Howie Carr thread week of March 4, 2012

Sun column ping

Sad sack Christy Mihos is ‘Rotten,’ soon to be forgotten
By Howie Carr | Sunday, March 4, 2012 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists

Christy Mihos was always a legend ... in his own mind.

And now those hacks he was going to get even with in his tell-all book — their snouts are still buried deep in the public trough, they’re all still fattening up their six-figure state pensions. Christy, meanwhile, is reduced to reading unredacted Florida police reports about what is described as his “addiction” to prostitutes, strippers and porn stars.

A sex addict! Cancer made him do it. That’s his story and he’s sticking to it. Christy, the man who would be governor, now becomes another punch line at the St. Patrick’s Day breakfast, the Wade Boggs of politics.

Even Fat Matt Amorello must feel sorry for him this morning.

Last month I wrote what was supposed to be the foreword to Christy’s book, “Rotten to the Core.” Ironic title now, isn’t it? I read the first 100 or so pages, and despite Christy’s incessant bragging, it was pretty entertaining, at least if you were there.

He included some good stuff — the greedy lawyer-turned-judge, trying to squeeze a final $339,000 out of the Turnpike before assuming his lifetime sinecure on the bench. The state throwing away $100 million in naming rights to what became the Lenny Zakim bridge, as a sop to the unspeakable Cardinal Law, who was about to flee Boston one step ahead of the posse.

Throughout the book, Christy lauds his wife, Andrea, or, as he affectionately calls her, Anti. She’s the rock of his life blah-blah-blah. Funny, I can recall him complaining about her weight, to her face. Yet during his idiotic $4 million run for governor in 2006, “Anti” still cared enough about him to rip me a new one for going after Christy. And this is how he repays her.

Christy was losing it before the cancer and before that spill he took in December 2009. Remember, this is a guy who was asked in 2006 who he’d vote for if he wasn’t running for governor himself, Deval Patrick or Muffy Healey. Deval, Christy answered.

And four years later he thought he was going to run for governor as a Republican?

One recurring theme in “Rotten to the Core”: When the hacks aren’t stabbing Christy in the back, they’re hitting him up for cash. He was the state Republican party’s ATM. And Christy always pulled out his checkbook. It reminds me of Paul Kujawski, the dim-bulb former state rep, describing his own downfall:

“When I first got here, I thought everybody was my friend.”

What did Harry Truman say? If you want a friend in politics, buy a dog.

Christy had a dog, Reagan. In 2006, that was one of his brainstorms — have an official Dog for Christy in every city and town. What a campaign.

It could be worse, I suppose. He could be Sal DiMasi. Or Dickie McDonough.

On occasion, Christy has given me unsolicited marital advice, so now I think I’ll return the favor to him.

Christy, stop blaming you’re own personal failings on cancer or a fall. Man up and take responsibility for squandering your inheritance.

And if you have to play with anybody, play with your dog.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1408044

The duck boat broadcast was a bust. Technical difficulties.
They had to rebroadcast Howie’s segment with the Donald
from yesterday and just now, Howie (3:50 pm) said “OK we’re
back in the studios.” (Thankfully the studios are on Guest St. and not off around 128 or something!)

Howie’s contract runs till this fall or so. I don’t know the exact time it expires, but a timeline from 2007:

July ‘07: I come back from my cartoon convention in Pitt.
to the news that Howie signed a contract with Greater
Media, WTKK 96.9. His contract with Ent. was to end sometime in Sept, and he was to start on 96.9 on 10/1/07

Then, the legal fight. Greater sets up a Howie page on their website (and I think a domain name of howiecarr969.com) and they order up some “Carr bars”,
chocolate bars to give out.

Sept. ‘07: Howie does an interview with Ch 4 saying he’s
looking forward to doing mornings at his new station.
Howie’s “last show” is around 9/19/07. Todd Feinburg
starts to do a bunch of fill-ins for him. WRKO’s site
puts up a Howie Carr “sock puppet” with sound clips
(a soundboard).

Nov. ‘07: Entercom gets the right to have him come back.
He is said to have another 5 years in “prison”.

So I don’t know if the contract ends in Sept. or Nov.
or what.

Here is a post I did at the time for Boston Radio Blog:

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Howie Carr returns Fri Nov 16

Howie Carr is coming back to WRKO (and his “network”) after all, starting Friday, Nov. 16, according to Entercom and the Herald’s Messenger Blog. He will return to his afternoon slot (3-7 pm) on WRKO
and affiliates in New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and elsewhere in the Bay
State. (WCRN in Worcester dropped him but it’s unclear whether or not they
would pick him up again.)

“We are thrilled that Howie is back on WRKO,” said Entercom New England Vice President and Market Manager Julie Kahn in a press release. “Howie is a one-of-a-kind talent, and I’m sure all of Howie’s listeners are looking forward to hearing him on our air again.”

The Herald’s article has quotes from Howie and from Greater Media about this
four-month saga.

Wed column ping
Three’s a crowd, not company, for Romney
By Howie Carr | Wednesday, March 7, 2012 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists

You’re Mitt Romney, and you still can’t quite close the deal.

Super Tuesday was supposed to be the end of the road, at least for Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, but they still keep coming at you, hitting “the elites” and “Wall Street” and living to fight another day.

You want to start running against Barack Obama, but down in Atlanta, and out in Steubenville, they keep biting at your ankles.

Rick and Newt — how can you miss them when they won’t go away?

It’s like last call at a bar, not that you’ve ever been in a bar at last call. Hey, Newt and Rick, you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.

It was supposed to be such a resounding win last night — a super night. But there you were, at the podium at the Copley Westin, somehow distracted during your speech, as if you knew you were in for a long night in Ohio, despite all of Karl Rove’s predictions to the contrary.

You outspend Santorum 4-1 in Ohio, and you barely pull out a win in the wee small hours of the morning. Hardly the knock-out punch the pundits were predicting.

And next week it’s Alabama and Mississippi — when does it start getting any easier for you?

Santorum and Gingrich couldn’t even get on the ballot in Virginia, and yet they keep on coming at you, like movie zombies. You can argue delegates, and everyone’s eyes glaze over. You can say you won more votes yesterday than anyone, and yet somehow, it doesn’t feel like a W.

You’re Mitt Romney banging away at Barack Obama, and it sounds like you’re whistling past the graveyard. You mention Obamacare and everyone thinks... Romneycare. Even most of your voters here in Massachusetts yesterday say they hate Romneycare.

And if you’re not making rich-guy gaffes, then Ann is talking about how wealth doesn’t matter, and if Rush Limbaugh hadn’t stepped in it even worse, that probably would have been a lot bigger story too.

You’re Mitt Romney, and you want to start talking about gas prices, and yet here’s Newt Gingrich, who came off like Captain Queeg last night, pushing his $2.50-a-gallon plan.

You can’t start calling Barack the algae president until you shake the other guys.

You’re Mitt Romney and you just want to start flying around the country asking the 1980 Ronald Reagan question:

“Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”

But you’re Mitt Romney, and instead they’re asking you, are you better off than you were four days ago?
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1408809

Fri column ping

Don’t worry, Crash, you’re in good company
By Howie Carr | Friday, March 9, 2012 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists

Crash Murray, you are not alone!

Yes, you’re a lousy driver, and yes, you wrecked your state car. But you are not alone!

Crash, you may not be able to win another election. But if you can get the votes of every hack in state government who’s totaled, or at least dinged up their state cars, then you can at least get your 15 percent at the state Democratic convention in 2014.

Altogether the hackerama accounted for 1,100 accidents in state vehicles over three years. That’s amazing. But what’s even more amazing is that only four of the mishaps occurred at Dunkin’ Donuts. Surely there must have been others ... at Mary Lou’s perhaps?

Here’s a former Parole Board hack, cracking up his Ford Taurus to the tune of $5,100 one November morning in 2010. It happened on Speen Street in Natick. For the record, there’s a Dunkin Donuts at the end of Speen Street.

Coincidence? I think not.

A crash at Wal-Mart? I thought our Democrat leaders didn’t like Wal-Mart — unions and all that.

How about Ken Kimmell, the $130,000 commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection. He stuck the taxpayers with a $5,300 bill when he crashed his 2005 Toyota Prius (what else?) on the way to work on I-93.

Hey, commissioner, I thought you were green. Did you ever hear of commuter rail? Do you carpool, or were you driving alone? What about the polar bears, commissioner? How many more must die for your carbon footprint?

Did anyone at the Registry of Motor Vehicles inquire about the circumstances of a bizarre accident on Aug. 13, 2010? Some RMV hack was driving a 2007 Ford van, at 7 p.m. in Centerville, in the “middle of the woods.” The middle of the woods? I’ve seen some long lines out the door at the Registry, but they never stretched out into the middle of the woods.

Remember the MDC? They call it the DCR now, but only the name has been changed, to protect the guilty. An infamous DOT truck that was involved in 40 separate accidents had one fender-bender at ... the toll booth in Weston at the intersection of the Turnpike and 128, both of which, like the MDC, have had their names changed, to I-90 and I-95.

My question is, what’s this world coming to when MDC workers crash into a Pike tollbooth? Whatever happened to professional courtesy?

And what’s with all these crashes in hotel parking lots in the early morning hours? Must be ABCC inspectors, checking up to make sure the bars aren’t serving any reps, I mean reprobates, after last call.

Tim Murray is surely feeling better this morning. But on second thought, he may still have a problem. He volunteered to pay for the cost of his wrecked Crown Vic. I don’t need to tell you how many of his fellow bad-driving hacks have done the right thing by the taxpayers.

Zip.

Maybe the state police should start scheduling roadblocks at some of the state workers’ parking lots.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1409368

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