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Sunday column thread

Good Time era still rolling
By Howie Carr | Sunday, June 19, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
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Remember this photograph from 1996 — the House Democrats massed on the State House stairs in a brazen display of support for the first of the three (so far) felonious speakers, Good Time Charlie Flaherty?

See, Charlie was framed. One of his coatholders publicly compared his conviction to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

The feds actually expected him to pay his taxes — imagine the nerve of those G-men!

Fifteen years and two more convicted speakers later, the hacks still don’t get it.

The same Alibi Ikes who worshiped Good Time Charlie now make lame excuses for Shakedown Sal DiMasi. The jury pool was “tainted.” People hate you if you’re a rep, just because you make big money for doing nothing and get per diems of up to $110 a day for driving to work.

The payroll patriots whisper to one another, why do you think the jury let Richard Vitale go? Because he’s in the Dreaded Private Sector, not like Sal and Dickie McDonough the lobbyist.

Shakedown Sal will appeal his conviction all the way to the Supreme Court, the hacks assure one another. At least one of the charges will be thrown out. So what if he was convicted on seven counts — Sal can keep appealing till he’s dead. What’s he care? Sal ain’t paying for his lawyers, the taxpayers are.

The hacks haven’t been this angry since the pervert Sen. Marzilli got jail time. Don’t they understand, he had a disease? Ditto, Sen. Galluccio.

It never ends. The same week Shakedown Sal took his fall, state Rep. Mark Cusack of Braintree got a pass from the latest speaker, Bobby DeLeo of Winthrop, who happens to be a high school classmate of yet another of the crooked speakers, Felon Finneran.

Cusack is Good People, you understand. Twenty-six years old, never had a real job. Lived in his mom’s basement until very recently.

He’d been discovered on the House rostrum with a young female aide at 4 a.m. When he was confronted by a court officer, he wasn’t quick enough to say, “Do you know who I am?” Instead he gave another rep’s name — just like Marzilli did when he was lugged by the Lowell cops.

In his campaign last year, Cusack vowed, “I will not duck and cover.” Now he ducks and covers.

If anything, the Legislature has gotten worse in the 15 years since the photograph on the stairs. In 2000, the sheeple got drunk and began chanting “Toga! Toga!” One member who fell asleep, shall we say, had his legs shaved. It was like pledge week, in college.

This recent Cusack incident involved sneaking beers in other people’s offices after the so-called leadership had gone home. In other words, the House is now like high school, with “the kids” sneaking around with their cases of beer from one unoccupied house to the next.

They’ll never learn. But it doesn’t matter, as the voters don’t either.
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