Dear Chairperson Lewis, Chairperson Gordon, and Committee Members: My name is Maruice T. Cunningham, and I am a retired professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. In 2016 I became curious about the dark money being spent on Question 2 to expand charter schools in Massachusetts, upward of $20 million in…
Charlie Kirk’s Murder and the Danger of Asymmetrical Political Violence Unacknowledged
Charlie Kirk put me on his “Professor Watchlist” -a list expressly designed to facilitate the harassment of those listed- because I connected the dots between Donald Trump’s violent and hateful rhetoric (which Kirk parroted for a living) and real life violence. Kirk rejected my hypothesis as well as the broader notion that violent rhetoric and…
Joan Vennochi is Right: OCPF Needs to Take Action BEFORE Voters Go to Polls
The Boston Globe’s Joan Vennochi has a must-read column today, Voters deserve guidance on campaign finance allegations: The Office of Campaign and Political Finance deliberately puts off reaching any resolution regarding specific complaints until after an election takes place. That needs to change. Ms. Vennochi is right: OCPF needs to act when it can inform…
Expert Douses Boston Globe’s “Science of Reading” Advocacy
The Boston Globe did another editorial hyping “science of reading” legislation and I don’t know anything about literacy instruction but neither does the Globe so I thought I’d introduce someone who does. Dr. Elena Aydarova is an assistant professor in the Educational Policy studies department at the University of Wisconsin Madison and an actual expert…
CWB Op-Ed: Duquette & Friedman Propose Constitutional Amendment
The century-old flaw that let Question 1 go the ballot
Boston Grassroots Leaders Demand Investigation of Josh Kraft Campaign and SuperPAC
Grassroots leaders of Boston’s Democratic ward committees have filed a request with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance to “open an immediate investigation into troubling evidence of illegal campaign spending and coordination between the Josh Kraft for Mayor campaign and the Your City, Your Future Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee, which has already spent…
The Meaning of Josh Kraft’s “Thanks Dad”* Campaign
Last week the Boston Globe reported that the Josh Kraft-supporting SuperPAC Your City, Your Future will spend $2.4 million in the coming weeks to attack Mayor Michelle Wu. Globe columnist Adrian Walker registered his disapproval but also concluded that SuperPAC spending is “a standard feature of politics.” That assumes the public has become pacified by…
Boston Globe Dodges DFER Downfall
Over the years the Boston Globe has routinely turned to Democrats for Education Reform Massachusetts for commentary on privateering efforts aimed at public schools. So, it is notable that the Globe has paid no attention to the apparent demise of DFER. The coverage blackout is even more significant since DFER’s struggles were revealed in a…
The Project 2025 America Needs: “The Systematic Organization of Hatreds”
Henry Adams famous description of Massachusetts politics in the 1840’s has long been a favorite of mine and I’m becoming increasingly convinced that it ought to become a favorite of everyone else’s too. “The systematic organization of hatreds” is a partially accurate description of American politics ALL OF THE TIME, which is why I think…
Boston Herald, Pioneer Institute, and Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance Push Great Replacement Theory
On Valentine’s Day the Boston Herald pushed the “great replacement theory,” relying on an unreliable “report” from the Pioneer Institute and a defective “poll” commissioned by the dark money Mass Opportunity Alliance. The story was “Massachusetts economy crashes as state loses domestic residents, gains migrants: report” by Lance Reynolds. The lede was “A Boston-based think…