident.
The Indianapolis Star has the Moms for Liberty headline of the day: “Moms for Liberty’s Hamilton County chapter quotes Hitler in first newsletter.” This isn’t some overzealous nutty volunteer. M4L carefully vets its chapter heads. Here’s some more from the Star: Just below The Parent Brigade’s masthead was a quote Hitler used at a Nazi…
Democrats for Education Reform: Let’s Meet the Funders
I often point out Democrats for Education Reform ’s far-right patrons like Rupert Murdoch and the Waltons but I haven’t given DFER MA’s Boston patrons enough attention. Let’s try. First, DFER is really at least three different legal structures under one roof. There’s the DFER PAC and DFER SuperPAC which have to report contributions and…
Educators for Excellence is Providing Lunch, The Waltons and Boston Oligarchs Are Picking Up the Tab
According to a recent Boston Teachers Union newsletter, Educators for Excellence “has been hosting free lunches at schools.” Let’s look at who’s picking up the tab. I won’t make you hang in suspense—E4E is a puppet of billionaire privatizers, Alice Walton’s fantasy of what a well-behaved teachers’ union should be. Remember Banned in Boston (Globe):…
Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance Brings Koch’s Circus to Town
Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, the Koch-tied operation, held a press event in Boston with other New England Koch allied fronts and I always wonder what milquetoast description the media that cover MFA will hide behind. How about “fiscal watchdogs” (Boston Herald)? Or this one: “Business-minded, small government groups.” Here’s one I’ve seen often: “right-leaning.” MassFiscal is…
Management Follies: Chaos at National Parents Union
That must have been some “convening” National Parents Union held in September because by October two of NPU’s five board members had disappeared, as had four of the nine individuals on their September 17 “Our Leadership” page and all—ALL—of NPU’s “delegates.” NPU,—not national, not about parents, not a union—is routinely mismanaged, but it seems to…
GOP Effort to Stop Permanent Mail-In Voting Highlights Unique Aspects of Mass Politics
The MassGOP lawsuit to stop permanent mail-in voting is more interesting than you might think. The state’s Republican Party Chairman, Jim Lyons, has taken a very weak outfit and turned it into an exceptionally incompetent one that is now engaged full-time in garden variety “lib trolling,” an activity that hasn’t been as useful for party…
The Waltons’ Massachusetts Political Team (2020 update)
With a search for a new Boston Superintendent of Schools, a renewed review by the state of Boston Public Schools possibly leading to receivership, a new governor on the horizon, and the radical right promoting turmoil in public education, Massachusetts elites and philanthropic interest groups want to know one thing: what does the Walton family…
My Pre-Review of Guv Baker’s Book about “Getting Beyond Politics” to Achieve “Results”
Charlie Baker has written a book. The purpose of the book (according to the publisher’s description) is to demonstrate “that government can work,” a task that is “vital to ensuring the future of our democracy” and apparently requires “getting beyond politics.” Sadly, Baker’s publisher, Harvard Business Review Press, didn’t see fit to send review copies…
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…