July 29, 2008
Legislation is flying furiously under the dome, as our elected lawmakers race to make our lives better before Friday. The House has passed the "1913 Law" repeal, which now awaits Gov. P's already-promised signature. (Yo Cali -- you'll NEVER be gayer than Mass!) Also, the Senate passed the same-day voter registration bill, no doubt because of the
Phoenix's strong editorial support. That measure still needs House approval. More to come, I'm sure!
July 29, 2008
News around the state is unbelievably, overwhelmingly depressing: a year-old boy drowning in a pool in Taunton; a 14-year-old suffering life-threatening injuries after being run over on his bicycle in Lowell; a 15-year-old shot to death in Brockton; three dead from apparent heroin overdoses in New Bedford; an eight-year-old Fitchburg girl battling a lethal staph infection at Franciscan Children's; a 16-year-old drowning in the Westfield River.
To lift your spirits, I highly recommend concentrating all your attention on baseball -- not the Manny Ramirez stuff, but the outstanding triumph of the Parkway Nationals' winning the state's Little League championships yesterday.
And, for good measure, read this story about the shot-in-the-line-of-duty cop who will be umpiring at the Little League World Series.
July 29, 2008
--So, GOP, you were hoping to make it through this election cycle without any major officeholder indictments, huh? Not so fast!
--Stevens is not the only powerful Alaska Republican sweating in the klieg lights these days.
--If you've found yourself missing the sight of Kerry Healey, you can catch her stumping for her fellow Republicans in the state: Aug. 5 in Westfield for US Rep candidate Nathan Bech, and Aug. 7 in Westford for state rep candidate Paul Avella.
--Or, if you enjoy spending time on a bus with Mass GOP interns (and who doesn't!), you can sign up to join their Aug. 2 trip up to McCain's NH HQ.
--Meanwhile, in the ongoing battle to determine whether the state GOP or Howie Carr is most obsessed with Jim Marzilli, the former issued yet another release about the beleaguered state senator today. It's been DAYS since Carr's last column about him!
July 25, 2008
"Willard" asks:
Why are right wing bloggers and commenters of the MA political blogosphere generally so inarticulate, unoriginal, sloppy, dull, obtuse, dense, and devoid of critical thought?
I have ruminated on this very topic in the past, and I actually have a theory about it which I will now present in vastly oversimplified sweeping generalizations:
The breed of intelligent, relatively moderate "Massachusetts Republicans" are now all over the age of 50 and do not participate in the online world. Their literal and intellectual offspring have been driven leftward (or into hiding) by the new breed of ultraconservatives. These ultraconservatives, having no local intellectual heritage to draw from, have learned their ideology from the vacuous, "dittohead" simplifications of talk radio.
July 25, 2008
"Rick Ross" asks:
If [Michael] Flaherty runs [for mayor], then a seat is vacant at large. With [Felix] Arroyo gone do you see any new or old progressive candidates capable stepping into the race? What about the district seats, do you think those are static?
Lastly, if Menino wins again will he bow out mid-way Flynn style and leave the office to the President?
I increasingly sense that the 2009 at-large city council race will include several significant challengers, regardless of what Flaherty does. Felix Arroyo Jr. is said to be seriously considering a run, and there are rumors of other interested Hispanics -- in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Arroyo starts raising money well before the end of this year, to dissuade other Latinos from jumping in. I would be surprised if there is not at least one serious black candidate. (Bruce Wall is one likely suspect, but there are others.) If Flaherty is out, you've got to figure one or two from Southie will try to seize his votes. Plus, maybe I'm crazy, but don't you think maybe a woman see an opportunity?
I don't see any obvious vulnerabilities in the districts, or hear any rumors of anyone not running for re-election -- but it's still early.
Menino leaving mid-term is always a possibility, although probably only for health reasons -- any hopes of a federal appointment ended with Hillary Clinton's concession. Maureen Feeney will not run for another term as President, I am told by good sources, so we'll have quite the interesting battle coming up. You can bet John Tobin will try for it, but my guess is it goes to a compromise choice -- one of the non-threatening district councilors.
July 25, 2008
In response to my call for questions, "Andy" starts us off with a tough one, asking:
Will 1913 be repealed before the end of the legislative session?
I homestly don't know; my best guess is that yes, the House will get it to the floor for a winning vote next week. But I don't get any sense of confidence from insiders on it. If it doesn't, I suspect it will zip through next year.
Keep the questions coming!
July 25, 2008
Give me your best shot -- ask me anything, and I'll give you my best answer, be it fact, prediction, opinion, analysis, rumor, hearsay, or wild guess. Leave your query as a comment to this post. I'll respond in posts during the day.
I look forward to your questions!
July 24, 2008
--Todd Domke writes what I've been saying recently, but with more clarity and wit: Romney is at best a highly problematic VP choice. In particular, I agree that only out-of-touch pundits think that Romney helps McCain with the economy. (For what it's worth, pretty much the only people who voted solidly for Romney in the primaries were not those who cited the economy as the number-one issue, but those who cited illegal immigration.)
--With the benefit of hindsight, here are three things that, we learned this week, are not such good ideas: Goading your charismatic Presidential opponent into visiting Iraq during the campaign; participating in physical competitions while collecting public disability; and driving away with the pedestrian you just hit splayed across your windshield.
--That's right, the Bay Area Reporter did a story about interesting gay delegates to the upcoming Democratic National Convention and had to come looking in Massachusetts, where they found our very own Stephen Driscoll.
--When the existence of UFOs (and a UFO cover-up conspiracy) is vouched for by an actual US astronaut who walked on the moon, it's pretty compelling.... until you remember that those moon landings were all faked.
July 23, 2008
Congratulations are due to Bob Neer, one of Blue Mass Group's founders, for the publication of his first book: "Barack Obama for Beginners: An Essential Guide." It is a tidy, quick-reading 70-page bio from Steerforth Press in New Hampshire. I had a few issues with some of the decisions about what to include or focus on, but I am clearly not its intended audience. The book moves through its tale swiftly in punchy, declarative sentences; the tone is decidedly rah-rah throughout, but not Obamaniacal; and nearly every page contains a somewhat cartoony illustration of the text. It reminded me of a Pete Rose bio I was particularly taken with as a kid (back when he still seemed heroic) -- and I mean that as a compliment. I assume that this is the desired effect of any book with the phrase "for beginners" in the title.
I found myself distracted, however, by a technical aspect of the book: its sourcing. The book itself contains no notations, and only very rarely cites sources within the text; instead, a front note advises the reader that "Complete source notes... are available at BarackObamaForBeginners.com."
Some of you may recall a controversy over the sourcing in "Bluest State," a book written last year by WBZ-TV's Jon Keller. After the Herald raised the issue, BMG bloggers -- including Neer -- were withering in their criticism.
It's interesting to see how the two writers (or more aptly, their publishers) approached the same basic problem: pages of end notes are seen as an unnecessary expense for a popular-audience paperback, and you don't want to bog down the prose by having every other sentence contain some version of "...according to Joe Reporter in a 1991 Daily Paper article." Yet, you don't want to pass off other people's work as your own reporting, and you'd like to give readers an opportunity to know where your information comes from.
In both cases, it seems to me, they arguably went with approaches more fitting to their particular type of book. Keller's book is partly original reporting and partly researched; so, the primary concern was to make sure the reader could distinguish between the two as they read. The solution: attach "according to"-style descriptors in the text for material that might be confused for original reporting (particularly use of third-party quotes, and other specific information not available from multiple sources). Material that the author and editors felt was clearly coming from multiple news reports, was not sourced.
Neer's book is entirely culled from other sources, so that distinction was not as important; also, I imagine that "beginners" are relatively unlikely to care about having sourcing at their fingertips. Still, some readers will want to know the particular source of each informational nugget. For example, some readers might be inclined to take claims from Obama's own books with a grain of salt. Also, original, unique reportage deserves citation, somewhere. So, citations were made available on the web to those who wished to find them, but were not considered important enough to put within the pages.
That's my interpretation, anyway. In an email exchange with me about this issue, Neer argues that there is no difference between printing the notes in the book versus online. "The fact that the notes are not physically printed in the book would be, I think, significant if there was not an explicit notification that they can be found on the website," he writes, adding that "Putting the notes on the web, in this day of easy access to the internet at home, work, and at public venues like libraries, makes it generally available."
I'm not so sure I can agree -- particularly for a book touted by the publisher as readable "on commutes," and obviously intended (it seems to me) for readers who aren't turning to the web to get this kind of information on the candidate. Having citations "available," however readily, is not the same as having them within the book covers. And, lots of folks still don't have the equipment, or the know-how, to access a web site: my Dad and the Republican Presidential nominee, just to name two.
As a practical matter, people reading Neer's book repeatedly come across specific information and direct quotes, without any indication that these were the result of someone else's reporting other than the author's. Neer, again, disputes this, arguing that the clear reference to the source notes on the web obviates that potential misperception. But that reference alone gives no indication of how much of the book is original or not. The book itself does not contain notation numbers, for instance, nor a bibliography.
I'm not sure that it matters; anyway, I'm not in that world, so I don't know what is considered standard or acceptable. I had much the same comment about Keller's book. (I asked Neer in my email whether his experience had changed his thinking about Keller's book; he stood by his criticism.)
But I do find one thing telling. Among the very few "according to"-style references in the book is one on page 54 that cites "...blogger Matt Stoller." Stoller is a well-known member of the progressive blogosphere. My guess is that Neer would have felt bad using something from a fellow blogger without citing him by name. Yet, by my quick count from the source notes, Neer used the work of at least five dozen journalists from roughly 30 different "MSM" sources, without naming a single one of them in the book's text. Why not?
July 22, 2008
Campaign for America's Future has released results of a "straw poll" it conducted (with Democracy Corps) at the recent Netroots Nation convention in Austin. The press release declares that "Economic and Energy Issues, Ending War In Iraq Top Netroots' Concerns."
Well, not exactly. Actually, the poll bizzarely failed to even include the economy as one of the 14 options for the respondents.
It did include as an option: "The growing gap between the rich and the poor," which was the second-most popular choice for "your top concern" (but just fourth for the concern "you feel should be the top priority for the next administration.")
Economic disparities are an economic issue, yes, but it's not at all the same as the economy per se -- economic growth, unemployment, inflation, etc. -- which is what most polls show is the number-one concern among Americans today.
Omitting the economy from the list of options on the survey is a major boo-boo. These things happen; the proper response is to quietly chuck the whole thing in the trash and move on -- not release it with a headline that tries to cover up the boo-boo.
I also got a kick out of the question regarding Obama's VP options. Here are your choices:
--Obama should pick someone politically similar to himself, reinforcing the dynamic nature of his candidacy and the urgent need for change, and keeping true to his liberal roots.
--Obama should pick someone more toward the political center in order to help balance the ticket and make him more electable.
Three-quarters of Netroots Nation respondents (the vast majority of whom are self-described liberals or progressives) chose option A: someone totally awesome!, and only 25% chose option B: someone lame enough to appeal to common people!
July 21, 2008
Greater Boston's Jeff Keating recently solicited VP predictions from, in his words, "three of the smartest political commentators around": me, Joe Sciacca of the Boston Herald, and Jon Keller of WBZ (and former Phoenix reporter). Our responses are on the GB blog. Just how wicked smart the three of us really are, I'll leave to you all to judge.
I predict Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia for Obama, with Sen. Claire McCaskill as my second pick; and Gov. Mark Sanford of SC for McCain. Sciacca says Sebelius or Edwards for Obama, and Crist or Romney for McCain; Keller says Crist for McCain and either Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybek or Joe Biden for Obama. See the link for the reasoning behind our choices.
July 16, 2008
In this week's issue of the Boston Phoenix -- out tomorrow, online now -- I reveal just how low the public's opinion of the Boston Police Department plummeted as gun violence tore through the city.
In the fall of 2006 -- shortly before Commissioner Ed Davis took over the BPD -- the department conducted a city-wide survey of residents' opinions about crime and police. This was the 5th such survey conducted over a 10-year period. The results -- which have never before been made public -- show a huge rise in public fear, and a huge drop in public confidence in the police department's ability to prevent and solve crime.
I take a look at the survey results, and why things may have (or may not have) improved since then -- and get comments from Commissioner Davis and Mayor Tom Menino (and possible Mayoral candidate Michael Flaherty).
It's here [Update -- link now fixed]:
Does Boston Hate The BPD?
July 15, 2008
Geez Bernstein, dontcha ever blog anymore?
--Looks like the state government will finally get around to repealing the law that, in effect, restricts Massachusetts from marrying out-of-state gay couples. I'm all for that, but what's with the way gay-marriage advocates always refer to the statute as "1913," the year it dates from? It hardly seems relevant (how often do news stories normally refer to the passage date of laws under discussion?), but presumably is intended to emphasize how ancient, anachronistic and out-of-date it is. Very Lakoffian -- and effective. Press reports always refer to the "1913 Law", often in the first sentence, occasionally in the second sentence. The Globe waited until late in the third sentence in the news item, but went with the first sentence in the editorial. And now, it seems the state will dispose of it, like some 18th-century blue law prohibiting women from spitting on a turkey while wearing knickers on the Sabbath.
--John Connolly wants the city to consider a bike-sharing program, which, if it's feasible, could become John's first proposal to be wified. (That's when Menino steals a city councilor's idea and takes all the credit for it; named in honor of the mayor's high-profile theft of John Tobin's city-wide WiFi proposal.) A bunch of other US cities are looking at it, but implementation seems to be trickier than expected. San Francisco plans to have a bike-share in place next year -- and you know how this blog feels about copying SF. Anyway, I'm more a proponent of a Segway-share program, but I'm probably ahead of my time.
--I grew up in Arizona. My family did not have a private plane. Which, I now learn from Cindy McCain, is why I never got to go anywhere. Stupid middle-class parents! Fortunately, Mrs. Senator reportedly stands to make a seven-figure payday from the Anheuser-Busch sale, so she'll be able to keep the plane fueled.
--Dorchester's own Sheldon Adelson has been getting a lot of attention for a guy who just wants to quietly use his vast self-made fortune to refashion the world to his liking. The New Yorker ran a terrific, very lengthy story a few weeks ago, and today the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) gives him Page One profile treatment. Question: How come he can't get his home state to pass a casino bill?
July 08, 2008
"Chauncy" asks:
do you think kennedy will attempt to appoint a successor from his
family, or do you think he'll stay out of the race to succeed him?
I wrote about these rumors a few weeks ago. My best guess right now is that it depends on who in the family wants it. If his wife wants it, as is much rumored, he'd probably try to arrange that by force. Otherwise, I'd say Ted would support but not enforce. For instance, if Joe wants it -- which my guess is he doesn't -- I don't think Ted will try to force everyone else to stay on the sidelines for him.
July 08, 2008
"Brian" asks:
I got a phone survey from Mike Flaherty's campaign last Wednesday night, it
was 15 minutes long.
When do you think that race will start off, and barring a Menino
blunder, does Flaherty have any real shot? How did he fare in november
compared to the 3 other at-large guys?
I currently make it a 70% chance that Flaherty runs for Mayor, 30% that he doesn't. (BTW, he just banked a nice wad of contributions.) He's certainly preparing for it: I heard recently that he's interviewed potential campaign managers. He certainly doesn't figure to announce before the November '08 elections -- unless someone else does, but there hasn't been a peep about anyone else feeling out the territory.
Flaherty led the at-large field again in '07, and will assuredly pose the biggest challenge to date for Menino -- assuming, as nearly everyone does, that Tommy will run again.
That said, I don't see how Flaherty beats him without a major scandal in the city government.
My own opinion is that Flaherty would stand a better chance if there are other serious candidates also running. There are a number of reasons for that, but to be brief, if it's just Flaherty then Menino can basically ignore him and win. With a multi-candidate field, you would have a well-covered campaign. In a one-on-one, if Menino blows off a debate or forum, there's nothing to cover; with multiple candidates, it draws a crowd and coverage without him (and questions about why he isn't there). A one-on-one makes the September preliminary meaningless, so nobody will pay attention before then; a multi-candidate race becomes a huge event, with the (second-place) winner gaining a huge boost and head of steam -- and probably most of the people who voted for the other challengers.
So far, that scenario doesn't seem likely. As a result, a Flaherty victory doesn't seem likely to me -- unless of course Menino ends up not running.
