Monday, December 03, 2007

I've been out of town for a few days, so here are a few thoughts on what's been going on.

--When Tom Menino appointed a special commission to look into the need for reforms at the Boston Fire Department, many people wondered why it was needed, when previous commissions had looked into the same issue in the past and made sensible recommendations that were never implemented. Apparently the commission agreed, and essentially turned right around and said 'um, our job's already been done... we recommend that this time, the Mayor actually follow the recommendations.' Menino says he will, on account of it being a whole political thing now. The firefighters union couldn't be happier -- there's nothing better than having your boss desperately need a concession from you that he should have gotten during the last actual contract negotiation. How much will Menino have to pay now (from future city coffers, natch) to save his political skin on this one? Stay tuned...

--Wouldn't it be nice if once in his political career Mitt Romney would do one single thing out of personal conviction rather than political calculation? Like, stand up for his lifelong religious convictions? Mitt has held the "Mormon speech" in his pocket all year like an NFL coach with one of those red challenge flags, waiting and calculating whether to throw it. Falling behind Huckabee in Iowa a month before the caucuses finally triggered the decision to throw it. But, his problem gaining voters in Iowa has little or nothing to do with his Mormonism, so there's really no reason to treat this like an important speech. On the other hand, it will be fun to hear him beg for the acceptance and tolerance he refuses to offer to Muslims and Latinos. Should we give Mormons exactly the same consideration we give to all other religious adherents, while refusing to name Muslims in cabinet positions? Should we take great pains to not blame all Mormons for the sins of those who committed past atrocities and injustices, while declaring war on "fundamentalist Islam" and wiretapping mosques? Should we celebrate Mormons' clinging to distinct cultural and religious activity and social circles, while blaming Hispanics for failing to assimilate, and immersing Spanish-speaking children in English-only classrooms? Just asking, Mittster.

--Mitt's got trouble brewing in NH as well, where John McCain has climbed into second place in most polls, and yesterday picked up the critical endorsement of the Manchester Union-Leader. The U-L endorsement is a bit of a shocker, because it hasn't endorsed a mainstream Republican in the primary since Reagan; they always go for the (wealthy) anti-tax populist type like Forbes, DuPont, or Buchanan. Also, McCain's in the state all this week, including appearances with Curt Schilling!

--So, the first high-profile act of violence against Hillary Clinton and/or her supporters comes not from a rabid Clinton-hater, but from a mentally ill guy with the liberal cause of better public support and treatment for the mentally ill. Although really, aren't almost all attacks like this, in a sense, a call for that same cause?

--For those who doubt whether there's really big money to be made in casinos in Massachusetts (for the casinos and by extension the state taking a percentage of the gross), please note the growing number of investors eagerly jumping into the competition for the select few licenses that would be auctioned off. Apparently they believe the optimistic numbers.