Quick Hits

--The dime-dropping at the Massachusetts house of representatives is trickling downward through the ranks; now Charlie Murphy has been publicly humiliated for, apparently, giving someone permission to cast his votes while he lolled on a tropical isle. (Of course, given what I reported recently about the infrequency of disssenting votes in that chamber, does it really matter?) If this ratting-out keeps up, house members are going to have to start acting by that sage credo: don't do anything you wouldn't want to see written up in the papers. And what fun would that be?

--When one person steals from the company, you've got a rogue employee. When several of them do it, in the same way, you've got copycats and you need to inform your managers and supervisers to watch out for it. When dozens of them do it -- as appears to be the case at the Boston Fire Department -- odds are pretty good that your managers are part of the problem. That almost has to be the case in this current scandal. And make no mistake, this pension/disability scam is just a form of theft. If, and I repeat IF, the allegations turn out to be true, and as widespread as it seems, then it seems impossible that high-ranking folks were unaware. Which means that they either allowed it, encouraged it, or made personal gain off of it. Which could explain why the feds are so interested.

--And by the way, has Donovan Slack (who's been breaking the BFD stories) been carrying the downsized Globe on her back or what?

--The talent at ABC News made jackasses of themselves in the other night's debate. (I can't find video of the opening montage, but I swear it was more like the intro for a Ultimate Fighting match than a Presidential forum.) But let's not forget that the bulk of the press has been focusing on these inane, idiotic questions and accusations and gotcha-no-got-you! exchanges -- and so have the candidates themselves. It's not just Charles and George, although they really should have treated the occasion as a time to rise above the Chris Matthewsization of political discourse, not dive down into it.

--How can you not love a guy who's trying to establish a regulatory framework for the financial-services industry, AND introduces a bill to decriminalize pot? Go get 'em, barney Frank!