The Herald’s Margery Eagan is no longer interesting in holding back. At all.
Jeff Perry has a serious problem with the truth.
Oof – tough start. She then runs down all the times Perry has been caught in, ahem, “misstatements” over the course of this campaign. It’s an impressive litany. And then she concludes:
But let’s put all that aside and return to the night Perry and Flanagan came upon some kids in a cranberry bog. Let’s even put aside that they were cops, with all the power, and let’s just consider what kind of human being hears the begging and pleading of a petrified 14-year-old girl, as she is, essentially, tortured – and does nothing. That’s the human being Jeff Perry is.
And that, in a nutshell is what the race for MA-10 is all about at this point.
Joan Vennochi is nearly as harsh. She starts off:
Jeff Perry’s bad judgment as a cop and dishonesty about it afterwards should make him unfit to be a congressman.
She goes on to question the integrity of politicians who endorse him:
it is also fair to ask: How can Senator Scott Brown, the father of two daughters, endorse Perry and praise his judgment in an ad that has been running on the candidate’s behalf, when that judgment is so obviously flawed? Perry has also been endorsed by former Governor Mitt Romney, another family-values Republican.
Sticking with Perry requires a warped definition of family and values.
Her bottom line isn’t much different from Eagan’s:
In this case, voting for Perry means turning a blind eye to truth, justice, and morality.
I made a similar point yesterday, and I’ll reiterate it today.
As of now, any Republican who continues to support Perry must be doing so because they believe that, to quote Vince Lombardi, “winning isn’t everything – it’s the only thing.” The only thing, to the exclusion even of basic human decency.
This race has gone way beyond the usual criteria of party affiliation and policy differences. We are now squarely in the realm of “what kind of human being” the candidate is – of “truth, justice, and morality.” Shouldn’t that transcend getting one more GOP vote in the House?
