Howie Carr thread October 2013

Sun column ping

Shutdown puts gov in Halloween spirit

Howie Carr/Boston Herald, 10/6/13

What if the “shutdown” means that the state runs out of money for EBT cards?

How would the state’s heroin dealers be able to make bail when they’re arrested?

What about the poor Haitian woman with the three EBT cards who was busted for drunken driving and told the arresting officers they were stupid for buying their own food?

Oh yes, this government shutdown is taking its toll all right ... on the most vulnerable members of society. Darn those rascally Republicans!

I raise the specter of these looming catastrophes only because the administration of Deval Patrick is moving into heavy pre-Halloween scaremongering, or trying to, anyway. However, I don’t think they realize that most citizens (as opposed to non-citizens) will cheer if their doomsday predictions come true.

The secretary of Administration & Finance, one Glen Shor, sent out an email last Wednesday to the Legislature, “re: Federal Government shutdown.” This one caught my eye:

“The federal government will not continue quarterly formula grants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). ... As these programs run out of cash on hand, they will not be able to provide services without state intervention.” Ooooh, I’m scared now. TANF provides the cash portion of the EBT card.

Without it, liquor sales in the commonwealth will plunge. TANF, indeed — it’s not temporary, it’s permanent, it’s for the greedy, not the needy, and next to none of the “families” are actually “families.”

Also to be affected, according to Shor: “Refugee Programs.” This is known as the Tsarnaev Fund for the Next Generation of America-Hating Terrorist Welfare Bombers.

Gov. Patrick said last week he hopes God can forgive the Tea Party Republicans for this shutdown. I hope God can forgive Deval for lying about the real-estate property tax cut he promised back in 2006.

But even Deval, who has proven over and over again that he will say absolutely anything, couldn’t really do much with the “shutdown.” Here are some of his A&F guy’s Armageddon predictions, with italics added:

“Employees may face layoffs.”

“Dozens of programs will soon run out of money.”

“Failure to (end the shutdown) ... will slow down the economic recovery.” (What economic recovery?)

Federally funded state employees “may be furloughed or laid off for the duration of the shutdown.” Unlike in the Dreaded Private Sector, where an employee generally gets furloughed for the duration of his life.

“If the federal government shutdown lasts beyond Nov. 1, 2013 ...” (How likely is that?)

“Colleges may be unable to draw down and disburse” awards.

The shutdown “has the potential” to delay the building of 1,543 units of affordable housing.

Processing unemployment claims may end “after December… unless the state provides funds.”

In troubled times like these, I like to recall the soothing words of Lou Gorman: “The sun will rise, the sun will set, I’ll have lunch.”

And the Democrats will keep trying to scare us to death.

Thu column ping

Carr: Holy War for P.C. Crusaders

Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 10/10/13

First of all, let’s call this WGBH-David Koch brouhaha what it really is.

It’s not a political fight, it’s a religious war.

Koch has blasphemed the Church of Climate Change, formerly known as the Church of Global Warming, except the P.C. shamans had to change the name  because they couldn’t “hide the decline” in worldwide temperatures, to use a  famous phrase from one of their prophets.

To those moonbats who were out on Guest Street yesterday — including the one dressed in an Elmo costume — David Koch is not a political foe, he’s an apostate, a heretic.

So they have declared a fatwah against him.

Let’s face it, they’d like to burn Koch at the stake, except they’re worried about the carbon footprint it would leave. “His point of view is a lie,” said one no-nonsense granny from the People’s Republic of Brookline.

Koch has a different viewpoint. Ergo, he lies. See, what these fruitcakes believe is that global warming, er climate change,  is “settled science.”

Full disclosure: David Koch and I went to the same prep school. On the other hand, he’s worth $36 billion, and I’m not. But we’ve both had our problems at WGBH. The moonbats want to fire him from the board, and they once succeeded in getting me fired from Ch. 2 for the same crime he’s accused of,  insufficient Political Correctness.

The Brattle Street brass were holding firm to keep me on the old Ten O’Clock News, right up until the Sunday Globe ran a column suggesting a boycott by all Ch. 2 contributors until I was axed. So you don’t have to tell me about celebrating diversity.

My eyebrows are still singed from when the bow-tied bumkissers tied me to the stake.

You know “climate change” is a religion  because they have excuses for everything, just like the Rev. Harold Camping came up with an alibi for why the world didn’t end on the day he said it would.

Eighteen years of no “warming” — that’s not nearly enough time, it’s a mere “anecdote.” Two days of Megastorm Sandy — the sky is falling! The sky is falling! We told you so! I don’t know David Koch — he was 12 years ahead of me at Deerfield — but I do know he’s given tens of millions to our school, not to mention the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and WGBH, and God  only knows who else.  He’s a philanthropist. Last week even the Globe ran a story about his latest gift to MIT.

Earlier this year, he and his brother were reportedly thinking about buying a bunch of bust- out moonbat newspapers, including the  L.A. Times. The paper just announced this week they won’t be  running any more letters to the editor questioning “climate change,” because it is, after all, “settled science.”

One last thing: Hey, Elmo, get a job.

Fri column ping

Mumbles resurgent

by Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 10/11/13

Runs off at the mouth over strike

And we all thought Mumbles Menino was rounding third, headed for the checkout counter — fill in your cliche.

But now, in this bus drivers’ strike, he’s back, however briefly, to his old form.

Cut to Wednesday afternoon, as he informs parents where they can get the latest information:

“Go to the Boston public schools website (for) any updates or call 617-635-94520.”

That’s right, call 617-635-94520. This is the Mumbles Menino, we all remember, like the time he advised anyone needing immediate help to dial “nine-eleven.” Or during a long-forgotten heat wave, when he advised sweltering citizens that they could get all the info they needed by going onto “boston-dot-gov-dot.”

Now Mumbles is angry about this “wildcat” strike.

“I will not accept people being bullied into not working.”

Yeah, if there’s any bullying to be done in this city for the next 84 days or so, it’ll be done by Mumbles. Just ask Chick-fil-A, or Walmart, or all those developers.

This has been therapeutic for the mayor. He’s already having separation anxiety from his job, and this police-contract fiasco has not been one of his finest moments. It’s been reminding the electorate that over the past 20 years, whenever the news has been good, it’s always been “my city.”

On the other hand, when there’s, say, a bad contract to be dealt with, it’s the City Council’s city. But the bus drivers — they’re powerless enough for Mumbles to kick the crap out of them.

“The bus drivers union president has been right to demand drivers back to work and right to work collectively the Viola (Veolia?) on the issues they feel need to be addressed.”

You tell ‘em, Mr. Mayor!

But this is what he enjoys, going out and flecking the microphone with spittle as he denounces the villain of the day, be they “knuckleheads” in Kenmore Square or Chick-fil-A. This time it was the drivers who, as he said several times Tuesday, “don’t like to follow the rules.”

Yeah, people have to follow the rules. Unless of course they’re illegal alien car thieves. Those people — remember Mumbles saying he didn’t want to deport anybody who committed a “minor” crime like car theft. Spoken like a guy who hasn’t had to look for a parking space in 20 years.

Boy, is he going to get a surprise come January.

“This afternoon bus service looks like we unnaway, children picked up on a regular schedule but this remains very ten-tentative goin’ forward.”

The city knew about the strike — “we’ve had some rumblings about this, we’ve had people at these different depots, we’ve had staff there, but they never let on when it would happen.”

Dammit, Mayor, where’s the BPD’s “intelligent unit” when you need them?

Next step?

“We’re gonna look, legal team and, uh, labor relations to see what action we can’t take. We gonna take legal action, not illegal action like the bus drivers took.”

And don’t forget: any questions, call this number: 617-635-94520.

Sat column ping

Carr: We’ll keep the beef, if they keep the bull
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Howie Carr

If it ever came down to a choice between saving either Channel 2 or the Hilltop Steakhouse, I guess you know which side I’m on.

Those fiberglass cows and the giant cactus on Route 1 south will be remembered long after WGBH’s multimillion-dollar screen over the Pike is forgotten, along with all the left-wing documentaries promoted on it.

But why can’t we continue to enjoy both Boston-area institutions? Ch. 2 got $7.5 million from the feds last year. Couldn’t Elmo spare, say, a couple of million to preserve a cultural artifact like the Hilltop?

You know damn well if there were still a tribe of headhunters in the Amazon with poison blowguns, Ch. 2 would spare no expense to record them in their native habitat.

So how about videotaping some locals in their native habitat … a little closer to home?

I’m telling you, Route 1 north of the city needs to be on the National Register of Historic Places. The Kowloon, which provides my dinner at the radio station every Tuesday night. The Ship, or whatever they’re calling it this year. The Leaning Tower of Pizza. The miniature golf course with the dinosaurs.

Route 66 never really died, it just moved to Saugus.

What a swell place the Hilltop was. You’d wait in that line outside, sheltered from the elements, and by the time you reached the entrance you’d worked up a thirst so great it would cast a shadow. And that was the genius of Frank Giuffrida. Your first stop, pre-dinner, was in a waiting (read: bar) room. That’s where he made most of his profit.

They poured heavy, those Hilltop barkeeps. As well they should have — after a couple of triple gin bucks, hold the buck, you didn’t notice that the steak was a little on the, shall we say, chewy side, or that the baked potato might still be cold in the middle….

But the Hilltop was one of those places you figured would always be there. Like, for instance, Anthony’s Pier 4. It went under a couple of months ago — ironic, two of the highest-grossing restaurants in the area for all these years, folding within a few weeks of each other.

I learned a lot at Anthony’s Pier 4. One night I walked in and Anthony spotted me immediately and strode right over.

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” he snarled. “Why are you writing that @#$%^& about Billy Bulger?” I tried to say something, but he kept yelling at me, like he knew I used to be a dishwasher.

What did I learn that night? That the customer isn’t always right, at least not at Anthony’s Pier 4.

Hilltop bartenders weren’t stingy either.

Wonder who gets to keep the fiberglass cows.

column

Wed column

here Carr: Gov gets message out with ‘holiday’ greeting

When it comes to Christmas, Gov. Deval Patrick is a “happy holidays” kind of guy. I mean, if the bar exam had had a political correctness section on it, it wouldn’t have taken Deval three tries to pass it.

As you know, it’s important never, ever to mention the name of a Christian holiday, because you might offend somebody. If anybody is offended by the  C-word, undoubtedly he or she is a Beautiful Person.

If anybody complains about Christmas, why, that’s their First Amendment right. They’re speaking truth to power, and if you say anything in  defense of the C-word, you’re nothing more than a Bitter  Clinger.

So imagine my shock and surprise yesterday when I saw a 1:56-minute video on YouTube of the governor, and this is how it began:

“Hi, I’m Governor Patrick.  Salaam alaikum.”
(That’s Arabic for “Dominus vobiscum.”)

“I want to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very blessed Eid al-Adha. Eid Mubarak.”

Whoa! Hold it right there, Governor. If you can use the name of the Muslim holiday, what about … the C-word? Or Easter? Or Yom Kippur, for that matter?

“Muslims across Massachusetts are sacrificing to make their families, their neighborhoods and our commonwealth stronger and I want to thank you for that.”

At this point it would have seemed appropriate for Deval to give a “shout-out,” as his pal Barack would say, to the poor persecuted Tsarnaev family. Or maybe Tarek Mehanna, late of Sudbury, now of Terre Haute FCI since he was convicted of providing aid to al-Qaeda.

“I also want to thank Muslims in our state for helping us to build a unified commonwealth-wide community. We’re all in this together.”

It’s just that some of us in politically protected classes can have our holidays actually named by the governor; the rest of us can’t.

A call was placed to the governor’s office asking if he’ll be putting out a “Merry Christmas” video this year. Needless to say, the call was not returned. I found a 24-second message from Deval to the troops last year — “warm holiday greetings,” and 56 seconds of a “special holiday message” to the rest of us.

In 2011, Christians got 1:16 from Deval for the “holiday season.”

In both years, by the way, then-Lt. Gov. Tim Murray wished his soon-to-be-former constituents a “happy and healthy holiday season.” This year he’ll be having an even happier holiday season, because even though he’s left  office in disgrace, at least he’s not doing 36 months at Lewisburg FCI, like his former bagman Mike McLaughlin.

Now, Deval has always had a problem with words like “terror,” or “hate crimes,” unless of course Christians, preferably white, are committing them. Remember how he once described 9/11, the biggest hate crime ever on American soil — “a failure of human understanding … a failure of human beings to understand each other, to learn to love each other.”

Eid Mubarak, everyone, a  day late.

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