Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Petition to bring back Frank Skeffington (with poll)

By

Put another way, if you had to make a choice, which would you rather have:

This:

A Test (0.00 / 4)

Mother Theresa (R)

Adolf Hitler (D)

Which one are you choosing? Yep! You’re a democrat!

Please forgive my Hitler reference. Some folks just need that big a wake up call.

by: billxi @ Mon Jan 25, 2010 at 00:08:18 AM EST

or this:

Gov. Patrick: What are your values and priorities?

by: FrankSkeffington

Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 10:43:10 AM EDT

(Frank speaks up for the substance abuse program. – promoted by Bob)

As many of us here understand, it is not what politicians SAY about what is important to them…it is their actions that really indicate their true priorities and values.  Specifically it is how they direct money within the budget.  

Well today there is every indication that Gov. Patrick’s Administration cares very little about basic preventive measures that can save lives, prevent crime and save society millions of dollars in healthcare costs.  I’m talking about the scheduled closing of a substance abuse center that treats more than 1,500 people every year.  But instead of closing his DC office (we do have 12 congressional offices that be our advocates) or trimming dozens of obscure agencies that have lived long past their usefulness, Gov. Patrick has deemed these budget line items to be far more important than saving lives.

But why listen to me.  Read what a well known District Court Judge, who deals with these issues everyday, thinks about cutting substance abuse services.  And the 11 minute video below not only shows how wide spread the problem of heroin use is in the state, but it highlights the families that are struggling with loved ones who need help.  It is these people that Gov. Patrick’s Administration is turning their back on.  

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
0

Comments

  1. But a bet is a bet. If billxi had lost, I would so want him to stay away and honor his word.

    <

    p>Frank should come back, but not yet. He has to stay away long enough to show that he is a man of his word and that when someone makes a bet or a promise around here, we, as a community, expect that person to live up to the spirit of said bet/promise.

    <

    p>As the saying goes, don’t make promises you can’t keep. Losing Frank stinks, but his integrity and our integrity as a community are on the line. I do not favor a full commutation of his sentence, but I propose a reducing of his sentence that still makes Frank pay or perhaps an alternate method of Frank paying his debt to Mr bill.

    <

    p>On the other hand, Frank may not want to come back. He may find that the time he used to devote to BMG and it’s counterpart isn’t missed and that he is free to do other things.  

    • Holding the other accountable at this point is childish and graceless.  

      <

      p>Frank is doing the right thing by staying away, but billxi should also do the right thing and say, “Let’s forget the whole thing.   Thanks for honoring your word, Frank.  C’mon back.”

      <

      p>I guess my point is that this is a point of honor without any real honor.  In fact, the idiocy of the whole thing makes a mockery of honor in any meaningful sense.  

  2. … Frank’s speech, but not mine.  If Frank starts a blog I’ll gladly create BMG diary posts about his posts.  Moreover, as the posts here generate discussion that he’d want to respond to, I’d gladly comment on such diaries bringing up his concerns.

    <

    p>It wasn’t my bet

    • Because Simple/Festus/Frank pulled a choke reminiscent of the 2007 Patriots football team and 2004 Yankees and LOST! I knew which way the wind was blowing while you folks were still focused on the smockstack waiting for confirmation from above that Coakley was THE CHOSEN ONE! Oops! Stupid little thing your democratic legislature pulled in 2004 taking senatorial appointment power away frOm our then Republican Governor. They gave us special elections where, omygod, the people could vote. Yes, that nasty little four letter word. But we stupid people aren’t as smart as democrats. We didn’t catch the memo about the annointing ceremony. So we voted for the person who was actually running for the seat.
      Simple J Malarky/Festus/Frank is alive and lying and cheating his way around RMG.
      I WON, HE LOST. DEAL WITH IT.  

      • Oh, right. Post like that one.

        <

        p>I just checked: Mr XI continues to have the more posts deleted by popular vote than anyone else on this blog.  

        <

        p>Who can forget this deleted classic: “If yoy want publicy funded birth solutions for women who can’t close their legs, vote Coal;ey.”?

        <

        p>Sheesh.

      • Pleased to see you are taking the high road here and not trying to pass off spiteful gagging as meaningful principle.  After all,  adults shouldn’t behave that way, right?  Things like humility and grace still matter, right?  

      • You knew which way the wind was blowing…?  BS…Frank challenged you to a bet a week or so before XMass and you sat on your hands…actually you weaseled about saying something about if Tsongas winning next November and you’d take the bet.

        <

        p>WEEKS later when the polling data show Brown surging, you took the bet and Frank let you take that bet…weeks after you proved you lacked one bit of real courage.  

        • Simple is an appropriate new name for you. So I only let you have a 9 point spread, I’ll send you a box of tissues, whine-baby. Too bad you and many of your brethren are still waiting for the annointing smoke to appear. BTW: We had an election last week. And YOU LOST! I GUESS DEMOCRAT AND HONOR ARE POLAR OPPOSITES TO YOU LEFTIES.

            • Because he deserves it! You sure as hell would have expected me to honor my committment. HE offered the wager.  

              • You’ve expressed a strong belief in the public voting on people’s rights (e.g. gay marriage). In this case, the public has spoken and they would like to see you gone.  

                <

                p>Are you going to follow the will of the “we the people?”

                • Because I don’t recite the democratic mantra. Got news for ya “huh”ney: the world doesn’t always spin in the direction you want it to. Ya gotta deal with it.  

                • Would you have expected me to follow the terms if I lost? I don’t know if you’d be happier because whats-her-name won or because I lost.

                • But you can refrain from all the insults and contribute to the discussion.  There are some decidedly non-blue people on this site who could show you how it’s done.

  4. Too many people walk away from honoring their word, some her eon BMG. I agree with Bob though that there should be a limited term for his absence, like a few weeks.

    <

    p>Congrats to Bill for making a great guess. Bill took lots of shit leading up to the Scott Brown victory and now people seem to be blaming him for winning.

    <

    p>Great job Bill. Keep it up!

    • If Bill wanted to specify a time period that the other party had to stay away, he could easily have done it. In the absence of any statement to that effect, we can assume the wager required only that Frank stop posting for some measurable period of time which, as I wrote before, he has done.

      <

      p>All Frank really needed — all any of us really need, arguably — was a lawyer.

      <

      p>Of course, everyone can and should acknowledge Bill’s brilliance in picking Brown as the election winner, the recent triumph of the Republican Party in Massachusetts, and the national confirmation that our state sets the pace for the nation, as we have done since 1775, but that is a separate matter.

      • …everyone can and should acknowledge Bill’s brilliance in picking Brown as the election winner, the recent triumph of the Republican Party in Massachusetts, and the national confirmation that our state sets the pace for the nation, as we have done since 1775…

        So stipulated.

    • Out one side of the face. Oops, out the other side of the second face. I know, you folks just aren’t used to losing. Get used to it. He had the large advantage when the wager was made. While you were waiting for the white smoke, I noticed which way it was blowing.

      • You and I are Republicans.  I am much older than you, and losing has been the norm for most of my political life.  Having Scott win is heady stuff.  (Indeed, had I known the future I would have gone out of my way to be MUCH nicer to him and Greg Casey over the years!)

        <

        p>Just this once – we are the winners.  Please forgive the bet – or at least allow Mr. Malarkey to post here?

        • …of the fact that there IS a difference between a Republican who engages the debate and one who simply throws out insults, the above exchange between billxi and PP should more than fulfill the requirement.

        • How about this idea. Let him back and be gracious about it, but allow billxi to choose his new “handle”, like maybe “Mr Malarkey” or “BannedByBill” or you choose it.

        • For the annointing smoke? Tell me about Pogo/Simple/Frank/Festus and principle. Unless your principles are lying and cheating. Sorry ma’am, I don’t need any more of those principles.

      • For his return.

        <

        p>I for one both enjoy and learn from the dialogue between you two and others.  The more people who feel free to post on both sites (and any other sites that may garner attention in the future) the better the chance for bipartisan dialogue that will benefit all of us.  

        <

        p>We all face large issues that will require all of us to overcome.  The more the merrier on the discussions.

        <

        p>I hope you see fit to let him back into the dialogue.  A bet is a bet so it is on you to make a decision, but I hope you can see it in your heart to let him come back.

  6. I echo the handful of appeals asking that Frank Skeffington consider that he has fulfilled the terms of his bet with billxi and returned to BMG as soon as possible.

    <

    p>Frank’s voice is sorely missed on BMG; his posts and comments were consistently among the most thoughtful, well-considered, in the BMG universe. Frank’s experience and holistic understanding of state government policy, programs, and operations is nearly unmatched on BMG, and cannot be readily replaced by other posters interested in state government affairs.

    <

    p>We have a lot of stimulating and provocative outsiders posting their thoughts on BMG. With the loss of Frank, we have lost one of our few authentic state government insiders or former state government insiders who consistently offers cogent insights how the operations of and reductions in state government program services affect real people accessing state government services.

    <

    p>Come on, Frank, don’t let us believe that your lamentable losing bet with billxi was your “Last Hurrah” on BMG. Even James Michael Curley would never have held you to fulfilling the extreme terms of such a ridiculous wager.  

  7. In honor of the bet.  

    <

    p>Return under a new handle.  

    <

    p>BMG still gets the benefit of a valuable commentator, the terms of the bet are technically met.

    • While the precise demise of Frank was the some thing that did in many Dems in MA in–over confidence in winning this seat and “Frank Skeffington” was a great brand, his partisanship, particularly his alter ego Festus  Garvey over at RMG was undermining a message that I think is much more relevant today than in a very long time.  So Frank’s time has passed and it was a good run.    

      <

      p>And while you don’t ask for proof, I’ll give it to you Bean…at the next candidate’s forum I’ll be sure to ask how your wife is…

    1. First, Frank isn’t gonna buy any of the friendly-to-Frank parties on this thread suggesting he’s already fulfilled his bet.  He’s not that type of guy.  He’s either a “never” or “no bmg for at least one year” type of guy.  Just my sense.

    <

    p>2. I agree with commenter above who suggested “alternative payout.”  Billxi could unilaterally offer a modification, perhaps one that involves alcohol.  

  10. When I won the prediction of who would win the Democratic Senatorial primary, I won a BMG t-shirt. I suppose the editors could have said, “hey, we didn’t know you would win!” But they didn’t, they contacted me and kept their word.

    <

    p>Thanks David… for keeping your word and believing a “bet is a bet”.

Archives