Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Republican Shenanigans in Watertown

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Watertown/Cambridge State Rep. Rachel Kaprielian’s Republican opponent, Keith Mercurio, has been busted in a letters-to-the-editor fraud involving the Watertown Tab. Worse than faking grassroots support, it looks like a case of cynically exploiting a senior citizen. A respected WWII vet — who supports Kaprielian — says Mercurio conned him into attaching his name to an endorsement letter, by telling him it was a letter calling for increased veteran benefits. H2otown has the details.

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  1. From what I’ve heard about the incident, after the letter was printed and the vet complained, the GOP lunkhead (Mercurio) went to the vet’s house — not to apologize, but to deny responsibility for the entire situation.

  2. Rachel has served us in Watertown (and now part of Cambridge) very well over her twelve years, and I believe she is working her way up to a position of leadership.  There is a desperate but vocal collection of cranks and bigots here who have put everything they have into a sleazy campaign to badmouth her and distort her record and her character.

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    I have sent a note about this incident to the editors of Globe West — I hope they’re interested, since the Globe had kind words for scumbag Mercurio even though they endorsed Rachel.  As with the race at the top of the ticket, I hope both voters and the press will get the message that campaigns based on lies and smears will backfire.

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  3. I can say that Rachel Kaprielian has done a fantastic job and is a leader.  I don’t think this idiot Mercurio was even a real challenger in the coming election.  But this just disgusts me, he was using veterans/seniors and their trust to put other lies.  Class A – a**hole. (pardon)

  4. This letter was signed by six individuals.  If Mr. Aiello wishes to recant, that’s fine.  But what about the others?

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    BTW – how many ‘astroturf’ letters have YOU seen on the PATRIOT Act, torture, Iraq, NSA snooping, and on and on?  This is HARDLY a single party phenomenon.

      • …but the huffing indignation is a bit much.

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        Then again, I don’t call people a**holes when I disagree with them.

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        But I DO know seniors who have been exploited by liberal groups as well – when I called them, and told them what they had signed on to, they were appalled.  Those purple ‘citizen letters’ wre especial offenders.

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        That said, it’s up to the media outlet to CHECK on signatures on letters they choose to publish – I’ve gotten dozens of calls from my papers over the course of time.

        • “Then again, I don’t call people a**holes when I disagree with them.”

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          Get real, Porc.  You want to trivialize “using veterans/seniors and their trust” (something an asshole would do) as if it were a simple disagreement.  Sorry, no takers here.

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          “That said, it’s up to the media outlet to CHECK on signatures on letters they choose to publish”

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          Now you want to blame it on the media?  Typical.

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          Is it so difficult to reject this fraud in simple and undiluted terms?

          • Ever wonder WHY a newspaper asks for your address and/or phone number when you send them a letter?  It’s so they can CHECK to see if you really sent the letter.

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            If they printed a letter without doing so, then yes, shame on them.

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            I’m still waiting to hear about the other five people – did they or did they NOT allow the use of their name/

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            I think ALL of us are familiar with standard release forms that papers require on letters of endorsement – what happened here?

            • First it’s the WWII vet’s fault, then it’s the newspapers fault.  Hey, here’s one for you, maybe it’s the person who con’ed an elderly veteran an maliciously used it in a newspaper.  Wait, no, that can’t be it.

              • I think he’s saying that if they were honest on four out of the five names, that’s relatively ethical by Republican standards.

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          • Newspapers can and often do make a phone call to check that the alleged writer of a letter really did write it.  It’s especially important if the subject is at all controversial, like this one is.

        • This is specifically towards using veterans/seniors and abusing their trust. 

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          Don’t twist this and spin it otherwise.  In no statement did I or anyone say that because he’s a Republican then …….

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          So you don’t agree?  Do you think the WWII vet had it coming to him?  I don’t get it.

    • It’s not about recanting.  It’s about one of Mercurio’s drones tricking an elderly veteran into signing a letter of support.

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      We have no way of knowing how many of the others were similarly deceived — the Tab did not release the names of all the individuals purported to have signed the letter, only the first five.

    • It’s so funny how you little puggies squeal ‘The Democrats do it too!’ when you’ve been caught redhanded. Have the Democrats been accused of phone jamming during an election? Do the Democrats have an equivalent of Jack Abramoff? Get back to me when you can find RECENT evidence of Democratic shenanigans. And we’re not talking about dead people voting for Kennedy in Chicago in 1960.

      • Do the Democrats have an equivalent of Jack Abramoff?

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        Yeah, it’s called Jack Abramoff.  40 Of The 45 Members Of The Senate Democrat Caucus took his money.

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        Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) Received At Least – $22,500
        Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) Received At Least – $6,500
        Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) Received At Least – $1,250
        Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) Received At Least – $2,000
        Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Received At Least – $20,250
        Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Received At Least – $21,765
        Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) Received At Least – $7,500
        Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) Received At Least – $12,950
        Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) Received At Least – $8,000
        Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ) Received At Least – $7,500
        Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) Received At Least – $14,792
        Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) Received At Least – $79,300
        Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) Received At Least – $14,000
        Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) Received At Least – $2,000
        Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) Received At Least – $1,250
        Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) Received At Least – $45,750
        Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Received At Least – $9,000
        Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT) Received At Least – $2,000
        Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) Received At Least – $14,250
        Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) Received At Least – $3,300
        Senator John Kerry (D-MA) Received At Least – $98,550
        Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) Received At Least – $28,000
        Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT) Received At Least – $4,000
        Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) Received At Least – $6,000
        Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) Received At Least – $29,830
        Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) Received At Least – $14,891
        Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) Received At Least – $10,550
        Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) Received At Least – $78,991
        Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) Received At Least – $20,168
        Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) Received At Least – $5,200
        Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) Received At Least – $7,500
        Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) Received At Least – $2,300
        Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) Received At Least – $3,500
        Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) Received At Least – $68,941
        Senator John Rockefeller (D-WV) Received At Least – $4,000
        Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) Received At Least – $4,500
        Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) Received At Least – $4,300
        Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Received At Least – $29,550
        Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) Received At Least – $6,250
        Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) Received At Least – $6,250

        • Wrong.  The Democrats never took any of Jack Abramoff’s money.  They may have taken money from clients he represented, but Abramoff personally donated to Republicans only.

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          You can argue that this is a distinction without a difference, but I disagree.  There’s no way to tell if the Native American tribes that donated to these Democrats did so under Abramoff’s direction with the expectation of a quid-pro-quo.

          • The fact of the matter is that Native Americans are historically Democrat.  So why is it surprising that Native Americans donate to Democrats?

        • First of all, Republicans were convicted of the phone-jamming effort in New Hampshire, not just accused.

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          Secondly, yes, Democrats were convicted of slashing tires, but not of GOTV vehicles. They were vehicles for poll monitors.

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          My source on this is none other than Fox News.

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          Rick Wiley, state GOP executive director, discovered the vandalism on the morning of Election Day.

          “It was unbelievable that people could stoop this low in a political campaign,” he said. “I figured it had to be someone from the opposition. But I didn’t think someone on the paid Kerry campaign would do this.”

          Wiley didn’t say whether the vandalism prevented anyone from voting, but said poll watchers were about two hours late.

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          I have to believe that if even one voter was prevented from voting, the state Republican executive director would be screaming it from the hilltops. That he says, “Uh, I dunno, but our monitors were late” strongly implies otherwise.

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          Not that I am condoning the tire-slashing in the slightest. It was an abhorrent act, and they deserved to be convicted (just as the Republican phone-jammers deserved their conviction and punishment).

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          I just thought I should get the facts straight here.

  5. Anthony Aiello told us this morning that he did not read the letter that he signed, thinking it was a petition to give benefits to veterans. But he did say he signed it. The original copy of the letter clearly states in large print “Veterans for Mercurio” on both sides of the paper. On side one is the actual letter, and on side two is space for people to sign their name, which Mr. Aiello did.

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    We will report more on this story later on Watertowntab.com

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    Greg Reibman, Watertown TAB

    • now a columnist for the paper the letter was written to is trying to get a town employee fired for speaking out about th letter

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      http://www.townonlin…

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      don’t complain about the paper, or they will pressure your boss to fire you

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