Wednesday, May 14, 2003
‘So much for the machine gun’ and other items: Reader No Nickname weighs in on a bunch of issues. Reader No Nickname:
“SO MUCH FOR THE MACHINE GUN – My earlier note about how to win state legislative seats appears to be vindicated by Matt Sisk’s defeat in the House runoff election. Sisk is a 24 year old with some questions about his behavior in college (allegations of plagiarism and vote fraud), along with 18 months of experience in the Chief Secretary’s office at the State House (an office that Romney shut down as a bastion of patronage). His opponent was a former House legislative aide and a selectman of the town where the election was held. Even with the star power of Romney and the White House Chief of Staff focused on the race plus tens of thousands in cash (all for 10,000 total votes), the more experienced, grassroots guy still won. You can't win a meaningful number of these seats with a top-down strategy, you need to build viable lower-level candidates first. I’d say most state legislators are sleeping pretty soundly.
“THE YAWKEY FOUNDATION -- This looks like so much gland-spraying by Tom Reilly. A family foundation that gives money to organizations favored by the family and board of directors? I’m shocked, shocked! You can go down to Associated Grantmakers on Court Street and take a look at the long list of Boston-based family foundations, all donating to the family’s favorite museum, school, church, library, etc. I grant you that Harrington is not the most sympathetic figure, but there must be something more pressing for our Attorney General to do.
“PSST, ANDREW, SHUT UP – In the blogosphere (cringe), Andrew Sullivan cuts a pretty wide profile – interesting, provocative, and a good writer. However, he occasionally goes on monomaniacal crusades that demonstrate why editors get paid. Sullivan is on one now with the NYTimes-Blair story. I simply cannot read another parsing of a Times email or memo. Jack Shafer is oh-so-right about Sullivan’s pot-kettle-blackness issue regarding Sullivan’s editing of Ruth Shalit.”
Hub Blog’s response: 1.) Agree Repubs should start concentrating on selectman, school committee, dog catcher races etc. The drive for a two-party system is going nowhere as long as the Massachusetts GOP keeps acting like the Massachusetts GOP -- and thinks it can obtain power by leap-frogging over grassroots politics with Jack E. Robinsons and Matt Sisks. Still, Sisk really was a lightweight nobody who almost knocked off a middleweight somebody. Lesson to be learned: Dems are vulnerable if and when Republicans get their act together at the party level and give Independents a reason to vote for them at the grassroots level. The GOP also needs contested primary elections that bring meaning to registering as ‘Republican.’ ... 2.) First, the Yawkey Foundation is not a 'family foundation.' The members of the family are dead. Second, we should sic gland-spraying prosecutors on lower-level charities as well. Third, they should go after the biggie non-family Yawkey Foundation for the way the boys took over the team, ran the team, sold the team and throw money around from sale proceeds of the team. It’s time to stop these guys from socially and financially leeching off of a dead widow’s vulnerability, memory and money. ... 3.) I think Andrew Sullivan defended himself rather well and he really did see “this problem sooner than others.” But he should have mentioned the Ruth Shalit incident more thoroughly and often in earlier posts as an empathetic frame of reference. The Ruth Shalit incident (as well as others) is why I’ve been emphasizing my own “Misery” experience. Affirmative action and Howell’s breathtaking arrogance are pieces of the story, but not the whole story. ... I’m still betting Howell resigns.
“SO MUCH FOR THE MACHINE GUN – My earlier note about how to win state legislative seats appears to be vindicated by Matt Sisk’s defeat in the House runoff election. Sisk is a 24 year old with some questions about his behavior in college (allegations of plagiarism and vote fraud), along with 18 months of experience in the Chief Secretary’s office at the State House (an office that Romney shut down as a bastion of patronage). His opponent was a former House legislative aide and a selectman of the town where the election was held. Even with the star power of Romney and the White House Chief of Staff focused on the race plus tens of thousands in cash (all for 10,000 total votes), the more experienced, grassroots guy still won. You can't win a meaningful number of these seats with a top-down strategy, you need to build viable lower-level candidates first. I’d say most state legislators are sleeping pretty soundly.
“THE YAWKEY FOUNDATION -- This looks like so much gland-spraying by Tom Reilly. A family foundation that gives money to organizations favored by the family and board of directors? I’m shocked, shocked! You can go down to Associated Grantmakers on Court Street and take a look at the long list of Boston-based family foundations, all donating to the family’s favorite museum, school, church, library, etc. I grant you that Harrington is not the most sympathetic figure, but there must be something more pressing for our Attorney General to do.
“PSST, ANDREW, SHUT UP – In the blogosphere (cringe), Andrew Sullivan cuts a pretty wide profile – interesting, provocative, and a good writer. However, he occasionally goes on monomaniacal crusades that demonstrate why editors get paid. Sullivan is on one now with the NYTimes-Blair story. I simply cannot read another parsing of a Times email or memo. Jack Shafer is oh-so-right about Sullivan’s pot-kettle-blackness issue regarding Sullivan’s editing of Ruth Shalit.”
Hub Blog’s response: 1.) Agree Repubs should start concentrating on selectman, school committee, dog catcher races etc. The drive for a two-party system is going nowhere as long as the Massachusetts GOP keeps acting like the Massachusetts GOP -- and thinks it can obtain power by leap-frogging over grassroots politics with Jack E. Robinsons and Matt Sisks. Still, Sisk really was a lightweight nobody who almost knocked off a middleweight somebody. Lesson to be learned: Dems are vulnerable if and when Republicans get their act together at the party level and give Independents a reason to vote for them at the grassroots level. The GOP also needs contested primary elections that bring meaning to registering as ‘Republican.’ ... 2.) First, the Yawkey Foundation is not a 'family foundation.' The members of the family are dead. Second, we should sic gland-spraying prosecutors on lower-level charities as well. Third, they should go after the biggie non-family Yawkey Foundation for the way the boys took over the team, ran the team, sold the team and throw money around from sale proceeds of the team. It’s time to stop these guys from socially and financially leeching off of a dead widow’s vulnerability, memory and money. ... 3.) I think Andrew Sullivan defended himself rather well and he really did see “this problem sooner than others.” But he should have mentioned the Ruth Shalit incident more thoroughly and often in earlier posts as an empathetic frame of reference. The Ruth Shalit incident (as well as others) is why I’ve been emphasizing my own “Misery” experience. Affirmative action and Howell’s breathtaking arrogance are pieces of the story, but not the whole story. ... I’m still betting Howell resigns.
