Posted on 2/11/2004, 12:32:48 PM by Redcoat LI
Money trail tells the tale of these judicial tyrants By Howie Carr Recent Columns by Howie Carr Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Whatever happens at the State House over the next couple of days, it's important to keep one fact in perspective.
You can't blame just the Democrats for this fiasco.
Of the four black-robed judicial tyrants who are madly determined to destroy marriage, three were appointed by Republican governors. Thanks a bunch, Bill Weld and Paul Cellucci.
The guy who is most at fault for this disaster is Bill Weld. He's the one who first appointed Margaret Marshall to the Supreme Judicial Court.
You can tell a lot about somebody by the political candidates they give money to, which is why judicial nominees are required to report all such contributions before the Governor's Council votes on them.
In 1994, Mitt Romney was running for the U.S. Senate against Ted Kennedy. Would you care to guess whom Margaret Marshall gave money to?
You guessed it. She maxed out with a grand to Teddy on Dec. 10, 1993, then followed up on Sept. 15, 1994, with another $1,000.
She had a favorite on the Boston City Council, too. It was the radical-chic ex-nun, Rosaria Salerno, aka Sister Sunshine. The future chief justice gave Sister Sunshine $250 in April 1993, then ponied up another $250 in August 1993.
Another Margaret Marshall favorite: Emily's List. She sent them $100.
Of course, in 1994, her first patron, Bill Weld, was running for re-election. Would you suppose that Margaret contributed to Bill Weld . . . or one of the Democrats who was running against him?
But of course. She gave $250 to then-Sen. Mike Barrett. He was, of course, from Cambridge, but so was Weld, dammit.
And then Paul Cellucci made her chief justice in 1999. Of course, this is a wonderful career move for Margaret Marshall. She can parlay this into a million-dollar book deal, speaking gigs at $50,000 a pop. She's the toast of the town, at least if the town is P-town, or Ogunquit, or South Beach, or Northampton.
Then there's Judith Cowin, another Cellucci appointment from 1999. Yes, she gave money to Weld - but only in 1991, after he was elected. On May 12, 1990, she gave $100 to Barney Frank.
Let me repeat that: One of the four justices who voted to end marriage as it has been known for all time is a Barney Frank campaign contributor.
During Cowin's confirmation hearings, Rep. Bill Delahunt defended her, as well he should have. She used to work for him, and she and her husband have given Delahunt at least $2,500 in campaign contributions over the years. So look on the bright side: Barney is only Judge Judy's second-favorite congressman.
By the way, just like his wife denying that she's an anti-Catholic bigot, her husband, Bill Cowin, denies that he's crooked. See, when he was up for nomination to the Appeals Court in 2001, someone remembered that he was censured as a lawyer back in 1981 following his involvement in a corruption scandal involving state contracts.
It also didn't hurt that he and Judge Judy had by then given at least $3,000 to the guy who appointed both of them - Paul Cellucci.
There's not space enough to get into the other two SJC fools. John Greaney was appointed by Dukakis - 'nuff said. And Roderick Ireland's wife gave money to Alice Wolf, lunatic lefty pol from Cambridge.
Something now occurs to me. I voted for the wrong guy for governor in 1990. I should have stayed with John Silber, the Democrat. He might have appointed sleazes, but dammit, they wouldn't have been left-wing sleazes.
Here's hoping the dirtbags in the General Court do the right thing and allow this vote to come before the people by voting to amend the Massachusetts Constitution.
Please Freepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent Massachusetts ping list.
The more I think about it, however, the more I hope that gays have the "right" to marry on 17 May. If there's going to be a culture war, let's let the first shot, metaphorically speaking, be fired here. Why not in Massachusetts? Bring it on.
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