CommonWealth is journalism at its best: in-depth, balanced, and independent. It is also the type of journalism that’s badly needed today as the economic model that fuels most news media is running out of gas.
That’s the intro in the “About” section of Commonwealth Magazine. Over the last few months as the casino donnybrook and the probation trial were all the rage I began to see reporting that didn’t jibe with the high-brow-intellectual-not-like-other-guys standards they claim. Bruce Mohl and Paul McMorrow seem uninterested in the law and facts but obsessed with a narrative dictated by, among other things, personalities.
Check this out. Former Ways and Means Chair Charley Murphy testified this week that DeLeo told him not to cut the probation department’s budget even though every other item on the budget was being cut. Murphy testified that he did as DeLeo wished and the House version did not have the cuts.
Well guess what? Murphy was confused. The defense produced records showing that the budget proposed by the House included significant cuts to probation. In other words the exact opposite of what the feds wanted the jury to believe happened.
From Masslive:
O’Brien attorney William Fick pointed out that in the budget ultimately proposed by the House Ways and Means Committee, the probation budget was cut – from $142 million the previous year to $125 million that year, a cut of 12 percent. Murphy was unable to explain the discrepancy.
DeLeo put out a press release citing the same facts.
So yesterday Paul McMorrow writes the opposite of the truth then goes after DeLeo for it. He knocks DeLeo and falsely accuses him of using the final budget numbers rather than the one proposed y the House. McMorrow is either stupid, lazy, in the bag for someone, or can’t read. How else can we explain this?
So will Commonwealth Magazine make the correction? This isn’t a minor reporting error. It’s libelous. Regardless of Sullivan v. NY Times.
Just an example of the Howie Carr “journalism” I’ve been noticing over there.
One would expect to see stories on former federal judge Nancy Gertner and civil rights lawyer Harvey Silverglate condemning the prosecution in this case. How about any of the thousands of legal scholars out there disgusted at this indictments? Chirp chirp from Commonwealth Magazine.
Another example is its reporting on casinos and Marty Walsh involvement. Most of the reporting has been from Bruce Mohl. I would call Bruce a punk but that implies some molecules of street smarts and common sense. With all the shenanigans going on in Everett with made mafia figures swapping land and strip clubs under the knowing but turned eye of Steve Wynn and city officials, coupled with a Gaming Commission chairman who, when forced, admitted to being a former business partner with an investor in the questionable Everett land Bruce thinks the big story is that our mayor voted for casinos when a state rep. Mohl thinks because the Mayor is not out front cheering on casinos in his constituents neighborhoods he is a hypocrite? A fraud? A what Bruce?
Bruce should bone up on law and street fights. Check this crap out from Bruce. He recites the long list of requests made by the mayor to the Commission which were all refused. He then reports the Mohegan/Boson deal as if Walsh was backed into a corner. Makes Walsh look weak.
Is Mohr an idiot or does he just have a hate on for the Irish Catholic mayor from Savin Hill (BTW before Marty Walsh there were probably six people not from Savin Hill who heard of it and four who knew where it was)
The deal with Mohegan was home run. Among other things it will force Wynn’s and the commission’s hand. Who cares if the gaming commission will act as arbitrator and come up with a figure for Wynn to pay Boston? The Commission can’t use the cities refusal to go to an outside arbitrator as a factor but they have to consider the deal Mohegan gave Boston. It established the market.
Anyway, as the mayor is playing Wynn, Everett, and the untrustworthy commission against each other it becomes obvious what he’s doing. Except to Bruce Mohl. Last week the mayor sent a letter to the gaming commission asking them to hold off granting licenses until after the November initiative petition. Included in the letter Mayor Walsh let it be known that no negotiating will be done with the casinos until after the Commission ruled on its request. Makes sense.Here’s how Walsh said that in the letter:
“Pending the outcome of the city’s motion, the city presently does not intend to participate in negotiation and arbitration regarding the surrounding community issue,”
Mohr had a problem with this sentence for some reason and wrote a story on it. The headline called the letter “odd” and the story questioned what it meant. Huh? Ahh Bruce, it says what it say. ‘We ain’t doin’ nothin’ til after you rule on our request for a continuance. And after that? Well will decide when we see your ruling.’
Mohr is frustrated with his lack of political savvy and legal knowledge which makes it difficult when one has a n agenda. He looks for anything he can wrap his mind around, ignores anything complicated or not in line with his narrative and writes.
You know. Like most of the “journalist” who constantly tell us how smart and ethical they are. Puleeeeze.
Anyway, this isn’t about Mohr, or McMorrow, or DeLeo, or Walsh. It’s about the do-gooders running Commonwealth Magazine, what they say their publication is, and what it really is.
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I’m on twitter you know.
judy-meredith says
I read Commonwealth because I have to. I read the Herald and the Globe and the NYT for the same reason. As a lobbyist you are paid to predict legislative behavior and you need to know what the so called political analysts are making up about current events. Yes I said making up, because nobody knows what the key players motivation for doing anything is, because the key players aint telling anybody. certainly not reporters from the Globe, the Herald or Commonwealth Magazine.
Anything they tell reporters is to advance their next move in the 8 dimensional chess game, sometimes called politics. Bruce’s boss Greg Torres used to play it all the time with Bruce when he was a state house reporter.
eb3-fka-ernie-boch-iii says
“Anything they tell reporters is to advance their next move in the 8 dimensional chess game, sometimes called politics.”
HeartlandDem says
When anyone quotes Masslive in a post about the failings of Commonwealth Magazine.
In other news Ernie you’re down 25K due to your namesake’s generous donation to Rhode Island’s Free Clinic.
petr says
Are we really expected to believe that the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee did not know — err, was “confused” about— the final markup of what came out of the House Ways and Means Committee? That seems like something beyond belief.
The argument goes: Murphy says he was asked to do something, which he says he then did. The record, apparently, is showing something else entirely… So either the Chairman of the House Ways and Means is a powerful position that can do the bidding of the Speaker, or he’s a complete and total incompetent.
Somebody is playing somebody… And if this doesn’t end with the legislative record missing 18 and one half minutes of EBIII’s memory, I’ll be very surprised…
eb3-fka-ernie-boch-iii says
I had your exact thoughts but thinking deeper it didn’t make sense because the house version of the budget, known as “House Bill # 1” is ubiquitous. At least 1000, probably many more, are printed each year and distributed like a the “Metro”. So if the Speaker was inclined to change the record in the House Clerk’s office it would be uncovered ASAP followed by indictments.
No, past budget numbers can’t be messed with. Like the new movie “Sex Tapes” where a couple try to erase their sex video from the cloud.
Murphy being “confused” is a little troubling but again it would be ridiculous for him to knowingly testify about something so easy to contradict. He’s an attorney, like the Speaker, not stupid.
So all I can do is speculate.
Most likely Fred Wyshak and his team of bullies did not do their homework and Murphy didn’t check and confirm the details.
Three things to remember on this:
1. Chair of Ways and Means (Murphy) would have thousands of conversations with Speaker and his office about a budget that contains tens of thousands of items dealing with thousands of departments, agencies, commissions, and institutions. For him to remember specifics of conversations and budget items years later can be tested.
2. It’s no secret Murphy had/has an extreme dislike for DeLeo and others in leadership because DeLeo removed him as Ways and Means chair. This makes him very malleable for devious prosecutors.
3. Wyshak et al. are lazy but extremely good a making people testify about things that fit their bill. Perhaps during an interview with an AUSA or an FBI agent Murphy was thinking out loud trying to remember and the feds ramp with it and encouraged him down that path.
I’d bet heavily that Murphy would have passed a lie detector test because of Wyshak’s unethical practices. In this case using human weaknesses to create his narrative.
Keep in mind that Wyshak proudly stated he uses literally license to persuade a jury. That’s illegal and cause for disbarment. So it’s not unreasonable to believe Fred played fast and loose with the facts and witnesses in this case. The very last witness, with tears in his eyes, accused the prosecutors of making him say what they wanted him to instead of the truth.
eb3-fka-ernie-boch-iii says
n/t