Howie Carr thread, week of June 1, 2008

howiecarr.com ^ | 06/01/08 | raccoonradio

[raccoonradio]

Howie Carr thread. btw on Thu., some of Howie's stations like WRKO will have to cut out at 5:30 pm since Thu. night Sox game has been moved up to 6 pm (pre-game show at 5:30...WCRN doesn't carry pre-game though). The Sox (happy 500th HR, Manny!) are moving their game up an hour so it'll be over before Celtics game starts at 9.

[Sparky1776]

Hey Racoon, I might not reply much but I read all your pings, keep up the GREAT work!

[GQuagmire]

June 23 to 27 I won’t be able to fill in(Golf trip to the Cape for the week). Any other time should be no problem.

[raccoonradio]

Oh, OK; well I’ll see what I can do. At the very least I’d
start the ping on Sunday the 22nd and hopefully I should keep
it going (as I mentioned from first couple days I’d prob.
go to a Kinko’s nr my motel, and I have a second destination
which will have free computer use at a convention, so I may be able to do it regardless.

Glad people like the pings! OK on the Hillary page (if she
runs as an indy she could split the vote and get McCain in!)

[raccoonradio]

Wed show ping and column ping. Just saw in Herald that
Ogonowski fell 30 signatures short in his effort to get on
GOP ballot; not sure about the other guy (Beatty?)...meanwhile
Kerry, whose seat Ogonowski was vying for, may wind up
resigning if a—God forbid—Obama presidency means he’ll
be appointed to the Cabinet or something, and he could run in
that special election OR run in the special election should
Ted K pass on. But no matter what he’d need to get the
necessary signatures.

Good news in Beverly (and yup, I voted NO!)
:
Salem News: “BEVERLY — Voters overwhelmingly rejected a $2.5 million tax increase in the city’s first Proposition 2 1/2 override election yesterday, staging what the leader of the winning side said amounted to a ‘taxpayer revolt.’

“Voters turned down the override by a margin of more than 2,800 votes, 6,686 to 3,846. The “no” voters swept all 12 precincts in the city.”

OK here’s Howie’s column

Corruption finally catches up to Bulger crony
By Howie Carr | Wednesday, June 4, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com

Thoroughly corrupt.

Those are the two words that should appear on Tom Finnerty’s tombstone, the same words a federal judge used when he was describing the action of Billy Bulger’s former law partner, which has finally gotten him disbarred, after all these years.

Better late than never, but it is getting mighty late in the Whitey Bulger dragnet game. The fugitive serial killer will be 79 in three months, and although the shoes keep dropping in this case, they don’t drop nearly as often, and the thud they make grows ever fainter.

Recently I ran into a person who seems to have, for lack of a better term, psychic abilities. Sometimes she can find stuff that’s lost. So I asked her about something that’s lost - Whitey Bulger. Will he ever be found? She considered my question for a while.

“Three or four years from now, maybe,” she said, vaguely. “I see him very sick, dying, going into a hospital. Not here, Europe or some other foreign place. That’s how they get him.”

Take it for what’s worth, which I admit probably isn’t much. But one way or another, it’s ending not with a bang, but a whimper. So let’s look on the bright side: At least they got one of bigger fish in the Bulger mob.

The headline described Finnerty as a “Bulger associate,” but he was so much more. They went to law school together, they were both elected officials, and when Finnerty quit as district attorney of Plymouth County, the skids were greased for his assistant, who went on to hire Billy Bulger Jr.

Finnerty is 72, so this disbarment is a lot like retirement, which is exactly how he describes it on the voicemail in his old law office in Dorchester. Finnerty is, he says, “retired from the practice of law.”

What brought the thoroughly corrupt old hack down was his subornation of perjury by one of his clients, a South Boston man named Dooley, who has a job opening doors in the Senate, where Billy Bulger used to preside. Dooley was present in 1996 when Whitey Bulger called home to Southie. Also in attendance were Jackie Bulger, the younger brother of Whitey and Bulger, as well as Billy’s son-in-law, another Senate hack who is still making $89,142 at the State House.

The problem was, by the time Dooley was subpoenaed, Jackie had already lied under oath, saying that he hadn’t been there the night Whitey called. So, Finnerty told the hack to lie and say Jackie was not there. Hey, it was the least Dooley could do considering what they’d done for him.

Of course, it all went terribly awry. The door-opener hired a new lawyer, who got him to recant his perjury. Meanwhile, Jackie got bagged on a different lie and became 23986-038 in the Club Fed system. Even worse, Jackie lost his hack state pension. (At age 70, he is appealing the decision, claiming that denying him a kiss in the mail amounts to “cruel and unusual punishment,” and for anyone named Bulger, it probably is.)

The feds wanted to know whether Finnerty discussed his perjury instructions to the door-opener with Billy, but Finnerty declined to answer, even under a grant of immunity, because of his “attorney-client privilege” with Bulger. Like the 75 State St. scandal, it’s all amazingly convoluted, complete with coded names in the federal court decisions, but the bottom line is, Billy skated, and Finnerty didn’t, even after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Finnerty’s appeal.

What is most interesting at this late date is the late date at which the wretched Finnerty has been “disciplined.” The Board of Bar Overseers said it wasn’t “alerted” to Finnerty’s misconduct until a couple of months ago.

Strange, because on Oct. 6, 2006, the whole story about Finnerty was splashed across the front page of this newspaper. We included a photograph of his client running across the Common trying to escape. OK, so they don’t read the Herald. A follow-up appeared the next day in the Globe. The BBO must have missed that one, too.

Then, a year ago April, the feds announced they weren’t going to file charges against Billy Bulger. That story appeared in both newspapers, but apparently, the BBO overlooked them as well.

Oh well, Finnerty is “retired,” and Billy Bulger goes on and on and on. I’m just wondering when Whitey is going to be sick enough to check himself into that hospital in Europe. Oh, I almost forgot one thing. Jackie Bulger may have lost his state pension, but not Billy.

Gross monthly take for the Corrupt Midget: $16,457.16. Gross annual take: $197,305.92.

Repeat after me: Thoroughly corrupt.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1098473

---

[raccoonradio]

VICTORY IN BEVERLY! I got worried when I saw all the
YES signs (”a good investment”)

http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_156003244.html

Beverly override crushed: Tax limits upheld, but McKeown School will close at month’s end
By Paul Leighton and Cate Lecuyer
Salem News

BEVERLY — Voters overwhelmingly rejected a $2.5 million tax increase in the city’s first Proposition 2 1/2 override election yesterday, staging what the leader of the winning side said amounted to a “taxpayer revolt.”

Voters turned down the override by a margin of more than 2,800 votes, 6,686 to 3,846. The “no” voters swept all 12 precincts in the city.

When the final results were tallied on a board at City Hall, a group of about a dozen “vote no” supporters exploded in applause.

“This is great,” said Dawn Hames, a member of the anti-override group Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility. “As the children would say, ‘Awesome.’”

Elliott Margolis, the leader of Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, said the large margin of victory “sent a message” to school and city officials about rising taxes and spending.

“It sends the message that they’ve had enough,” Margolis said. “It’s like a taxpayer revolt.”

The result means the city will close McKeown School at the end of this month and spread the city’s elementary school students among the five remaining schools for next year. There will also be teacher layoffs.

A citizens group called Yes! for Beverly had tried to persuade voters to pass the override in order to keep the school system as it is for at least another year and buy time to come up with other solutions to the school’s budget problems.

More than 200 override supporters gathered last night at the Cove Community Center, which turned from festive to frustrated as the results came in. Although disappointed, they said they remained positive and proud of the work that went into the campaign.

“I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but we did make a difference,” said Tracey Armstrong, one of the group’s leaders. “We won before the votes were counted. This kind of a ballot never happened here before, and we gave people a voice, a chance to vote.”

After an emotional two months of phone calls, T-shirts, signs and literature, parents and children broke down in tears throughout the room. They hugged and comforted one another and tried to stay positive.

McKeown School parent Joanna Scott said she’s upset the school will close, but said override supporters fought a good fight and she was thankful for the friendships she formed with parents at other schools during the campaign.

“When we become part of another school, I know they will welcome us,” she said. “But it’s a shame that McKeown kids have no idea where they’re going. They’re adrift, and they know they’re not a top priority.”

Superintendent James Hayes, who was at the Cove Community Center, said he will forge ahead with a plan to close McKeown and redistrict kids across the city, while making other cuts to the budget.

“I’m very disappointed in the outcome, but very proud of the community coming together to rally for the schools,” he said.

For many, the results weren’t so much a surprise as they were disheartening.

“We honestly had no idea, but we were a lot more optimistic.” said Hannah School parent Andi Freedman.

Education is the foundation of a community, Centerville parent Amy McCay said.

“I feel sad people think about their own pocket before the greater good,” she said. “They can’t see the big picture.”

But the ‘vote no’ side said residents had no appetite for a tax increase that would have permanently cost the owner of an average-price home in the city $187 per year.

“I think (the override defeat) is very fair for the people who truly can’t afford this,” said Hames, who has two children at Centerville Elementary School. “I can’t call for a 21/2 override to my mortgage company. We have to meet our obligations, and I want our government to meet theirs.”

About 43 percent of the city’s registered voters went to the polls, the highest turnout for an election in the city since the 2004 presidential primary. The ‘no’ vote won by a margin of 63 percent to 37 percent.

“In my wildest dreams, I wanted to win every precinct and by a 2-1 margin,” Margolis said. “Did I think that was reality? Probably not. To be honest, I didn’t know how it was going to go. It’s people power.”

Margolis praised the efforts of the “vote yes” group and said the campaign has energized many people in the city to become more involved in civic issues.

“They put up a helluva fight,” he said. “They did a great job.”

Beverly would have been one of the few Massachusetts cities to pass a Proposition 21/2 override. Hundreds of towns have passed overrides, including most recently in Ipswich, Hamilton and Wenham, but they are more difficult to achieve among larger populations.

“It’s hard to get out there and make the case to every single voter,” said John Robertson of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. “You have to go out there and reach individual voters to make the case and build credibility with voters. In small towns, that’s easier to do.”

[raccoonradio]

Check out http://www.hubpolitics.com/

State Sen. Marzilli arrested in
Lowell; Ogonowski falls short

via Herald:
State Sen. James Marzilli was arrested in Lowell yesterday after he allegedly attempted to sexually assault a stranger sitting on a park bench, gave police a false name and then led officers on a foot chase that ended with in a downtown parking garage, law enforcement officials said.

Marzilli (D-Arlington), absolved of a separate sexual assault accusation last month, now faces a slew of new charges after yesterday’s alleged attack, which police said occurred in broad daylight on a busy street.

The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office said Marzilli, 50, approached a woman sitting on a bench along Middle Street, made a lewd comment and then tried to “inappropriately touch her in a sexual manner.”

---

and via The Hill:
Massachusetts Republican Senate candidate Jim Ogonowski has failed to qualify for the ballot, likely costing the GOP one of its few takeover opportunities in 2008.
Ogonowski’s campaign said in a statement that it delivered the required 10,000 signatures to the Massachusetts Secretary of State, but that several town clerks “had erred and had not properly signed the nomination papers.”

In the end, the campaign was just 30 signatures short.

[raccoonradio]

more from the article about the Beverly override
defeat:
“I feel sad people think about their own pocket before the greater good,” she said. “They can’t see the big picture.”

(But—it’s for THE CHILDREN!!!)

But the ‘vote no’ side said residents had no appetite for a tax increase that would have permanently cost the owner of an average-price home in the city $187 per year.

“I think (the override defeat) is very fair for the people who truly can’t afford this,” said Hames, who has two children at Centerville Elementary School. “I can’t call for a 2 1/2 override to my mortgage company. We have to meet our obligations, and I want our government to meet theirs.”

(Amen)

[maryz]

30 signatures short.

That is heart-breaking! You know, I didn't see anyone collecting signatures for him in Southie. Signature collectors are usually outide the Stop & Shop or the Rite-Aid (formerly Brooks, formerly Osco) on Broadway, and I'm up that way every Saturday morning . . .

[raccoonradio]

yes—and I think he put out some good ads/good message,
“on our side”—but again he may get a chance should
(God forbid) Obama get elected and put him in the Cabinet
(he wouldn’t dare name Kerry his veep would he? naaahhh!)
plus there would be that special election if Ted passes on

[maryz]

he wouldn’t dare name Kerry his veep would he?

LOL! Lord knows I'm no fan of Obama's -- and sticking with Rev. Wright so long indicates a certain tone-deafness at best -- but I'm pretty sure he's not that stupid! ;-)

[rockabyebaby]

Another good column by Howie and tell me please, how much does one make for opening doors in the senate,,,,,,then again maybe I don’t want to know,,,I can only imagine how much a hack makes to stand there and open a door, probably as much as the clowns who press the button to operate the bridges do....don’t tell me,,,,my blood pressure will soar!

[raccoonradio]

"You don't understand. I'm a state senator". Jim Marzilli with his wife Susan Shaer (photo from Lowell Sun)

http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_9474140

Second woman alleges Marzilli approached her
State senator released on $1,500 bail

LOWELL - A second woman has told police that she was accosted by state Sen. J. James Marzilli on Tuesday, hours before the senator was arrested downtown on sex-assault charges.

Marzilli walked out of his arraignment Wednesday morning after posting $1,500 bail, despite a request by the district attorney's office that he be held without bail.

Marzilli, 50, was arrested and charged by Lowell police after he allegedly attempted to grope a woman on a Middle Street bench about 3 p.m. Police said he fled when they approached him, and that Marzilli tried to hide his identity.

Corey Welford, spokesman for District Attorney Gerard Leone, said police were called after Marzilli approached a woman who was sitting on a bench along Middle Street, made an "inappropriate comment," and then tried to touch the woman in a sexual manner.

Assistant District Attorney Richard Mucci asked Judge Neil Walker to hold Marzilli, an Arlington Democrat, for a dangerous hearing, based on a second potential victim coming forward. Mucci said Marzilli is a "danger to the community" and "out of control."

Mucci said the second woman alleges she was approached by a man downtown, who made sexually tainted comments toward her. She later picked the Arlington Democrat from a photo lineup.

"Oh baby. You're so beautiful. Your body is so perfect," Mucci said Marzilli told the woman.

Mucci said the woman was not touched.

Marzilli is charged with attempting to commit a crime (indecent assault and battery), lewd and lascivious speech and behavior, giving a false name to police, resisting arrest, assault and battery, and disorderly conduct, police said.

Earlier this year Marzilli was accused of sexual assault by a woman in Arlington. DA Gerald Leone's office investigated that claim and said there was not enough evidence to file charges.

Marzilli was a state representative for 17 years, representing a district in the southern portion of Middlesex County, before winning the 4th Middlesex District Senate seat during a special election late last year. He lives in Arlington, and his district includes Billerica, Burlington, and portions of Lexington and Woburn.

Marzilli was in Lowell on Tuesday to attend an open house at Federal Fabrics-Fibers Inc., a high-tech textile firm on West Adams Street. Marzilli left the company sometime before 11 a.m.

Marzilli is due back in court for a pretrial conference on July 3.

[raccoonradio]

from the Herald: >>The white Toyota Corolla he drove away in appeared to have a parking ticket on the windshield.

(This just isn't his day...)

[Calvin Locke]

"The Masher of the Merrimack".

"Merrimack Valley Masher"?

[raccoonradio]

A special column (Thu) for Howie (unless he’s just putting out his Fri column early/seizing on a hot story). We’ll make this the show ping too

No touching end to hands-on pol’s fall from grace
By Howie Carr | Thursday, June 5, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com

The moonbats are in mourning. Their hero, a sanctimonious twit named Sen. Jim Marzilli, is now accused of being the Middlesex masher, the runaway perv, the butt of a million jokes among people who actually have jobs and don’t live off trust funds.

What’s Marzilli’s favorite John Steinbeck novel? The Gropes of Wrath.

His favorite Charles Dickens novel? David Cop-a-feel.

They always said he was a hands-on pol. We didn’t just know how hands-on. Talk about touchy-feely. The squirrelly socialist is just lucky he wasn’t charged with impersonating Bill Clinton. And by the way, I guess he missed the recent GQ story, Lose the Goatee.

Good job by District Attorney Gerry Leone, brooming the first case against Sen. Grope-Zilla. Isn’t it wonderful to live in a one-party state, where all the pols take care of one another, although I doubt Leone will make the same mistake twice.

You know what they say, there’s a lot to like about Lowell. Sen. Marzilli, aka Martin Walsh, might disagree. What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but Lowell ain’t Vegas. It didn’t take long for word to get out that Sen. Show-and-Tell had been busted, after giving a false name to the cops and running away.

As one old-time Arlington pol put it yesterday from Florida, strange things happen to strange people.

According to the police reports, this canal Casanova was bagged while trying to, well, you know his alleged m.o. by now. He inquires about women’s, uh, shaving habits, and then attempts to steal third base while still standing at the plate. Lewd and lascivious in Lowell.

That was bad enough, but now another woman stepped forward, picked him out of a lineup and said Sen. Show-and-Tell had done the same things to her. The usual extra-suave come-on lines like, “If I told you you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me?” - except of course Mitts Marzilli isn’t even quick enough to come up with something that ancient.

He said, “Ohhh baby, you’re so beautiful, your body is so perfect.”

To which the woman responded: Take $20 out of your pocket and go to Merrimack Street after 5 o’clock and get yourself a hooker.

Sen. Marzilli’s lawyer, who is named Kennedy, described this as flirting.

The P.C. crowd is absolutely crushed by the downfall of their idol. You have to remember, Arlington moonbats have an inferiority complex. Their parents didn’t give them trust funds big enough to buy them one-families off Mass. Ave. in North Cambridge for a million-two. So they slink across the line into Arlington pretending they are still in the People’s Republic.

Soon the blow-ins had displaced large elements of the native Arlington population, as well as the native pols.

As my old Arlington friend from the State House said, “We drank, we played cards, we got things done.” And they didn’t get arrested.

Hey, Marzilli was just looking for a little sex in Middlesex.

All the sad, middle-aged Arlington moonbats were spinning alibis for him yesterday. His mother just died. Maybe he’s bipolar. It’s a Greek tragedy. He raises nice flowers.

You read the moonbats’ pathetic postings online and you can’t help but start singing Marzilli’s favorite Jethro Tull tune: “Aqualung.”

Sitting on the park bench, eyeing little girls with bad intent. Snot is running down his nose, greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes.

That’s our Jim. His favorite Doors song? “Touch Me.”

His top Georgia Satellites tune? “Keep Your Hands to Yourself.”

It looks grim for Sen. McFeel, but there is one way out, and it always works in this state, at least if you’re a guy. When they sentence you, show up at the courthouse wearing a dress and the judge’ll let you go for sure.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1098759

[raccoonradio]

Doing a yahoo search for the man first turns up his official webpage, then two articles about his recent...activities
(the second coming from Dan Kennedy of Boston Phoenix
fame)

Welcome to Marzilli.org
Home | About Jim | District | Issues | Legislation | Subscribe | Contact. Welcome! ... Senator Marzilli Votes to Advance Tax Fairness and Competitiveness in ...
http://www.marzilli.org

wbztv.com - Second Woman Claims State Senator Jim Marzilli Accosted Her
... James Marzilli after more people contacted police following Marzilli’s arrest ... Three woman in as many months have accused Marzilli of making sexual advances. ...
http://www.wbztv.com/local/senator.jim.marzilli.2.739710.html - 54k -

Media Nation: Jim Marzilli’s in big trouble
... disturbing details from state Sen. Jim Marzilli’s arraignment this morning on ... an Arlington resident who voted for Jim Marzilli in each of his State House ...
http://medianation.blogspot.com/2008/06/jim-marzillis-in-big-trouble.html

[raccoonradio]

ha—check this out from the Dan Kennedy piece:

Kennedy:
>>Marzilli is a smart, hard-working legislator with a strong reformist impulse. In August 2003, I wrote a profile for the Boston Phoenix of then-House Speaker Tom Finneran, who was under fire for his authoritarian streak. Marzilli, then a state representative, had a characteristically smart take, telling me:

Marzilli:
Tom Finneran is not the devil. He is a man of enormous talent and intellect, and he is one of the most charismatic people you’ll find. He is at the same time very conservative, and he has a very controlling manner. He wants to be in charge. Now those are not bad characteristics automatically. But in an institution of legislators who are spending less and less time and attention on public-policy matters, it’s dangerous for our democracy. It’s dangerous because a conservative ideology dominates with precious little dissent or input, for that matter.

Dan Kennedy:
In an era when liberals are often accused of being socialists, it’s interesting to note that Marzilli actually is one. He chaired the Boston Democratic Socialists of America in the 1980s, and his name has continued to pop up in DSA literature in recent years.

[raccoonradio]

How soon till ‘RKO hires Marzilli? Felony conviction? No problem! As HC would put it, If you’re indicted, you’re invited. Use those songs you mentioned as themes or “bumpers” for his new show on Felon 680!

[Andy'smom]

Does it get any better than this? This guy is a moonbat’s moonbat! Do we have any freepers in Arlington?

[rockabyebaby]

Aqualung Lyrics by Jethro Tull, how right on the money!

Sitting on a park bench
Eyeing idle girls with bad intent.
Snot running down his nose
Greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes.
Aqualung my friend, don't you start away uneasy
Drying in the cold sun
Watching as the frilly panties run.
Aqualung my friend
Feeling like a dead duck
Spitting out pieces of his broken luck.
Aqualung my friend, don't you start away uneasy.

Sun streaking cold
An old man wandering lonely.
Taking time
The only way he knows.
Leg hurting bad,
As he bends to pick a dog-end
He goes down to the bog
And warms his feet.

Feeling alone
The army's up the road
Salvation a la mode and
A cup of tea.
Aqualung my friend
Don't start away uneasy
You poor old sod, you see, it's only me.

Do you still remember
December's foggy freeze?
When the ice that
Clings on to your beard was
Screaming agony.
And you snatch your rattling last breaths
With deep-sea-diver sounds,
And the flowers bloom like
Madness in the spring.

Sun streaming cold,
An old man wandering lonely
Taking time the only way he knows
Leg hurting bad
As he bends to pick a dog-end
he goes down to the bog and warms his feet

Ohohoho

Feeling alone
The army's up the road
Salvation a la mode and
A cup of tea.
Aqualung my friend
Don't start away uneasy
You poor old sod, you see, it's only me.