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Bernstein pwns “Massachusetts pols who are supposed to be reforming state government”

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Yow.  David Bernstein has had it with our friends on Beacon Hill, judging from his latest in the Phoenix.  The whole thing is well worth a read.  Here are a few highlights.

First up for a zinger, surely, must be Senate President Therese Murray. Her mantra, “reform before revenue,” has already gone up in smoke. Perhaps a more realistic timetable would be “reform before Rapture.”

Excellent start.  Next up:

The legislature is also resisting Patrick on the mammoth transportation-reform effort, thanks to Patrick’s inspired selection of James Aloisi, the Don Rickles of intergovernmental relations, to alienate everyone in his path.

Ouch.  Still, the man does have a point.

 

Onward!

[Senator Steve] Baddour and his House counterpart, Joseph Wagner, both fashioned reform bills that left out the cost-saving recommendations of the Transportation Financing Commission – in particular, lower wages, reduced benefits, and elimination of redundant jobs. If I was cynical, I would suggest that Baddour, Wagner, and the rest of the state legislature are trying not to upset their good friends in the organized labor force, like the 6000-member BOSTON CARMEN’S UNION.

Or maybe it has something to do with the new lobbyist the Carmen’s Union hired at the start of the “season of reform”: Robert Travaglini.

HAHAHAHA!!!  Imagine — Trav working for the Carmen’s Union!  Hilarious!!

No, sorry, that’s not a joke.

Oh.  I see.  I feel ill.

Anyway, here’s the coup de grâce:

The Senate killed the gas tax, but they did – at the urging of State Treasurer Tim Cahill – vote to join Powerball, in hopes of raising $25 million a year off the most ill-advised, hopeless dreams of the populace. Cahill – for whom we’ve saved a sweet spot at the top of our grill – has also recommended slot parlors. What won’t Cahill do to separate the desperate from their money? Coming to your spam filter soon, if Cahill becomes governor: “Show her your manhood in bed – Commonwealth can give you inches, stamina!”

Oddly enough (and I am not making this up), Comedy Central is running a male enhancement ad at the very moment I am typing this.  Coincidence??

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  1. …you may as well mention everyone the article mentions, not just a carefully chosen list:

    Perhaps the biggest mystery, though, is how Governor Patrick managed to be the one to lose the public trust, in the midst of all this cowardice and inaction by the legislature.

    That’s a rhetorical question, of course: Patrick’s list of roast-worthy faux pas and missteps this year are legend. Apparently, the way Patrick celebrates the “season of reform” is by rewarding friends with plum jobs and unearned raises.

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    p>Male enhancement jokes about Cahill, labeling Terry Murray as someone held back in elementary school…must be campaign season.

    • I picked out the selections I did because they were the funny ones, or because they contained facts of which I was not aware, such as Trav lobbying for the Carmen’s Union.  And you will notice that I did include the Aloisi bit, which is obviously Patrick-related.  Your excerpt is neither funny or revelatory, so it did not make my list.

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      p>Seriously, this is getting very tiresome.  Not everything is a conspiracy.

      • That Sabutai’s BMG account has been hijacked by Sen. Murray…

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        p>… Actually, come to think of it, I’ve don’t recall ever seeing them in the same room together… hmm…

        • I’ve seen Deval and David, but never in the same room either.  But such a comparison, I’m sure would be judged…ah…”tiresome”.

          • … I’ll add a blinken-n-winkin smiley face to indicate the presence of humor …  

      • What the article’s writer thought his article was:

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        p>

        I take some whacks at the Massachusetts pols who are supposed to be reforming state government.

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        p>What the very same article became on BMG:

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        p>

        Bernstein pwns the lege

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        p>Snip n clip, a piece on how self-cast reformers are letting voters down became a piece on how the hacks are still hacks.  Essentially, 180 degrees opposite of the author’s intent.  What is tiresome is the utter predictability of it all.

        <

        p>I’m not calling this a conspiracy. I don’t consider it a conspiracy when a vocal, longtime supporter of Deval Patrick runs a blog where things are front-paged, promoted, and edited that are kind to Deval Patrick.  That’s the opposite of a conspiracy, that’s the norm.

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        p>If my questioning of this is unwelcome please advise.  I have no problem with being in the minority on this blog, a similar position than Peter Porcupine.  The constant personal attacks because of it are unfortunate, but considering they’ve been going on for four years, I’m used to it.

        • how making a big deal of the Aloisi part of the story, complete with my addition of hilarious “separated at birth” photos of him and Don Rickles, is “kind to Deval Patrick.”

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          p>To make you happy, I’ve edited the post’s title, which though pithy was indeed inaccurate.  

          • once created, the URL of a post cannot be renamed, so the link still contains the offensive title.  No doubt the creator of soapblox is in the tank for Deval too.

            • You do realize that you’re the only one who says everyone’s in the tank for Deval, right?  Because I’ve already said the opposite.  Again.  And again.  (Geez, whenever Deval comes up, I spend a lot of time repeating myself.)

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              p>To me, the lede in that article was roughly that the guy who presents/ed himself as reformer-in-chief maybe wasn’t a reformer.  I guess that wasn’t as interesting and/or funny, as…that stuff…and we have different tastes.

              • Defined as:

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                p>

                the introductory section of a news story that is intended to entice the reader to read the full story

                <

                p>OK.  Now, here’s Bernstein’s opening paragraph — the “lede,” in technical terms.

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                p>

                Back in January, Governor Deval Patrick declared a “season of significant government reform” on Beacon Hill. Well, apparently that season was neither winter nor spring. This week, as we head full on toward summer, and our thoughts turn to sweltering beaches and white-hot barbecues, it’s as good a time as any to put our pols’ feet to the fire – and roast them.

                <

                p>Indeed, Patrick is the first elected official mentioned in the story.  But it’s far from clear at this point in the article what Bernstein’s take on Patrick is, since obviously Patrick cannot accomplish reform by himself.  Rather, Bernstein is saying that reform hasn’t happened yet.  He certainly is not saying — at least at this point — that “the guy who presents/ed himself as reformer-in-chief maybe wasn’t a reformer.”

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                p>OK, so where does Bernstein start?  Well, as I’ve already noted:

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                p>

                First up for a zinger, surely, must be Senate President Therese Murray. Her mantra, “reform before revenue,” has already gone up in smoke. Perhaps a more realistic timetable would be “reform before Rapture.”

                Since taking over for her mentor, Robert Travaglini, Murray hasn’t exactly cleaned up the old revolving-door lobbyist/legislator relationships. But Travaglini is cleaning up – in his new job of high-priced, all-purpose lobbyist.

                <

                p>Huh, as you’re fond of saying.  Murray is “first up.”  Indeed, she so obviously merits the #1 spot, Bernstein thinks, that “surely” she must be first up.  And then he’s onto Trav.  We then move through DiMasi and DeLeo before getting to Patrick.

                <

                p>And yes, Bernstein criticizes Patrick for his lack of effectiveness.  But not for his position on the merits of what needs reforming and how it should be done:

                <

                p>

                At least Patrick has offered something like real pension reform – unlike the legislature, whose reform would begin taking effect in a quarter-century (seriously), as the Globe’s Scot Lehigh has explained…. The legislature is also resisting Patrick on the mammoth transportation-reform effort, thanks to Patrick’s inspired selection of James Aloisi, the Don Rickles of intergovernmental relations, to alienate everyone in his path.

                <

                p>So, all due respect, IMHO you’re dead wrong on what the “lede” on Bernstein’s story is, as well as on Bernstein’s overall take on Patrick.  But YMMV.

                • And now I know what it is and how to identify one.

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                  p>Or two.

                  <

                  p>I think.

                  <

                  p>Anyway, it’s great fun watching you two fellas having a such a good time deconstructing David’s deconstruction of events.  

                • it is a misspelling, but an intentional one.

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                  p>

                  [I]t’s “lead” (rhymes with greed)–the first, or leading, paragraph–spelled phonetically to avoid confusion with “lead” (rhymes with led), which is more or less what type was made of once it replaced wooden type in the 19th century. A “lead” (hear led) was also a thin strip of metal used to put space between lines of type, an act referred to as “leading” (sometimes spelled “ledding”). That last word persists today even though metal type is long gone in most places. In modern times, “leading” refers to the spacing between lines of type in phototypeset or computer-generated typeset material. “Leading out” refers to the insertion of extra spacing between lines.

                  In journalistic use, the “lead” is the first sentence or the first paragraph of a magazine or newspaper article. It can summarize the article, set the scene, or establish the mood of the story. The term is also used in broadcasting. For example, a “segue lead” is a transition to a related story, and a “quote lead” is a quotation….

                  The spelling “lede” was not invented by journalists. This spelling (and several other variants) was used for all meanings of the noun and verb up through the 1500s; the spelling “leade” or “lead” starts appearing at this time.

                • I am accustomed to reading “bury the lede” as a euphemism for putting the salient point of an article toward the bottom.  I was using lede in that sense.  Then again, since I’m on the verge of completing a 24-page lesson plan for a grad class, maybe it’s lead that is filling the space between my ears at this point.

                  <

                  p>I guess to me it isn’t news that the Legislature is opposing reform.  That’s what they have done for over a decade now.  I do get defensive about Murray because I’ve seen enough of her up close to realize she’s a lot sharper that a lot of Boston’s media paints her to be.  And I don’t think you’ll ever see a sustained effort of mine to saddle an elected official with a nickname…I just think that’s too much like the crap I deal with all day.  

                  <

                  p>What is news is that the governor is giving up, especially Governor Patrick.  Or not giving up.  Bernstein could really have it either way; anybody could.  Deval has a mixed bag, which is better than Cahill’s, DeLeo’s, or Murray’s mainly bad bag…but Deval isn’t really clearing a high bar here.

                • You definitely have me on the “huh” thing.  That’s my asdf, my “I can’t think of a clever subject, just let me talk”.

        • I’m lower that whale shit on this blog. I have to reach up to touch bottom! Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Everyone gets kicked down the stairs periodically. It builds character.

    • because they can blame the other branch of State government, they are sadly mistaken.

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      p>It’s time for some adult leadership before we all give up on them.

  2. Why didn’t the Legislature just approve the governor’s pension reform plan?

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    p>Oh yea, he never filed one.

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    p>But why didn’t the Legislature just approve Gov. Patrick’s transportation reform plan?

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    p>Oh yea, he didn’t file one until after the Senate did, two years after taking office, and after the Legislature had already started holding public hearings.

    • Not to rub salt i a wound—and not one to supress enthusiasm, but didn’t anyone see a man that was way in over his head—-when he was campaigning. There was in fact another democrat in the primaries that would have simply on face value been a better executive—-but he got the boot from the democrat power structure.

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      p>Just saying———–

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      p>Oh ya——look at the folks who we elect and the people that now run for public office—the partisan virulent politics has led to decent people of good charcater and qualifications to avoid public service. Now we get essentially narcissistic morons. It’s our own fault. We dig our own hole.

      • when they first started the attack when Patrick first threatened a veto.  Along with he’s running for re-election, blah, blah, blah.  

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        p>Patrick provided his proposal and even DiMasi said they should vote on it within a month.  Yup, we’re still waiting.

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        p>Basically they wanted the Wilkerson thing to blow over, so they said a few nice things.  Now it’s Patrick didn’t file the bill, etc.

        <

        p>The Senate needs to address this ASAP, lets stop pretending it’s everyone else is at fault and address reforms for goodness sakes.  

        <

        p>It’s not Patrick’s fault that the lege has sat on this reforms no matter what they make up as excuses.

  3. Southshorepragmatist hits the nail on the head.  Deval didn’t retreive the reform mantle until the whole sordid Marian Walsh mess blew up in his face.  The Governor has found religion (reform) once again – I just hope it’s not too late.  

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