Blue Mass Group

<< A more nicely formatted PDF version of this is on the SDTC website:  http://www.SudburyDemocrats.org >>

Edward M. Kennedy in Memoriam

What did he care about?  It would take a book to list it all.  But he spoke for what is best in America—what is best in us all—and his vision was broad:

It came out in an open debate between state senators Brian A. Joyce and Stephen Lynch when they were both running for Congress that Lynch is a recovering alcoholic. This state may have been compromised to some degree in Senator Kennedy days of alcohol abuse whether he was called and alcoholic or not. Do we need to take chances again with someone who is untested under pressure that could affect the illness which it seems is thankfully under control? Lynch may have done an adequate job as rep in Washington but is he up to the task of handling the pressure of representing not only the entire state of Massachusetts but also national and international issues? The question is whether Steve Lynch is up to the task  

Boston.com posed a survey question this afternoon that drew over 15,000 votes related to filling the US Senate seat. (The site electronically restricts votes to one per person)…as of 7 PM, the results were: Who should take the US Senate seat? Martha Coakley   27.0% Joe Kennedy II      24.5% Someone else      12.0% Victoria Kennedy  11.8% Scott Brown             7.9% Stephen Lynch        6.7% Michael Capuano   4.2% Marty Meehan         3.8% Michael Sullivan      2.2% Total votes cast: 15,200 Looks like Congressmen will have tough name recognition battle ahead…”Somebody Else” may be a sleeper, as well…

Last week Virginia’s Orange County Board of Supervisors vote to approve the building of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter within the historic boundaries of the

Wilderness Battlefield – and one of the most significant battlefields of the Civil War.  The Civil War Preservation Trust has been fighting Wal-Mart on this location for over a year – seeking an alternative location and compromoise – and after last week they desperately need everyones help to stop Wal-Mart from moving forward and opening the door to further destructive development.  

Even State Senator Creigh Deeds, the Democratic candidate for Virginia Governor, has written a letter to the president and CEO of Wal-Mart pleading with him to move the location off the historic battlefield.  Wake-Up Wal-Mart is helping in this fight and you can too by also writing a letter on the Civil War Preservation Trust’s website and also help spread the word yourself.

More from Blue Virginia and the Washington Post below:

Cross posted from Stop Predatory Gambling A candidate for Massachusetts governor recently said a key part of his platform will be to promote more predatory gambling in the form of legalized sports betting like Delaware tried to do. Yet according to a news report today: “A federal appeals court on Monday dealt another body blow to Delaware’s plans for a new sports betting lottery, saying it must be limited to parlay bets on professional football games.” The ruling declared the lottery can only allow parlay bets which means bettors can pick the winners of at least three separate NFL games in a single wager. It’s more commonly referred to as a “football card.” Delaware state officials were aiming to legalize individual wagers on all games including NCAA contests. Instead of promoting a business model that relies on 90% of the money coming from 10% of the people who use the product and pushes people into deeper levels of personal debt, perhaps government and candidates for public office will now consider offering products that encourage people to save money so they can accumulate the capital they need to live the American Dream. The era of phony prosperity, casino capitalism and Bernie [...]

And we’re off!  The Elections Committee is holding a hearing on “the interim filling of a vacant Senate seat and specifically H.656″ on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 1 pm.  It’s in Gardner Auditorium, so apparently they’re expecting a big turnout. Here’s the bill.  Note how deftly it finesses the issue of eligibility of the appointee to run in the special election: Section 140 of Chapter 54 of the General Laws, as appearing in 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, after subsection (e), the following new subsection:            (f) The Governor shall appoint an interim Senator to a senate vacancy after the deadline for qualifying as a candidate in the special senate election has passed, provided the appointee is not a candidate in said special senate election.  The appointed senator shall serve until a successor is duly elected. Completely avoids the constitutional problem that some of us have been bashing around in recent threads.  This way, the appointee is not ineligible because the legislature said so; he or she is ineligible because he or she missed the filing deadline.  Excellent, excellent solution. This thing should pass, and pass quickly.

A special election to the office of United States Senator will be held Tuesday, January 19, 2010 to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Hon. Edward M. Kennedy.  The primaries will be on Tuesday, December 8, 2009.  Here is the full calendar as promulgated by the Secretary of the Commonwealth.  As part of his announcement the Governor said he would not be a candidate himself.

 To be held on Tuesday January 19, 2010. Primary on Tuesday December 8, 2009.

It's a valuable thing, right?  As long as we are changing the law around to appoint a seat warmer, let's sell it to Ben Affleck or the highest bidder.  We could appoint a corporation and sell shares, as a charity.

If you missed last night’s Pundit Review radio show on WRKO honoring Jared C. Monti and raising money for his scholarship fund, you can listen to it here: It’s well worth a listen.  Jared was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2006, and next month President Obama will award him the Medal of Honor.  Jared’s father, Paul, spoke movingly about the kind of man his son was, and Jared’s friends Janell and Darin recalled growing up with Jared and spoke about the work they’re doing now to honor Jared’s memory.  Christy Mihos even called in to pledge a donation.  I was pleased and honored to be part of the show.