Regardless of how one viewed the march to war with Iraq in 2003, it was clear that the conflict would exact a harsh legacy of death and injury, including soldiers and civilians scarred by post-traumatic stress disorder and other terrible maladies.

Now, while the White House continues to conflate opposition to its approach with support for Al Qaeda, we're learning more about how many American veterans are receiving grossly substandard government care. Former ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, who has enjoyed a remarkable recovery after suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI) during an IED attack in Iraq, offers an inspiring story. Yet Woodruff, to his credit, has exposed how most of the many US soldiers with TBI injuries are not getting the kind of help that made his recovery possible.

US veterans have long received shoddy treatment from their own government. Yet the current situation -- a cruelly ironic twist on the rhetoric of "Supporting the Troops" -- is a disgrace. 

Besides being a valuable resource for Sox fans, Bruce Allen's Boston Sports Media Watch does a good job of critiquing the periodic overblown, media-driven Manny Ramirez controversies. Yesterday was no exception:

The power of the press to slant opinion was evident this morning, as Manny Ramirez reported to camp. The accounts on blogs such as the Globe's Extra Bases, described things as "terse" and that Manny spoke "sharply" to Jackie MacMullan. This led Dale Arnold on WEEI to extrapolate that into his own interpretation of how Manny "snapped" at MacMullan, and then to speculate as to why Manny was so angry and that this could only mean bad things, and how he is sick of the whole Manny experience.

This led to a lengthy discussion on the the topic, all based on the wording of writers. How do we know how Manny actually sounded when he spoke to MacMullan? The ones writing those words have the power to shape not only public opinion, but also sports radio discussions as well.

To further illustrate this point, note the AP version of the encounter with MacMullan as noted on CNNSI.com:

"Please move," he told a reporter politely. "I need some space."

So did Manny "sharply" ask MacMullan to move, "snapping" at her, or did he ask her "politely?"

Which is the better (and easier) story for the media? For Manny to have "snapped" at her, of course.

An intriguing drama is playing out in North Providence today -- the special election battle between interim mayor John Sisto, an ally of his predecessor, Secretary of State Ralph Mollis, and challenger Charles Lombardi. While the mayoral runoff is interesting in and of itself, another compelling element is how the Providence Journal has taken a backseat to other media in covering the story.

WLNE-TV's Jim Hummel, continuing a string of strong reporting in recent months, broke the signature story of this race: how Sisto's grandson, who was taped leaving his mother's house in Providence for a week, attends school in North Providence. Sisto says the boy lives with him, but many observers believe otherwise. Kudos to Hummel for his enterprising reporting. 

Meanwhile, WPRO-AM's Dan Yorke unearthed a flyer in which US Senator Jack Reed expressed his support for Sisto. (Disclosure: I am a weekly guest on Yorke's show.) Yorke was ready to host a Sisto-Lombardi debate, but Sisto chose not to take part.

RI Future's Matthew Jerzyk (an occasional Phoenix contributor) has also offered detailed coverage of the North Providence succession battle.

Many people, no doubt, see this as just a mundane municipal election. Yet an apt comparison can be drawn between North Providence politics and the Chinatown of the great Roman Polanski movie -- a place where very interesting things sometimes happen beneath the surface. Chris Chivers once covered the town for the ProJo, capturing the fighting over the spoils of the late mayor Sal Mancini's empire.

Now, though, the ProJo seems to not grasp the inherent drama of the North Prov mayoral fight. Today's North section, for example, doesn't even include a story on the election (although there is an item on the Belo Blog). (UPDATE: there is a perfunctory short piece on the front of the regionally zoned Metro section, although readers will likely take greater note of a Sisto ad -- in the form of a sticky note affixed to the front page -- in this edition of the ProJo.) And while the Journal did offer front-page coverage last week of Sisto's claims about his grandson living with him, the paper, sadly, seems content to cede the lead in covering this story to other media. It's yet another reminder of how far Rhode Island's paper of record has fallen since the days when it offered comprehensive statewide coverage.

The New England mob is a pale imitation of its former self, as we know from recent reports by the ProJo's Bill Malinowski and WPRI's Tim White. Public interest in organized crime seems to remain high, though, so curious observers might want to check out Bringing Down The Mob, which received a positive review in yesterday's New York Times Book Review.

This interesting bit, elaborating on how the feds became successful by going from investigating a known crime to taking on known criminals, has obvious resonance in Providence:

The most potent weapon was developed in 1970 -- the RICO statute, to which [author Thomas A.] Reppetto devotes a full chapter, pointing out that it took its creator, G. Robert Blakey, a decade of proselytizing before prosecutors would employ it.

A few weeks after my report on the City of Providence's dramatically expanded use of parking meters and heightened collection efforts, the ProJo's Daniel Barbarisi followed up yesterday with more details on the City's consideration of so-called SmartBoots.

This raises the specter of an intensifying and confiscatory nanny state, as seen with this detail:

[After being booted] the motorist is then responsible for returning the boot to the police station the next day, or will face a daily late-return fine of $25. 

Despite the rightward lurch of GOP presidential candidates John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Rudy Giuliani, the Christian right has yet to find a hopeful to its liking. The best part of this story was a quote from Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform:

He argued that with the right promises, any of the [candidates who recently spoke to the Council for National Policy, a conservative group] could redeem themselves in the eyes of the conservative movement despite their past records, just as some high school students take abstinence pledges even after having had sex.

"It's called secondary virginity," Mr. Norquist said. "It is a big movement in high school and also available for politicians."

As predicted here, Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Roberts turned out to be the Mystery Guest during the 34th Providence Newspaper Guild Follies. She did a bravura job, offering a scheming alter-ego version of herself, joined by chief of staff, 26-year-old "Paul Tencher," superbly played by Evan Kinnane, a lad of 11 or so, from Second Story Theatre. Ed Shea gets props for helping to prep this dynamic duo.

Darrell West has a detailed report on the fun. Phillipe & Jorge will do likewise later this week.

It was only a matter of time before someone got to doing this.

-- Following up on my recent dispatch about the Buddy Cianci-Bruce Sundlun correspondence, WPRI's Tim White sat down with the former governor to get more of the details. In an 11 PM report last night, White detailed how Cianci's approximate day of release from the federal prison in Fort Dix, New Jersey, will be July 28 (unless he has an earlier departure for a halfway house or some similar destination).

-- Today's Boston Globe has an interesting story about concerns among political bloggers that publicists, shills, and other unwelcome creatures will infiltrate their sites.

-- Speaking of blogs, a group of Rhode Islanders affiliated with the nonprofit Longitude are blogging about their 10-day trip to Ghana.

-- A celebration of 70 years of Brown Student Radio will take place this Sunday, from 2-5 PM, at the John Hay Library. The related exhibit will continue through March 9.

-- John DePetro dropped me an e-mail to suggest another good Mystery Guest candidate for tonight's Providence Newspaper Guild Follies: AG Patrick Lynch. N4N will see everybody at the bar.

Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline has won plaudits for putting city government on a more ethical footing and for overseeing a construction boom, among other achievements. Yet two recent developments -- the consideration of selling the main downtown branch of the Providence Public Library, and the closing of the West Broadway School, over the wishes of a number of parents -- are stripping at least some of the shine from the Renaissance City.

Asking whether the PPL can be saved, the Library Advocates Coalition says, "Yes." The group, composed of librarians, library boosters, and patrons from around the city, is slated to hold a news conference at 11:30 AM Monday, in front of the Fox Point branch library, 90 Ives St., to present its recommendations "for reviving trust in PPL, improving the library's system of governance, and restoring its fiscal integrity." The LAC says it "provides the missing public perspective as the future of the Central Library and its branches is considered by PPL and the City of Providence."

Meanwhile, the ProJo's David Brussat had a good column yesterday, questioning whether the Cicilline administration's ambitious school-building program makes sense and is a good use of money:

At least those old schools have the look of places where young people are expected to behave like and be treated as adults in training. Since then, new schools looked like faceless modern factories, as if pupils were products. Many of the newest schools look like cartoon caricatures of schools, as if education had nothing to do with reaching maturity.

I can't remember what I used to think of the looks of my old public schools in DC, but today I understand that the purpose of their impressive appearance was to impress young minds with the importance of school. Another good idea killed by modernity! Excuse me for suggesting that education and architecture suffer from similar trajectories.

Following a recent joint appearance on A Lively Experiment, I asked Cicilline about closing the West Broadway School. Despite my skepticism, he insisted that the school building is not safe.

My friend Bryan Principe, a West Broadway School parent, disagrees. Perhaps more significantly, he makes two other important points in an e-mail sent this week to other concerned citizens:

Why is this such an important topic? Because what is happening now on the West Side, could happen anywhere in the city at any time. In formulating the decision to close West Broadway Elementary, the school department had no public process. No outreach; No community engagement; No transparency.

Critics of closing West Broadway aren't giving up the fight. Principe encourages those interested to come to Monday's school board meeting, taking place at 6:30 PM, at the Providence School Department, 797 Westminster St. A vote on the school is slated to take part at that time. Critics can also speak up via CitizenSpeak by visiting http://citizenspeak.org/node/999.

Scott Mayerowitz, a smart, politically savvy standout among the young reporters at the Providence Journal, will be leaving to take a job with ABC News.

Mayerowitz, a 28-year-old Wesleyan grad who started at the ProJo as a two-year reporter-intern shortly after his graduation in 2000, says his new assignment will be doing Web-based reporting for the national business desk of ABC News. "The Journal has been great to me," he says. "I felt it was time to move on and this was a great opportunity."

The reporter, part of the ProJo's three-person State House bureau, says he will leave in the next few weeks. The move raises the question of whether the Journal will fill Mayerowitz's position, particularly since his departure comes amid the middle of a General Assembly session. "You've got me," he says. "Those decisions are made way above my pay grade."

Kathy Gregg, a 20-plus-year veteran, anchors the State House bureau. The other Journal staffer there is Elizabeth Gudrais, who, after a delay while the legislature was out of session, got the nod a few years back in 2006 to succeed the departed Liz Anderson.

A New Jersey native, Mayerowitz has become respected in Rhode Island for his intelligence and smart political reporting. After starting by covering Tiverton for the ProJo, he reported on the East Bay, and then Cranston during its fiscal crisis and the corresponding rise of Steve Laffey. The scribe justifiably recalls two of his most memorable stories as one about Cranston's very well-renumerated crossing guards and a profile that offered a revealing look at Laffey (who, of course, went on to lose last year's Republican US Senate primary to Lincoln Chafee, considerably bloodying Chafee, who lost the general election to Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse).

"There have just been some amazing stories here -- the state is full of news," Mayerowitz says. "Through good times and bad, the Journal has really tried to shed light on these unique stories, and I've been privileged to be a part of it."

Asked if he deliberately sought a Web-based reporting job, Mayerowitz said he wasn't sure how to answer. With so much uncertainty about the future of print, "the Web does appeal in that sense," he says, although he wasn't looking only for an online job.

"I'm going to miss Rhode Island, I'm sad to go," he says, "but this was an opportunity that I felt I couldn't turn down."

While the social networking site Facebook is popular with today's college students, using it can come back to haunt them in unexpected and alarming ways. In this week's Phoenix, lawyers Greg Lukianoff and Will Creeley, of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, write about the collision between Facebook, free speech, and university-based speech codes.

Tim Lehnert discusses a distinctly different kind of media, the small-scale literary journal, and how two East Providence residents followed their creative vision by publishing their own one for about 20 years.

Also in this week's Phoenix, Matthew Jerzyk reports on last weekend's protest against the closing of the South Side Boys & Girls Club in Providence.

The Rhode Island Republican Party has announced a March 2 deadline for those interested in competing for a leadership position with the party for the next two years. While the 14-person nominating committee (which includes such Carcieri loyalists as Jim Rosati and J.R. Pagliarini) is slated to meet prior to the March 15 state committee gathering, Barrington lawyer-activist Giovanni Cicione has already claimed the goveror's support, a key hurdle for any candidate.

Some observers question whether the governor's support will hold up, and whether other candidates will emerge. For now, though, Cicione appears to have the field to himself.

Cicione, a native of Ithaca, New York, moved to Cranston in 1975, and his background includes degrees from George Mason University and Boston University's law school. He interned for Bill Weld, worked at the Cato Institute, and more recently, was GOP state counsel for legal operations during last November's election.

The GOP chairman hopeful has circulated a two-page bio to city and town committee members, as well as a 10-point plan for growing the Rhode Island Republican Party. Here are some excerpts:

n      “The state party needs a leadership team – not just a leader. There is too much for any one person to do alone and without the constant and energetic support of dozens of key players we will never create the structure required to put this state on a more even keel.”

n      “We need a fundraising plan and a fundraising team that work together to sustain the party.”

n      “Establish system within the party for monitoring and pursuing ethics and election law violations by Democrats. These charges are too often ignored, pursued on a shoestring, or not followed through.”

n      “Provide logistical support and voter ID information for all Republican candidates.”

n      “Clean up the voter rolls statewide – this is long overdue and we need to be vigilant. When dead people vote, they seem to be for Democrats.”

n      “Provide resources to reinvigorate city and town committee. Without active city and town committees we can’t get people excited about being Republicans.”

n      “A business plan with defined goals. Quantifiable targets and a responsible leadership team tasked with meeting them."

As a kid, the appearance on the newstand of Street & Smith's Baseball Yearbook was an encouraging sign that spring -- and baseball -- were steadily creeping closer. I picked up the latest annual of S&S, now in its 66th year, last weekend, and was pleased to see how the Sox are ticketed for a first-place berth in the AL East. Last year, S&S correctly picked the respective 1-2-3 finish of the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Sox.

Meanwhile, besides having the benefit of not being an ax-grinding Sox-phobe, like his New York Times colleague Murray Chass, George Vecsey (the author, with Loretta Lynn, of Coal Miner's Daughter) has written a short and completely enjoyable history of baseball. It covers all the bases, if you'll pardon the pun, and is a pleasure for novices and old-timers alike.

Lastly, you've got to hand it to A-Rod, for not knowing when to keep his mouth shut.

Andrew, Justin, Marc, and Don from Anchor Rising, Rhode Island's leading conservative blog, were kind enough to ask me to join them for dinner, and we enjoyed a lively, wide-ranging discussion last night at Hemenway's.

The liberal-leaning Phoenix scribe and conservative bloggers breaking bread (calamari, actually) over beers and banter? Surely, you jest. No, not at all (although we did enjoy laughs about the improbable ideological grouping).

These guys put thoughtful consideration into their efforts, and they've been kind enough to express the same about me. I'm not going to agree with everything -- or perhaps even a lot -- of what they say, and vice versa. Yet there's plenty of common ground in highlighting pressing public issues, trying to stimulate discussion about them, and recognizing the need for greater civic engagement.

The bottom line: if you want to be well informed in RI, Anchor Rising (as well as occasional Phoenix contributor Matthew Jerzyk's RI Future) is indispensable.

UPDATE: One of my astute media colleagues has come up with an even-better dark horse: John Celona, who has a little more than a week of freedom left before he is scheduled to be imprisoned.

One of the great Rhode Island events of the year is prevented, by statute, from taking place in Rhode Island. We speak of the Providence Newspaper Guild's annual Follies, which happens on the last Friday in February (in other words, two days from now) at the inimitable Venus de Milo in Swansea, Massachusetts.

More than 1200 Ocean Staters turn out each year for the event, which began as a way to heal the rifts of a bitter 1973 strike at the ProJo. Highlights include a lively cocktail hour, a sumptuous buffet, and -- best of all -- a satiric, often-biting send-up of the year in Rhode Island news. (As us newsies in this ethically challenged state are fond of saying, "Rhode Island is the gift that keeps on giving.") Talented ProJo staffers and Guild members do much of the song and dance. Guild administrator Tim Schick, although something of an appealing ham, should keep his day job, however.

The closing ritual of the Follies is the appearance from the world of politics of a Mystery Guest who proceeds to poke fun at him or herself. Those taking the treatment in recent years include then-Lieutenant Governor Charles "Fogarty Goes Wild" Fogarty; US Representative Patrick Kennedy, in less-than-seaworthy shape; Providence Mayor David Cicilline, as a very flamboyant and fabulous fellow; and a hippie-fied then-US Senator Lincoln Chafee. 

Despite Not for Nothing's many sources on Fountain Street, the identity of the Mystery Guest routinely remains shrouded with the utmost secrecy. So we'll go out on a branch and predict that it will be one of these five individuals:

Secretary of State Ralph Mollis, who faced a recent spate of unflattering publicity involving a few of his children: Excellent choice.

Governor Donald L. Carcieri, who committed the cardinal sin of not attending the Follies last year: Bravura choice.

US Senator Jack Reed: Could happen.

Newcomer Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Roberts: Unexpected, and therefore possible.

The N4N dark horse: former Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey, who has faded from public view since he left office: Unlikely, but you never know.

When satellite radio came on the scene a few years ago, I didn't think many Americans would be willing to pay for it. I was wrong. About 14 million people now subscribe to satellite radio in this country. Just as with very-popular NPR, there's real appeal in being able to listen to high-quality commercial-free broadcasting, in a broad range of topics and genres, from Major League Baseball to '70s funk.

Dan Kennedy brings his usual smart take today to the news about a proposed merger of XM and Sirius.

Edward Achorn makes a compelling case today that we in Rhode Island have failed the victims of the Station nightclub disaster and their loved ones.

John DePetro is taking up the same issue this morning.

Last October, I wrote about the political fallout of the Derderians's plea agreements.

As we head into budget season, One Rhode Island has announced plans to hold a news conference this Thursday, February 22, at 11 am, at the Federal Hill House, 9 Courtland St., Providence, to outline its 2007 legislative priorities. "Coalition urges expansions, not cuts, to vital work support programs," is one of the subheadlines on a news release. Gaining legislative support for such efforts promises to be more difficult this year, though, because of the structural deficit facing the state.

In other General Assembly news,

-- Senator Rhoda Perry and Representative Thomas Slater have submitted a bill to make medical marijuana permanent in Rhode Island, something that Speaker William Murphy has already backed.

-- In a flip on the tort reform pushed in recent years by Governor Carcieri and medical groups, Senator Charles Levesque has filed a bill that "would require all hospitals in Rhode Island to participate in a comprehensive program to increase patient safety by reducing medical errors."

-- Freshman Representative Nick Mattiello has introduced a House resolution that would establish a commission to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of RI school districts.

Give it up for George and for Abe.

The two main points from US Senator Jack Reed, who appeared with Senate colleague Chuck Hagel this morning on Meet The Press:

1) The US has known for months about the newish, more lethal type of IEDs being introduced into Iraq, reportedly by Iran's Quds Force, part of the that country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard. The obvious implication: reasonable skepticism is advised regarding White House pronouncements about Iran.

2) Congressional Republicans are likely to have more of an impact on Bush's Iraq policy than Democrats or other influences.

Meanwhile, Patrick Healy has a good look in the New York Times at the politics of Hillary's decision not to apologize for her Senate vote in favor of authorizing the war. Another interesting bit was the tagline at the end, indicating how former ProJo scribe Ariel Sabar, who left Fountain Street a few years ago for the Wall Street Journal, contributed to the story from NH.

In the ProJo, Charlie Bakst brought his A game to a Sunday column about Mitt Romney's presidential aspirations. Just a week ago, Bakst revealed how Governor Carcieri, despite some quite supportive words in the past for Rudy Giuliani, is firmly in the Romney camp.

Also in the Sunday ProJo, lawyer and political activst Angel Taveras points out what Phoenix readers already know: that RI is not a welfare magnet.

Btw, I had a chance to chat with former governor Bruce Sundlun prior to his talk Friday at the RDW Group. Sundlun was recalling his controverial gubernatorial cuts in the general public assistance program, so it seemed natural to ask his view on the "welfare magnet" argument. He responded by saying, no, there's no evidence to indicate that people move to Rhode Island because of state-sponsored social programs.

Tim White, who's off to a strong start as WPRI's investigative reporter, talks on Newsmakers (5:30 am on Channel 12 and 10 am on Fox 64) this Sunday about the New England mob. (I'm hardly impartial in evaluating Tim because of my respect for his dad, the late, great Jack White, who first invited me onto the show.)

Also, Representative Peter Palumbo of Cranston talks about a recent goodwill trip to Nicaragua, and the panel (Steve Aveson, Arlene Violet, and myself) discusses the ongoing aftermath of the Station nightclub disaster.

Meanwhile, I also made an appearance this week on A Lively Experiment, to be rebroadcast Sunday on RI-PBS at noon. Providence Mayor David Cicilline is the political guest.

Thanks, Keith. We'll always have 2004.

Bruce Sundlun revealed today that he has been in touch with Buddy Cianci and tried to facilitate a jailhouse meeting between the former mayor and his daughter, Nicole. The colorful former Democratic governor was a guest speaker during a luncheon held by the RDW Group.

Sundlun, who explored the prospect of buying the ProJo in 2003, did not disappoint. As state Representative Bruce Long, who presented the former guv with a House proclamation, said: the good thing about Bruce is that he speaks his mind, and the bad thing about Bruce is that he speaks his mind.

During a lengthy discourse (I'll try to offer more details next week), Sundlun described dealing with the state banking crisis after taking office in 1991, and he called the state's current fiscal problems "small change."

In terms of Cianci, moderator Jim Taricani said Sundlun has "bailed Buddy out of more trouble than he's in now." And Sundlun described trying to arrange a meeting between Cianci's daughter, Nicole, and the former Providence mayor at the federal prison where he now resides in Fort Dix, New Jersey.

After writing Cianci a letter, asking to be put on his approved visitors' list, so that he might bring Nicole with him, Sundlun said, Buddy wrote back with a six-page handwritten letter. While the former mayor expressed appreciation for the consideration, he said his daughter was not lacking in the financial means, thanks to monetary gifts from various family members, to make the trip herself. Sundlun quoted Cianci as saying, "She's got more money than I ever had."

Cianci is now in charge of the library at Fort Dix, Sundlun said, and, "I gather he's read most of the books." The big question in determining the success of the former mayor's reentry to Rhode Island later this year, Sundlun said, is, "Can he stay away from the booze or not?"

UPDATE: I stand corrected on Col. Pare's last day with the RISP. Pare, who also appeared Sunday on WLNE's morning show, told Jim Hummel, "I'm leaving because I decided it's time to leave."

It's my understanding that today marks Wednesday marks the last day on the job for Colonel Steven Pare of the Rhode Island State Police. Pare will be the guest on 10 News Conference this Sunday morning with Jim Taricani and Bill Rappleye.

Earlier this week, Governor Carcieri told Dan Yorke that the search for a successor is ongoing, and that the candidates include Brendan Doherty. Although Yorke didn't press the issue, nothing has happened to change the widespread view that the governor asked Pare to leave, and that Doherty will be his successor.

Fear not for Pare. He seems bound to land a good job in the private sector, and will get a generous state pench.

One leading theory for the seemingly early departure is that Carcieri blames Pare for the controversial 2003 raid on the Narragansett smoke shop. If so, it would seem like a dubious judgment. While the decision to forcibly close the smoke shop is open to question, the state police were just doing their job.

Blogging continues to grow in new and fascinating ways. The New York Times had a good story yesterday about how the bloggers at Firedoglake have provided the most extensive coverage of the Scott Libby trial.

A few other odds and ends:

-- Seth Gitell, the astute former Boston Phoenix political reporter, had some kind words for Not for Nothing on his blog yesterday, saying, "Even though disgraced mayor, Buddy Cianci is still in federal prison, Rhode Island politics are still colorful. Ian captures the feel for it. I especially like his fusion of politics and food."

-- RI Future and Julian have the details on a big march planned tomorrow, in support of reopening the South Side Boys & Girls Club in Providence.

-- Blogging was the subject of a salon held at the Providence Athenaeum last Friday by Toni Pole, a research associate at Brown's Taubman Center. One of the most interesting things I learned was how a leading blog aggregator, the Truth Laid Bear, groups the best-read blogs by such categories as Supreme Beings, Mortal Humans, Playful Primates, and other, less-flattering names. One day, N4N, one day.

When even Ed Achorn whacks Governor Carcieri for not sounding a sufficient alarm about Rhode Island's problems, you get a sense of the difficult times facing the Ocean State. One piece of this puzzle is the state's brain drain, and I've got a story about it in today's Phoenix.

Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline offers an implicit response, of sorts, to Achorn with an op-ed in today's ProJo, headlined, "RI must climb out of its budget rut." As Cicilline notes,

Our approach to budgeting sets off a kind of death sprial. When finances get tight, across-the-board cuts become the all-consuming concern and lay waste to our real, long-term priorities. We take money away from the state's important investments like education, transportation, and children's health, which are central to the future economic prosperity of the state . . .  

While the mayor's critique is on the mark, it's hard not to also see it as part of Cicilline's efforts to position himself for a possible gubernatorial run in 2010.

Will the Clinton machine roll over the other Democratic presidential candidates? Will Obama's charisma overcome his institutional disadvantages? Boston Phoenix political reporter David S. Bernstein has a look at how well the two big-name Dems are faring in making friends and influencing people in New Hampshire.

Also, as promised:

-- Peter Ian Asen offers a post-Valentine's Day report on the outlook for civil unions and gay marriage.

-- Bill Rodriguez reviews the new, improved Cuban Revolution.

More later on good stuff in this week's Phoenix . . .

Things have improved considerably at WRNI (1290 AM), Rhode Island's public radio station, since Jane Christo, the then-GM of the Boston-based WBUR Group, announced plans to sell it in 2004. Christo is long gone, and Boston University, which holds the license for WRNI, decided to maintain its affliliation with the station.

It was an auspicious sign when Joe O'Connor, who has a strong broadcast background, was hired as WRNI's GM. As a function of budgeting, WRNI remains less ambitious than it was in its pre-9/11 heyday. Yet the hiring of reporter Nancy Cook, who has mixed some impressive enterprise reporting with the day-to-day stuff, a partnership with Trinity Rep, and the return of the political roundtable featuring URI's Maureen Moakley and the ProJo's Scott MacKay (albeit at a less than ideal time), strengthen the station's capabilities.

O'Connor is scheduled to speak tomorrow, Thursday, February 15, at 7 pm, at the Rochambeau Branch of the Providence Public Library, 708 Hope St., about the role of public radio and the future of WRNI.

Marriage Equality RI and MERI's new blog are reporting that the wintry mix won't affect plans for today's 4:30 pm Valentine's Day rally at the State House.

Unfortunately, for same-sex couples seeking full marriage rights, legislation in support of this seems unlikely to make it far in the General Assembly this year, mostly because of the socially conservative inclination of the legislature.

Peter Ian Asen will have a report in tomorrow's Phoenix on a related concern -- how new legislation in support of civil unions (House Bill 5356, introduced last week by Representative Paul Crowley of Newport) could prevent the eventual granting of full marriage rights for gays and lesbians. (Disclosure: Asen's employer, Ocean State Action, is MERI's fiscal agent.)

Crowley tells Asen that he modeled the legislation on a civil unions bill in Vermont, and that the bill "wasn't put in there with any sense of subterfuge on my part."

However, the bill's definition of marriage, as "the legally recognized union of one man and one woman," has attracted the opposition of MERI, which belives, quite reasonably, that it could undermine the fight for gay marriage in Rhode Island.

Some gubernatorial chiefs of staff leave to go to Hinckley, Allen & Snyder. Others prefer to make a quixotic congressional run while setting up shop in a Cuban restaurant bedecked with Che posters and other appropriate accoutrements. Ed Morabito's Cuban Revolution has moved to a bigger, more pleasant space in downtown Providence, and Bill Rodriguez will have a review in tomorrow's Phoenix.

Confirming a widely expected move, Jeff Grybowski, Governor Carcieri's chief of staff, and one of the smartest people in his administration, is returning to the private sector. The gov's office just put out a release:

            Governor Donald L. Carcieri today named Brian P. Stern of East Greenwich as his new Chief of Staff, beginning on March 1^st.  Stern replaces Jeffrey Grybowski, who will be named a partner at the Providence law firm Hinkley, Allen & Snyder, LLP.

 

            Stern currently serves as the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Department of Administration.

 

            “I’m very pleased to name Brian Stern as my new Chief of Staff,” Carcieri said.  “Brian has repeatedly proved himself as one of the most talented administrators in state government.  As the Executive Director of the Department of Administration and as a former legal counsel at the Department of Business Regulation, Brian understands how state government operates and how it can operate better.”

Not for Nothing, but second terms commonly prove more problematic for chief executives than the first time around the block.

I might have overstated things a bit when I wrote in December about the post-election outlook facing Governor Carcieri. Yet despite the governor's continued upbeat tone, it doesn't bode well when his ideological supporters on the fourth floor of Fountain Street sternly take him to task today, with a stinging double-hit.

First, the editorial board gives Carcieri some appropriate grief for the hiring of his pal Jim Rosati at Beacon Mutual. Then, in an even sharper piece, Ed Achorn says, We need an alarm, not cheerleaders. The eloquent Mr. Achorn goes on to cite a litany of woes:

•Unusually generous health and pension benefits for public employees are fueling massive deficits at the state and local level, with no end in sight, choking off the taxpayers’ ability to fund what seem to be far worthier things.

•Census figures suggest well-educated, middle-class people are moving out of Rhode Island, fleeing high taxes and a dearth of employment opportunities; the poor are moving in, drawn by remarkably expansive and long-lasting welfare benefits.

•State House corruption appears to be a serious problem.

•Rhode Island’s economy is sputtering, failing to produce the job growth and tax revenues needed to fund its big government. Yet politicians, Mr. Carcieri included, refuse to kick-start the economy by making full use of Rhode Island’s obvious maritime advantages through the expansion of port business at Quonset Point.

•The usual approach of “solving” the deficit by raising taxes would surely batter the economy and drive away more taxpayers, ultimately depressing tax revenues and further damaging the quality of life.

•Great public schools are crucial to our children’s future and economic growth, but Rhode Island’s are among the country’s most expensive per-pupil, and generally perform poorly, while special interests block significant reforms. (The governor, commendably, devoted the majority of his speech to the need for better public schools.)

Clearly, Carcieri faces a serious challenge in creating the outcomes that will allow him to leave on the same cheery note upon which he arrived in office in 2003. 

I quickly tire of wall-to-wall coverage in cases involving celebs, so it's not in my DNA to self-immerse in stories like that involving the death of Anna Nicole Smith. Writing in the New York Times, Caryn James pretty well nailed it:

Without any actual career to back up her claim on the public, the question becomes why did we watch? The unsettlingly vapid reason: because we could. She was a glittery spectacle who offered guilt-free voyeurism, as we watched her dramas with drugs and weight and inheritance laws. And the lesson of her her fame is that there is no lesson.

Imagine if the scintilla of the attention devoted to Smith, or to American Idol (which I will acknowledge taking some enjoyment in), was devoted to Darfur.

Last June, Phoenix contributor Alexander Provan wrote about how, even with energetic efforts by student activists at Brown and elsewhere, it remained very difficult to get Americans to care about the human disaster taking place in Africa. While celebrities will win out every time, divestment efforts are picking up among the states, something that New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof yesterday called "a rare instance where narrowly focused divestment makes practical as well as moral sense."

Giovanni Cicione, who emerged in December as a contender to succeed Patricia Morgan as chair of the Rhode Island Republican Party, has passed a key hurdle by winning the backing of Governor Donald L. Carcieri.

Cicione, a 36-year-old Barrington lawyer and GOP activist, told me this morning that he met with the governor about two weeks ago "and he's expressed his support for me running for the chairmanship." Cicione says as far as he knows, he's the first candidate to officially submit his name, and he is continuing to reach out to GOP city and town committees by sending copies of his two-page bio. "I'm not sure who else is serious [about running or] who is actively pursuing something," he said.

After meeting with Carcieri in his State House office during after-hours, "I took the conversation as direct support of my candidacy, not just that I'm running," Cicione says.

The Republican State Committee will assemble in mid-March to formally elect the new chair. "A month is a lifetime. You never know who else might put their name in," Cicione said in downplaying whether he is bound to become chairman. Still, barring the unforeseen, the governor's support means that this GOP activist has a virtual lock on the post.

In related news, House Minority Leader Robert Watson and members of the GOP caucus will hold at 1 pm news conference in the State House rotunda today to discuss their legislative agenda for 2006. While Operation Dollar Bill might give the GOP a moral edge, the party still has its work cut out.

Anyone who knows Not for Nothing knows that I am a baseball nut. So, before I drive my friends and family crazy with mid-winter ramblings on the sport, a few items of interest for the like-minded:

-- A group of Red Sox bloggers, including my Boston Phoenix colleague Mike Miliard, have combined for a detailed, compelling exploration of the 100 greatest Sox of all time.

-- While a few of us are lucky enough to have been selected for an opportunity to vie tomorrow for Opening Day, Patriot's Day, or Yankee tickets, the Boston Globe's Bruce Mohl reports on how the secondary market remains ahead of even the Red Sox.

-- Rhode Island College is continuing an exhibit, Black Grays and Colored Giants: Black Baseball in Rhode