Howie had a column in today’s Herald. Also: The Big Cheese
is in big trouble
http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1091402&srvc=home&position=6
Carmen “Cheeseman” DiNunzio - the reputed, king-sized underboss of the New England Mafia - is behind bars after an FBI sting busted him allegedly carrying out a Big Dig bribe to cement himself a fat $6 million contract.
DiNunzio, 50, is the underboss of the La Cosa Nostra crime family - an organization that is still “alive and well” in New England and elsewhere, said Warren Bamford, special agent in charge of the Boston FBI office.
Diversity of opinion over Hub summit’s usefulness
By Howie Carr | Saturday, May 3, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com
What is the difference, exactly, between a “neighborhood activist” and a “community organizer?”
And how does an “outreach advocate” differ from a “diversity coordinator” (Michele Obama’s very important job at the hospital in Chicago, for which she is paid $360,000 a year).
These are just two of the many questions that will no doubt be resolved today at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. That’s where hundreds, or maybe dozens, of neighborhood organizers, community advocates, diversity activists and outreach coordinators from across the city are gathering for . . . a free lunch.
The Boston Civic Summit - be there, or be sane.
Even Mayor Mumbles Menino is reluctantly appearing, to meet’n greet the outreach organizers, community activists et al. whom he privately derides as “agitators.” See, Mumbles doesn’t like to dance to anybody else’s tune. He keeps to his own schedule of neighborhood events. That way, when some loudmouth neighborhood coordinator or diversity advocate demands that Mumbles show up and get mau-maued, as Tom Wolfe would say, he can just shrug and say, “Hey, don’t youse know, I’ve already did 36 o’ dese things.”
Maybe Mumbles doesn’t like the agitators because he comes out of the same racket. The difference is, Mumbles is 65, so when he broke in, there were no high-falutin’ job titles for the hacks who were desperately trying to wedge their snouts into the public trough. Mumbles’ first job in the hackerama was driver, for Jailbird Joe Timility. Mumbles didn’t go to no summits, he went to the Dunkin, to get Mr. Chairman a cruller and large regular.
This dreary gathering of the un- and under-employed is the brainchild of the boss of the Mass. Convention Center, Jim Rooney, who is best known for collecting a mega-MBTA pension (it was $68,000 in 2001) in addition to his current $200,000-plus-a-year job. He also had a cup of coffee at City Hall as Mumbles’ chief of staff, and seldom is heard an encouraging word about Rooney from Mumbles.
But somehow Rooney talked City Council President Maureen Feeney into co-sponsoring this windbag confab, and what a bunch of beauties they recruited for the Advisory Committee. There’s former Sen. Jarrett Barrios, whose signature piece of legislation was his attempt to ban the Fluffernutter sandwich. Then there is Professor Barry Bluestone, whose career was presciently predicted by Oscar Wilde when he said, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.”
Then there is Steve Crosby, a political common nightwalker, careening from Kevin White to Luther Harshbarger to Jane Swift. He is now interred at UMass - see above Oscar Wilde quote.
These days the big issue among these community-outreach-diversity-neighborhood coordinator-organizer-activist-advocates is the subprime mortgage crisis. Everyone is mobilizing demonstrators - to protest the irresponsible lending to poor people by banks and mortgage companies. The odd thing is, a lot of the loudmouths now denouncing the crisis in front of the cameras bear a remarkable resemblance to the same people who were marching through the same neighborhoods 20 years ago.
Only then, the advocates were denouncing the banks and mortgage companies for redlining - that is, refusing to make irresponsible home loans to poor people. Back then, it was racist not to make those loans. Now, it’s racist to make them.
There is, however, one major name missing from the guest list who could add something to the summit, especially on the mortgage problem. Is it too late to recruit House Speaker Sal DiMasi, he of the three mortgages on his Commercial Street condominium?
Somehow, though, I predict Sal will have better things to do. And so will everybody else.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1091386