Posted on 06/06/2009 9:09:42 PM PDT by raccoonradio
Howie thread starting w/ his Sunday Herald column
Howie Sunday Herald column ping
Howie Carr’s field guide to the Mass. hackerama
By Howie Carr | Sunday, June 7, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
Tracking the not-so-elusive hackasaurus greedicus of Massachusetts is a lot like exploring the vast Amazon rain forests or the Marianas Trench - new species are constantly being discovered. The difference is that in the Massachusetts hackerama, no species of hack ever goes extinct.
“Disabled” hacks
Hackasaurus badbackus
Evolved mostly from the Group 4 public-safety subspecies. Despite early career-ending disabilities, can often be observed splitting wood, winning body-building contests and driving commercial vans with 28-foot ladders on the roof. Multiplied rapidly in recent years, but suffered a brief die-off in 2008 when the feds impaneled a grand jury and confiscated all retirement records of the Boston Fire Department.
State House hacks
Hackasaurus felonious
Utterly clueless, lumbering class, identified by such inane calls as “Top o’ the mornin’ Mistah Speakah!” and “How da family?” Like Australian marsupials, have evolved in near-total isolation from outside world, as demonstrated by sighting of indicted ex-House Speaker Sal DiMasi last week. He sniffed to a reporter, “I won’t be shying away from any of my planned events.” Really, Mistah Speakah? You mean like your arraignment in federal court tomorrow at 4:15? You better make that one, or they’ll be issuing a warrant.
Lobbyist hacks
Hackasaurus parasitus
Parasites, using State House hacks as their hosts, in return offering the elected pols free booze and golf, as well as the occasional “DiMasi” - or payoff. Despite their leeching nature, most lobbyists have grown far richer than their legislative sponsors. Known by the call, “When’s yer next ‘time,’ Mistah Chairman.” Currently embroiled in a species-wide crisis: Some big-game hunters known as “reformers” want to strip them of the right to collect bonuses for getting bills passed, or not.
Blue-ribbon hacks
Hackasaurus rubberstampus
Natural habitat: Panels appointed by the governor that recommend tax increases and outrageous pay raises for public “servants.” Can change coloration at will, and often do, going from Democrat to Republican to Democrat, depending on the administration.
County hacks
Hackasaurus no-showus
This hardy, ancient species has largely vanished from eastern Massachusetts, due to the disappearance of its habitats via state takeover. But in the forests, the county hacks live on as in days of yore. A few weeks ago, several 300-pound-plus leaders of the pack - known as sheriffs - were spotted foraging at the State House for more money. They appeared together in a hearing room, like a herd of grazing mastodons, and several reps mistakenly surmised they had stumbled into a look-alike contest for the Globe’s Dan Totten or state Rep. Brian Wallace.
Green hacks
Hackasaurus moonbattus
A recent species, thought to be descended from the legendary moonbat. Have established a large colony in a new agency - the Green Communities Division of the Department of Energy Resources. Infestations reported across the hackerama. Enjoy supervising installation of light bulbs that provide next to no light and toilets that barely flush, as well as issuing RFPs for the purchase of Priuses that no self-respecting hack would be caught dead in driving to a golf course or the Pheasant Lane Mall during business hours. Without careful harvesting - preferably in the 2010 elections - this bold species could easily overrun vast swaths of the bureaucracy.
Courthouse hacks
Hackasaurus lifetimus
Two kinds of lawyers become judges in Massachusetts - those who failed miserably in private practice, and those who never even tried.
A colorful subspecies is the “clerk/magistrate,” which may be an even better job than judge. A clerk cannot hire a close relative, so here’s how that works: The clerk hires the dim-bulb offspring of the clerk in the next town over, and then that clerk hires your - well, you get the picture.
Double-dipper hacks
Hackasaurus slurpus-trothus
Breathtakingly brazen, will endlessly feed at the public trough - in daylight. A genus that includes some of the most shameless hacks in Massachusetts, among them Reps. Bill Delahunt and John Olver, state Sen. Ken “Double Dip” Donnelly of Arlington and MCCA boss Jim Rooney.
Milton hacks
Hackasaurus gubernatorius
Statewide, the unemployment rate may be up around 9 percent, but in the governor’s hometown, it seems to be around zero. The Parole Board, the Division of Capital Asset Management - who knew the 02186 zip code would one day replace 02127 as the gold standard of the hackerama?
MBTA hacks
Hackasaurus sleep-at-wheelus
A stealthy creature, seldom if ever seen in the wild, because most of them long since completed their 23 years for a full pension and vanished to Florida, leaving behind only a few fossilized footprints, in the form of billion-dollar deficits.
Hack-ademics
Hackasaurus phony-jobus
Known by their plaintive wail, “I am not a hack.” Oh yes you are. Talk about feeding frenzies - all those diminutives in the job titles equal big money for the hackademic. Billy Bulger at $359,000 was the tip of the hack fossil record. Look at the career coatholder Albie Sherman, “vice chancellor, university relations,” making $170,000 - for what exactly? Now comes Jim Leary, former state rep. from Worcester, “associate vice chancellor” - today $104,000, next year at least 150 large. Bet on it.
Community hacks
Hackasaurus bottom-feedus
Not everyone can go to college or graduate school, you know. Street guys need no-show jobs, too! Where else will the drivers and bagmen of tomorrow come from? So your average urban hustler becomes an “outreach coordinator” or a “youth advocate” or a “liaison to the community.” Feel free to mix ’n’ match job titles - advocate to the outreach community. Youth liaison to the coordinator of outreach. An infinitely adaptable genus.
Globe hacks
Hackasaurus obsoletus
Evolving species, about to proliferate very rapidly as Morrissey Boulevard layoffs begin in earnest. Beginning migration to the Public Sector, likely to supplant earlier Herald and Telegram breeds who will be unable to compete for foods against the newcomers’ trust funds and Park Avenue pedigrees. Expect to begin hearing a lot of these voice mails among state flacks: “Hi loveys, I’m Muffy Buffington and I won’t be back in the office until after my squash match. Cheers! If you need me after hours, try the Wauwinet on Nantucket. Right-o!”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1177274
If you missed it, Col. David Hunt was selected, er, elected pres. of Howie Nation. The other candidates, Officer Mark
and Maria Stephanos, may serve in the cabinet. Howie and the Col. appeared during the Red Sox game last night on
Red Sox radio, etc.
btw for those who heard the Chuck Barris interview; nobody seemed to remember the other regular panelist. I think it was Arte Johnson. Also: someone asked about his daughter who used to be on the show and Chuck said “she’s OK”. But I thought I
read online that his daughter Della had died of a drug overdose or something; maybe Chuckie Baby didn’t want to
bring people down by revealing that...? (Signs on the stage used to say: Della: A Chuck Barris Production )
Also for those who don’t know: Chuck wrote the hit
Palisades Park for Revere’s Freddy Boom Boom Cannon.
Your tagline, sad but true.
The colonel rocks!
Wed column ping. Wasn’t in print version of paper.
Worcester pol accused of behaving badly again
By Howie Carr | Wednesday, June 10, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
Nineteen bucks.
If you want to know how much it takes to drive a state rep over the edge, there’s your answer - $19.
At least that’s how much it took for Rep. Bob Spellane of Worcester to go ballistic on his ex-wife, mother of his four children, on Memorial Day weekend, at a Little League ballfield, right after sending a letter of apology to everyone in his district about his despicable behavior last year.
Spellane did not return repeated phone calls to both the State House and his Worcester office. His ex-wife, who now goes by her maiden name, declined comment.
But according to witnesses, it was apparently quite ugly, like the Spellanes’ divorce. See, last year Spellane, almost 40, dumped his wife for a 27-year-old cable TV newsgal, who then was hired by an insurance-industry group as “director of public affairs.”
Very public indeed. The press release added that Spellane’s galpal was “well-positioned to help influence this debate.” Well-positioned - wink wink, nudge nudge.
Spellane also skipped payments on a $340,000 bank loan for a year. He was fined for diverting $50,000 from his campaign account for personal use. He’s taken money from Felon Charlie Flaherty, played golf with Felon Finneran and put Accused Felon Sal DiMasi’s name on a fund-raising letter. Just another typical reprobate rep. No wonder he’s a chairman, of Public Service, of all things.
Now Spellane confronts his ex-wife in public over $19. According to witnesses, the beef apparently involved a new pair of sneakers for one of his sons. The solon had paid $38, and as his wife pulled up at the ball field, he began loudly demanding she pay her half.
When Susan said she didn’t have any cash on her, Spellane grabbed her car keys and went through the vehicle. He couldn’t find any cash, so he returned to the game, where he was pitching to 7-year-olds.
The former Mrs. Spellane called her younger brother for help. Spellane questioned her brother after the game. The brother-in-law told the rep: “Don’t ever grab the car keys out of my sister’s hands again,” according to a witness.
Spellane ran around the picnic table and was suddenly in the brother’s face, chest to chest. Someone who was there said he shouted, “What keys, big guy? What keys?”
Two onlookers pulled Spellane off him, and the ex-brother-in-law said, “Jeez, how many people witnessed that?”
Spellane bolted for him again. “Witnesses? What witnesses?”
A real statesman, huh? So much for the letter of apology.
“(It was) a low point in my personal life, when I experienced some difficult and challenging times,” he wrote in the letter. “I take responsibility for my mistakes. People in public positions need to hold themselves to the highest standards . . . If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me . . . I will answer any and all questions.”
He didn’t return my calls. Mistah Chairman, I think it’s time you sent out another apology.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1178051
Ecce Homo
The column above was on the Herald’s site; as I said I didn’t
see it in the print version of the paper. There’s a good reason, if you just heard Howie: a PC “weasel” at the paper
killed the column. Howie was enraged and sent a profanity laced email to his bosses and it did wind up on the site
later. Maybe it’ll show up in the print version of the paper tomorrow. Howie said he told Worc. listeners last night (who
were still listening via WCRN) to “buy the paper tomorrow”.
And it didn’t make it.
Whomever squashed the column: this isn’t the Globe-Democrat!
I'm listening but doing other things, so I might not have caught it. I did hear that it was killed, but did Howie say why? Is Spellane that much of a hero of the left? I ask because I never heard of him (sort of like the way I -- not being a sports fan -- often hear of a sports hero for the first time when he's indicted or arrested!).
In any case, I took a minute to click on your link to the column, since Howie said it was edging up to number 1 in hits though it showed up late! GO HOWIE! ;-)
All I heard was that “some P.C. weasel” at the paper killed the column, and Howie said he sent some angry, profanity laced emails to the paper. Sandy added that Howie was very angry when he showed up at RKO “this morning” and that Howie wasn’t usually one to swear, but he did, a lot...
I put a comment on there (raccoonradio2) thanking them for
finally printing the column (...online) and I said, hey,
this is the Herald, not the “Globe-Democrat”(WTKK’s
nickname for the embattled paper)
Fri column ping
Surprise! Sal DiMasi’s lawyer convicted felon
Lawyer shows his (prison) stripes
By Howie Carr | Friday, June 12, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
Why would Sal DiMasi hire as one of his attorneys a convicted felon who went to prison for conspiring with the Mafia underboss of Boston to subvert a 1981 federal organized-crime probe?
The lawyer is William Cintolo, and if Sal wants a glimpse into his likely future, all he has to do is go to the Bureau of Prisons Web site - bop.gov - and type in his lawyer’s name under “Inmate Locator.” It comes back:
“William Cintolo 14829-038 62-White-M (release date)12-05-1988.”
Sal has conclusively proven that he’s not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree - trophy wife, allegedly taking checks, doing business with dolts and rats - but this is really embarrassing.
Now Sal hires a guy who did Club Fed time for conspiring with Mafia boss Gerry Angiulo to stop a witness from testifying against La Cosa Nostra. I couldn’t believe it when I saw Cintolo driving his law partner Tom Kiley’s black Jag at DiMasi’s first court appearance last week.
But on Tuesday, Cintolo was a no-show at Sal’s arraignment. So I called Kiley to find out what was going on.
“How can I not help you today?” Kiley said.
Is Cintolo really representing Sal?
“He filed a notice of appearance, didn’t he?”
Yeah, but he wasn’t there Tuesday.
“Look, if there was any problem with Bill Cintolo, he wouldn’t be my partner, would he?”
So there you have it. Here’s what put Sal DiMasi’s lawyer in the can: In 1981, he had as a client a Combat Zone bartender named Walter LaFreniere. Gerry Angiulo was worried LaFreniere was going to testify before a grand jury investigating Mafia crime in Boston.
According to the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, Cintolo was a “regular participant” in conversations with Angiulo at his underworld headquarters on Prince Street. Neither of them knew that the feds were taping all of their conversations.
One day Angiulo and the boys, including Cintolo, were discussing another possible informant. Let’s join the narrative:
“In response to a query by Cintolo, Angiulo gave the following chilling command: ‘I don’t want to know about this guy no more. I want (LCN associate Skinny) Kazonis to go see him . . . We’ll . . . kill him once and for all.”
The court’s conclusion about Sal DiMasi’s attorney: “In any realistic light, the most authentic victim of Cintolo’s behavior was not his nominal client, but the due administration of justice.”
And now he represents Sal DiMasi, the third House speaker in a row to go down on a federal rap. Why are we not surprised?
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1178476
“In response to a query by Cintolo, Angiulo gave the following chilling command: ‘I don’t want to know about this guy no more. I want (LCN associate Skinny) Kazonis to go see him . . . We’ll . . . kill him once and for all.”
I think in hiring this lawyer DiMasi has put potential witnesses on notice. What's wrong with the Massachusetts Bar that a character like this could ever be readmitted? It's not like he stole from a widow or something, the guy outright participated in a conspiracy to kill, not intimidate, kill a witness. Anyone who even considers turning states evidence against one of his clients has to have second thoughts.
Merely hiring a lawyer like this constitutes a form of witness intimidation.
Well you should know the answer....it's MASSACHUSETTS! The corruption in this state is just amazing and I'm sure we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg, it's scary to think what's really going on.........dimasi, finneran, flaherty, wilkerson, turner, how deep is the corruption - what did they do that they actually got away with, makes one wonder..........
Patches Kennedy falls off the wagon again
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2270360/posts
I called the chumpline and sang my “Patches” parody (”My father was a drunk old man/ I could see him with his Chivas in his hand/ Put a blonde in the pond/ Didn’t think there was anything wrong” etc) to the Chumpline. Hope it makes it on
tonight. I had to sing it a few keys lower than the Clarence
Carter original. The full parody is at the link above.
“Mr Kennedy, when did you pass the bar (exam)?”
“Oh, I never pass any bar.”
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