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Posted on 08/07/2007 8:30:30 AM PDT by Reaganesque
THURSDAY in Iowa, former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said he wants to strip government officials convicted for corruption of their pensions. He noted his disappointment with ethically lapsed Republicans in particular: "I expect more of people in my own party. We speak about high ethical standards and we should be an example of those high ethical standards."
It turns out, Romney was the rare Massachusetts pol to act correctly in one of the state's worst political scandals.
...snip...
As Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr wrote in his book, "The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century," this story has few political heroes.
At one of Billy's famed St. Patrick's Day breakfasts, former GOP Gov. William Weld, a former Justice Department official, turned the Kingston Trio classic "Charley on the MTA" into a ditty about Whitey Bulger on the lam. It was Weld who gave Billy the UMass. job.
...snip...
But Romney determined to get Bulger off the UMass payroll. Romney put out the word that he would name three Bulger critics - including Howie Carr - to open trustee seats. Bulger's first reaction, Carr wrote, was that Romany "wouldn't dare." But Romney did dare and Billy Bulger resigned.
E-mail: dsaunders@sfchronicle.com.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Howie deserves most of the credit, though. He dogged Billy and Whitey for years. He popularized the name "Corrupt Midget". The brothers Bulger hated his guts with a vengance. Still do. That Howie didn't end up in an umarked, shallow grave somewhere in Charlestown is nothing short of a miracle. I only wish Mitt had had the opportunity of actually putting Howie Carr on the board of trustees for UMass. I would have paid money to watch the ensuing hilarity!
I apologize. I forgot to do a search and now see that this was posted. I think, though, it bears repeating. This was a huge historical event in MA politics and bears upon the Presidential race.
You or another Mitt fan posted this recently. My reply is the same to your original post. Howie Carr did more to get Billy Bulger off the payroll than Mitt ever dreamed of.
I still love the video of Howie sitting behind the corrupt midget when he was testifying before that house committee.
Farrakahn was right, it was Whiteys fault. I thought he meant . . . .
You can downplay this all you want, the fact remains that Mitt was the first politician in MA to actually have the courage to take the Bulgers on. Not only did he take them on (and live to tell the tale), but he won. For MA, that was something that was totally unprecedented. I love Billy’s reaction to Mitt’s threat to put Howie on the board of trustees “he wouldn’t dare.” That says it all right there. So when Romney says he wants to bring ethics to Washington, having taken on Democrat machine politics and their mob connections in MA, he has a lot of credibility behind that claim.
The Dems in the House of Reprehensibles changed the law allowing the Governor to appoint a Senator to fill a vacancy because Mitt promised Howie on the air that he would appoint Howie if Live Shot Kerry won. In all fairness is wasn’t Howie who coined the term Corrupt Midget he just made it stick.
Right, Howie popularized it. It was some other politician who coined it. Dem if I remember correctly.
It was actually a judge whose budget was getting squeezed over a political dispute who first referred to the president of the state senate as a “corrupt midget” ... Judge E. George Daher of the state’s Housing Court.
Whitey Bulger was the inspiration for Jack Nicholson’s character in The Departed.
It’s pronounced The Depaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhted.
“How’s he going to deal with the Iranians if he can’t handle a Corrupt Midget?” in reference to M. Stanley Pee Wee Dukakis.
This wasn’t the only bloated fat cat he took down either.
I agree it was an incredible accomplishment.
I agree.
I love it. Thanks!
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