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By coincidence, stories about the 5-year-old boy from Fitchburg made the news the same time that reports broke about former Gov. Deval Patrick being urged to run for president. What's the connection? Patrick was governor in 2013 when the boy, missing for seven months, was found dead in a suitcase dumped off a highway in Sterling

Observers of this week’s confirmation hearings for the post of U.S. attorney general might think it odd to see Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., rewind the clock to a single voter fraud case from the 1980s. Under persistent questioning, Sessions has had to defend his decision to prosecute a case of brazen voter fraud—something that was his job to do. The repeated references to this case by some senators represent just how far the civil rights industry has swerved from its honorable roots to derail a confirmation. Character assassination, false testimony, performance protests aimed at securing retweets instead of reconciliation, and...

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At tonight’s ABC town hall on race and gun violence, the lieutenant governor of Texas confronted President Obama over his reactions to shootings like in Dallas. Dan Patrick––no fan of Obama’s––said after Dallas that hatred against officers and anti-police rhetoric on social media fuels so much rage and hate. Patrick told Obama that cops across the nation do not feel in their hearts that their president is on their side and doing everything he can to protect them. He suggested to the president that he should “consider being careful when there is an incident of not being too quick to...

Patricius: The True Story of St. Patrick Before all the festivities focused on shamrocks and leprechauns and good luck wishes, there was truly something to celebrate: a man willing to stand in the gap for Jesus Christ. It was an act of defiance that changed the course of a nation. Patrick lit a fire in pagan 5th century Ireland, ushering Christianity into the country. Who was this man who became the patron saint of Ireland? Ireland was a beautiful island shrouded in terrible darkness. Warlords and druids ruled the land. But across the sea in Britain, a teen-ager was poised...

MARCH 17, around 461 AD, St. Patrick died. As a teenager, the Roman Legions guarding his community in Britain had to be withdrawn to defend Rome, as invading heathen hordes, such as the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals and Huns, were overrunning the borders. Unprotected, Britain was attacked by raiders, who carried away thousands. Patrick was captured and sold as a slave in Ireland, which was ruled by the Druids, who practiced human sacrifice. For six years Patrick herded animals for a Druid chieftain, as he wrote in his Confession: "But after I came to Ireland---every day I had to tend sheep,...

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced Tuesday he would hit the Iowa campaign trail to support the presidential bid of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, joining a cadre of other conservative stalwarts that has recently taken shape behind Cruz. Less than a week before the nation's first primary caucus, Cruz and his leading rival, Donald Trump, are tied for the top spot in a recent poll. Almost two years before this election cycle began, Patrick endorsed Cruz for president, saying the senator had "taken our conservative message to a different level."(continued)

Kennedy, in a book scheduled to be released Monday, provides an intimate picture of a dysfunctional family and some of its well-publicized struggles with alcoholism and mental health issues — and what he describes as a blanket of secrecy that papered over their problems...The book, which Kennedy will discuss on CBS’s “60 Minutes” Sunday night, is bound to rile other members of the famous family. “I know how some of them are going to react,” Kennedy says in a brief excerpt from the show released by CBS. “They’re angry.” He describes a drunken sailing trip in 2000 that turned out...

A three-year restoration project at St. Patrick's Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and one of the country's most well-known churches, is coming to an end just in time for a late September visit from Pope Francis. Most of the scaffolding has already been taken down and officials are steadfast in saying it will be done in time. The project was officially announced on St. Patrick's Day 2012 and got started soon after. It was a huge undertaking — the entire exterior was covered in scaffolding, all the way to the top of the two...

It came as no real surprise that former Gov. Deval Patrick ended up working for a major investment firm. Patrick all along made no secret that he needed to make some money after he left the governor's office following two four-year terms. The only surprise came when it was announced that the investment firm was Bain Capital, the giant investment company that former Republican Gov. Mitt Romney helped start, and that ended up making Romney a millionaire many times ove -romneys-bain-capital#ixzz3XxFmsJIp

Our Catholic friends won’t like this revelation but facts are facts. Patrick (original name was Sucat) was born in Scotland about 375 AD and lived about 85 years dying in 460. As a teen he was captured by marauding raiders and taken to Ireland where he was sold to Milcho, a Druid chieftain and held in slavery for six years. Patrick said that he was hungry and naked during that time. He eventually walked 200 miles to the Irish coast to escape and to find his way back to Scotland. It is my desire to dispel the myths, delusions, superstitions...

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick was quoted as saying that open carry bills might not come up for a vote this session on Tuesday.  From dallasnews.com:  “Open carry is important, but I don’t think there is support in the Legislature to pass it,” Patrick said. “The votes have not been there.”  Wednesday he reiterated his support for that legislation.  From texastribune.org: After noting that he had referred a bill to committee allowing concealed weapons to be carried on university campuses by those with appropriate licenses, Patrick said in a statement, "Now that [Senate Bill] 11 has support and is moving...

Deval Patrick was on Meet the Press this week-end. When asked about the Grand Jury decision he said: “Without knowing all the facts, of course I wanted an indictment.” Wow. Just, wow. Patrick summed up in one short sentence exactly what is wrong with progressive “thinking” and attitudes. He admitted that he wanted a particular outcome, even in the face of not knowing all the facts. But almost as egregious as that was his assertion that we don’t know all the facts. Because, hello? Yes we do! What does he think the Grand Jury was poring over these past several...

There are a couple of ways to keep your house warm this winter. You could choose the reliable heater you’ve known for years. Or you could keep gasoline and matches handy next to a fire pit you dig in the living room. Most of us are going to pick the heater. The other choice seems … reckless. Your vote for lieutenant governor isn’t so different. Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, a San Antonio Democrat, has been a steady legislative hand for two decades. Her opponent, Republican Sen. Dan Patrick, is potentially explosive, impact unclear. Also on the ballot are Libertarian...

Human rights and labor activists are voicing outrage that the Patrick administration could soon award a staggering $1.3 billion subway contract to a rail enterprise owned by the repressive Communist Chinese government, saying the deal would be a “terrible disgrace.” “If the left-leaning Massachusetts blue staters love to boycott things that break the wrong way on issues of rights, why does China get a pass on all of that?” said Tom Cushman, a human rights activist and professor at Wellesley College.

As of now, a handful of Democrats have flirted with (or outright embraced) mounting a challenge to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ahead of her expected second run at the White House. Those candidates have, however, largely been relative unknowns or too exotic to be considered a genuine threat to her inevitability. Self-described socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is seriously contemplating a 2016 bid, but few believe that he can mount a legitimate challenge to Clinton. Former Democratic Virginia Sen. Jim Webb is also contemplating a run at the White House, but he retired from the Senate after only...

Despite the fact the nation’s highest court took the state of Massachusetts to task for passing a law curtailing the free speech rights of pro-life advocates, the Bay State is again trying to suppress them.In a unanimous decision last month, the Supreme Court struck down a Massachusetts buffer zone law prohibiting pro-life free speech outside abortion clinics. The decision was a huge victory for pro-life sidewalk counselors who provide women with abortion alternatives.In their ruling, the Supreme Court struck down a Massachusetts law that created a 35-foot “buffer zone” restricting pro-life advocates from speaking with people entering abortion facilities.Saying the...

If the venerable18th-century English essayist Samuel Johnson was correct when he famously said "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel," what would he have made of a man who takes refuge in patriotism and religion? That would be Gov. Deval Patrick, who, with tears in his eyes, quoted scripture to make his case last week that his acceptance to house some 1,000 illegal-immigrant children at two sites in Massachusetts was based on "love of country and lessons of faith."

Republican Greg Abbott leads Democrat Wendy Davis by 12 percentage points in the race for governor, according to a new University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. - snip - In the the race for lieutenant governor, Republican Dan Patrick has the biggest margin in the pack of statewide races, leading Democrat Leticia Van de Putte 41 percent to 26 percent, with 23 percent undecided and the remainder going to third-party candidates and unnamed candidates.

NASCAR racer Danica Patrick could be set to become America's first female Formula One driver after her boss hinted she would be a 'great candidate' for his F1 team. The 32-year-old is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel racing and has competed in NASCAR since 2012, finishing inside the top ten twice. Motorsport mogul Gene Haas, for whom Miss Patrick races for in NASCAR is preparing to launch a brand new Formula One team in time for the 2016 season.