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Maureen Monks, about to become the newest judge of the Middlesex Probate and Family Court, is a long-time radical lesbian activist attorney. She specializes in "gay" family issues. Last week, when her nomination hit some rocky waters getting through the Governor's Council, Governor Deval Patrick simply ignored their official vote and announced he will swear her in. Monks' nomination - and the governor's action -- was strongly supported by both the Boston Globe and Boston Herald on their editorial pages.

Governor Deval Patrick has decided against taking action to allow illegal immigrants to pay resident tuition and fees at state colleges and universities this fall, an administration official said yesterday, crushing advocates who were counting on the governor to deliver on a pledge to support the students. Earlier this year, Patrick said he was considering ways to offer illegal immigrants in-state rates, such as issuing a regulation, adding that it would be "the right thing to do." The governor declined to comment yesterday, but an administration source who spoke on condition of anonymity said Patrick decided that there were "significant...

DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- A new gambling study shows some Massachusetts residents who have not supported casinos in the past may be changing their minds. "Fifty-seven percent of Massachusetts residents still favor two or more resort casinos in the state of Massachusetts. That number is actually four percent higher than when we last did this poll in September," said Dr. Clyde Barrow, a public policy analyst at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. The study was funded by a real estate development firm with land interests in the proposed Palmer and New Bedford casino sites. The research showed that as the state's deficit...

If Barack Obama loses to John McCain this November, black liberals will not be the ones most angered by such an outcome. If anything, white liberals will be the most outraged. Many, though not all, white liberals supporting Obama are doing so because of the color of his skin and the perceived content of his character. Racial guilt is the gasoline that powers the engine of the white liberal: it leads Caucasian “progressives” to support such foolish ideas as hate crimes legislation, racial quotas, speech codes in universities, and all manner and manifestation of madness. White liberals who want Obama...

Howie Carr thread; columns, discussion of his show. Is there a winner in the death pool? Charlton Heston won't be down for bkfst...also if there's a Sunday Herald column today we'll lead off with that

How many times have I told you? With Deval, it’s all about showing him the money. Originality is not his strong suit; he follows in the footsteps of others. Jesse Jackson makes a fortune in the racket Tom Wolfe called “steam control,” and Deval shakes down Coke and Texaco. But when you’re building a $7 million mansion in the Berkshires with a nut of maybe $30,000 a month, it doesn’t matter how big your “severance packages” were, you always need more dough. So now Deval mimics Barack Obama. He finds some new marks and scores a $1.35 million advance for...

NYT THURSDAY: New Massachusetts Governor 'On The Ropes'... Developing...

(CBS) Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said that he believed if Barack Obama goes into the Denver convention leading in the count of popular vote and pledged delegates, that he will have earned the support of superdelegates - and the nomination. “I think the superdelegates in the end will ratify the will of the people and the pledged delegates," Patrick, a Democrat, said. “He will have earned [the nomination], he will have earned it against a very entrenched and strong contender.” Appearing on Face The Nation, Patrick told host Bob Schieffer that he hoped the Democratic Party would not become divided...

Gov. Deval Patrick is preparing to launch a task force to target companies that are using illegal workers to pad their profits and deprive the state of tens of millions of dollars in tax revenues, officials said. Administration sources said the task force will focus on tightening enforcement of employment laws that are routinely being ignored by firms in multiple sectors of the economy. An untold number of Bay State companies employ illegal immigrant workers as part of a practice that has become an increasing drain on state tax revenues. Illegal workers are prevalent in restaurants, the homebuilding industry, hospitality...

Gov. Deval Patrick says we need gambling because casinos will bring jobs, tourism and taxes to the commonwealth. He didn’t mention one other thing they’ll bring: Lawsuits. Arelia Taveras is suing a whole slew of casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas because they allowed her to lose nearly $1 million playing blackjack. After weeks of crying “Hit me!” she’s hitting back with a $20 million racketeering lawsuit in federal court. If this strikes you as a ridiculous lawsuit filed by someone who lacks all common sense, you will not be surprised to learn that Taveras is an attorney. In...

Early last week, the presidential campaign was rocked by the "bombshell" that Barack Obama had borrowed certain rhetorical flourishes from Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick's 2006 gubernatorial campaign. The revelations were not universally regarded as shocking. Anyone who was aware of the existence of Deval Patrick prior to the publication of this story could see the similarities between the Obama and Patrick campaigns. Both men ran campaigns based on hope. Both ostentatiously sought out a style that would transcend politics as usual. They shared a strategist, David Axelrod, who had penned vacuously uplifting prose for John Edwards long before Edwards became...

“Speak to us, oh beautiful one, tell us how you make that glorious sound, that even now an anticipation of it has reduced me to a snarling, raging, panting, jungle beast!” Birdie: “You gotta be sincere! You gotta be sincere! You gotta feel it here, 'Cause if you feel it here, Well, then you're gonna be honestly sincere!”-- Bye Bye Birdie, 1960 Over the past weekend, several keen observers of politics suddenly noticed that Sen Obama was giving speeches recycling the same content-free platitudes that marked one of the strangest in American politics: that of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. “Don’t...

Obama says borrowed lines not a big deal By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 15 minutes ago Sen. Barack Obama said Monday that he probably should have given his friend — the governor of Massachusetts — credit for using his lines over the weekend. Howard Wolfson, a spokesman for Hillary Rodham Clinton accused Obama of plagiarizing Gov. Deval Patrick. Wolfson said that raises questions about the premise of Obama's candidacy — his rhetorical skills. Obama, D-Ill., says that's going too far. He says he really doesn't think it's a big deal to use Patrick's words because they share ideas all...

Senator Barack Obama adapted one of his signature arguments — that his oratory amounts to more than inspiring words — from speeches given by Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts during his 2006 campaign.

The charismatic, brilliant, inspiring black politician came to the stage to address the latest attack from his white female opponent. "Her dismissive point, and I hear it a lot from her staff, is all I have to offer is words," he said. "Just words. "'We holds these truths to be self-evident,'" he continued as the crowd began to cheer and applaud, "'that all men are created equal' -- just words. Just words." The applause increased. "'We have nothing to fear but fear itself,'" the pol said. "Just words. 'Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you...

Barack Obama's speech in Wisconsin this past Saturday sounds awfully similary to a speech given by Deval Patrick in October 2006. Video of both is here.

Deval Patrick’s 2006 “Just Words” speech (October 15, 2006): Barack Obama’s “Words Matter” speech (February 16, 2008):

A top official in the Patrick administration has been placed on unpaid leave because he was arrested in Florida and charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old male in a steam room at a $500-a-night Gulf Coast resort. According to police reports, McGee was arrested Dec. 28 and accused of performing oral sex on the 15-year-old, who was a guest at The Gasparilla Inn & Club, a 95-year-old hotel and championship golf course in Boca Grande. McGee was held overnight on a $300,000 bond. Few state employees were aware of the arrest. An account had appeared in the local newspaper, the...

A top official in the Patrick administration has been placed on unpaid leave because he was arrested in Florida and charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old male in a steam room at a $500-a-night Gulf Coast resort. Carl Stanley McGee, 38, assistant secretary for policy and planning, is scheduled to be arraigned next week for sexual battery in Lee County, Fla. McGee helped draft Patrick's casino bill, life sciences legislation, and his plan to bring broadband Internet service to the farthest reaches of the state. According to police reports, McGee was arrested Dec. 28 and accused of performing oral sex...

A top official in the Patrick administration has been placed on unpaid leave because he was arrested in Florida and charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old male in a steam room at a $500-a-night Gulf Coast resort. Carl Stanley McGee, 38, assistant secretary for policy and planning, is scheduled to be arraigned next week for sexual battery in Lee County, Fla. McGee helped draft Patrick's casino bill, life sciences legislation, and his plan to bring broadband Internet service to the farthest reaches of the state