Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Comments

  1. … the open meeting law that requires any request for recording and the subsequent broadcasting of all elected or appoint boards, committees or commissions meetings in a city or township if so requested to be allowed (except in very narrow cases of contract negotiations or complaints filed against  municipal employees or officials)  does not apply to Beacon Hill?

  2. …it was the PBS affiliate WGBX channel 44 that used to carry C-SPAN style coverage.  That would be even more accessible than cable.

    • That IS what it was.  You could also be in any office in the State House and see what was going on in the House or Senate Chamber…long ago.

  3. I remember watching those broadcasts, and Tommy Finneran would turn off the mic a lot, as he spoke to people around him. It was pretty entertaining, actually. He would use his Rules of Order voice for the microphone – it sounded like those old radio broadcasts of the Rosary. But you could see him speaking freely, sometimes chewing someone out, to members and clerks while he was holding that mute button. I often thought that stuff was probably a lot more revealing, if we could have heard it, than the official voice.

    <

    p>And you couldn’t really see what was happening out among the members. Now, as then, little is debated openly. I was shocked the first time I watched a session in person, as most of the members stand around having private conversations, ignoring and sometimes drowning out the person who had the floor.  

    • This thread reminded me it was PBS, and a number of retired people watched it ALL.  I think the cable broadcasts really did lead to a more transparent environment, even with the mic switched off at times.

      • It’s better to have it than not. It also gave opposition voices, whether GOP or the progressives-in-exile caucus, a public forum for their dissenting speeches.  

    • or anyone really. Because he would keep the smile on hs face and softly say. “What the fuck are you doin’?”

      <

      p>You can only chew out the people on your team by the way. Everything else is polite stabbing.

      • the talk around the podium was really really a boring litany of taking care of business, and hardly ever revealing of the presiding officers’ opinion of the content of the debate.It was more “Who wants to talk next, and what else is left on the agenda, and why is so and so standing on the side of the podium looking to talk to me, and why are the republicans huddled in the back of chamber, and where is the chairman who should be carrying this debate, and please get the Speaker on the phone because I gotta hit the head.

        <

        p>TV coverage was of course almost addictive as blogging, but still missed the small gatherings of Reps talking to each other during debate, and other group dynamics which which could be read quite accurately by by smart observers.  

        • Since most of us have ‘day jobs’ to support families, and it requires a major effort to spend the day of a formal session in the galleries, the information from Cable [which could be taped and reviewed during non working hours] provided real insight and a larger measure of openness.  For those who could view the cable, also, it led to pbone calls and e-mails to supporters and an openness which HAS been lost.

          <

          p>I will take half a loaf over no loaf; cable was also definitely “half a glass”{as in a glass half full] because granted nothing is perfect, and being there to watch and talk is always best, none of us, except professional lobbyists paid for doing so, can be there all the time that the House or Senate are in session.

Archives