No mercy for Chuck Turner

The FBI photographed Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner allegedly taking a $1000 bribe. The man is in some serious trouble with the Feds. He'll probably go down. You begin to wonder if these FBI stings are entrapment and whether the guy should be cut some slack. But then I remembered this story that absolutely made my blood boil at the time.

Turner called a press conference to unveil some photos he had discovered that proved US military men were raping Iraqi women. Pretty far reaching stuff for a city councilor but Chuck's always been a grandstander. The Boston Globe, eager to put the Bush administration and American military men in as bad a light as possible, jumped on the story and even allowed the photos to be held up by Turner in their photo of the press conference. Of course, the Globe never vetted the facts in the case and guess what? - all the photos were fake and were taken from a pornographic website.

I hope Chuck loses his job for the $1000 bribe, but he should have lost it long ago for this vile trick he played on the men and women who have served honorably in Iraq.

A Republican who gets it

Doug Bennett is running a (hold your hat there GOPers) "grassroots" campaign for a City Council seat in the city of Boston. Of course a Republican winning a political office in Massachusetts these days is as likely as your 401K allowing you to retire before you hit 80. Undaunted however, he's knocked on 26,000 doors since May and the election isn't until next November. He calls, sends letters and has face to face meetings with potential voters.

Repubs have the reputation of staying at arms length from the hoi poloi - preferring brie and Chardonnay to Cheez Whiz and a beer, but it appears giving the recent drubbing at the polls, a new approach may be needed. Doug here may be on to something. If you feel that the media is likely to pull a Palin on you, get out there and meet the peeps. Could work.

It's a year away, but we're going to keep an eye on this guy.

What one party government looks (and smells) like

Massachusetts, occasionally called Taxachusetts, also home of the Big Dig - a highway project that cost American taxpayers 16 Billion dollars .. leaks hundreds of thousands of gallons of water a month and its inferior construction caused a roof collapse that killed a commuter.. is all Democrat. Democrat Governor, both US senators Democrat, 10 of 10 US House Reps Democrat 154 of 160 state reps, 36 of 40 state senators. That puts it in the 95% Democrat category.

And it is rife with scandal. A state senator under investigation as a sexual predator, another state senator accused of stuffing bribe money into her uh, clothing. Speaker of the House suspected of illegal dealings with a software company. This list could go on and on. And believe me, it's only the tip of the iceberg. When one party controls the entire governmental workings of a state can you imagine what goes on behind closed doors? Unbridled greed and mismanagement of the citizens taxes is my guess. No checks and balances. It's no surprise that the governor is in panic mode trying to cut costs as a skyrocketing budget (increases 4 times the inflation rate the last two years) threatens to collapse the state economy.

Stay tuned. What happens here in Massachusetts will certainly start happening on a grand scale in a few months.