Three mini-columns right now:
John Fish, the billionaire proprietor of Suffolk Building, wildly overplayed his hand attempting to jam by way of that $900-million Turnpike Plaza-gate rip-off. However now he claims that like King Lear, he’s a person extra sinned towards than sinning.
Fish’s mouthpieces have issued a seven-page affidavit during which he affirms his innocence, however not earlier than tooting his personal horn about his extraordinary charity work each as “chair” of Brigham and Ladies’s Hospital and as “chairman” of the board of Boston School.
Making an attempt to clarify his incontinent sucking-up to the hack lifer Scott Bosworth, Fish tries to alibi for not less than a few of his incontinent missives.
In a seven-page affidavit, listed below are a few of his alibis:
Eight totally different occasions Fish admits texting Bosworth, however then provides the next sentence: “This change had nothing to do with the Service Plazas procurement.”
Two different occasions Fish admits texting Bosworth, however then provides the next sentence: “We didn’t focus on the Service Plazas procurement.”
Fish additionally acknowledges including slobbering emojis to his bum-kissing texts: “Two thumbs up emojis… thumbs up emojis… two thumbs-up emojis and a strong-arm emoji.”
There’s an outdated saying: The fish rots from the top. That is all very fishy, the best way he’s proclaiming his innocence. Methinks he doth protest an excessive amount of.
Or, as Ralph Waldo Emerson as soon as wrote of a personality very very like John Fish: “The louder he spoke of his honor, the sooner we counted our spoons.”
The late Edward Kennedy
Sen. Edward Kennedy of Lowell, who died this week at age 74, charges a footnote in native political lore as essentially the most profitable “straw” candidate ever in Massachusetts.
A straw is a candidate who’s put right into a battle to empty votes away from a stronger candidate and throw the race to the candidate who put the “straw” into the battle.
In 1988 U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy was operating for reelection. His nephew Joe Kennedy was looking for reelection to the US Home.
In Middlesex County, the courthouse gang that had lengthy dominated the county hackerama was determined to retain management of the three-member county fee. However it seemed just like the “reformers” would possibly prevail and take energy.
The late Paul Sullivan of Tewksbury, who later turned a WBZ radio discuss present host, was the hacks’ candidate for county commissioner. However to empty votes from the suburban reform candidate (whose title I can’t even recall), hack County Commissioner Mike McLaughlin had a brainstorm.
McLaughlin stated, let’s put a straw candidate within the Democrat major from Lowell named… Edward Kennedy. It’ll idiot all of the dumb liberals in Cambridge and Newton.
What may presumably go unsuitable?
Kennedy, an ex-city councilor, was the right straw candidate. He didn’t marketing campaign, he raised no cash. He despatched out no mailings. He had no endorsements. He did what was anticipated of him — completely nothing.
On major election night time, he swept to a simple victory. McLaughlin had a younger hack working for him by the title of Marty Meehan, a neighbor of Ed Kennedy’s in Lowell. Meehan was instructed to go over to Kennedy’s home and inform him he’d received.
In line with Lowell lore, Meehan went to Kennedy’s home and knocked on the door. Kennedy had been reducing his garden, had come again inside, had a few beers after which dozed off on his residing sofa in a tee shirt. That was how Meehan discovered him.
It was such a comic story that it even was written up in The New York Occasions. One of many defeated, actual candidates defined what occurred with Edward Kennedy:
“Folks suppose he’s Teddy Jr. When our folks had been calling city halls for outcomes, all of them thought he was some nephew or one thing.”
That was 1988. All these years later, Middlesex County has lengthy since been dissolved. Sullivan and Kennedy are useless, McLaughlin is an ex-con after a federal conviction for corruption, and Meehan, the espresso boy, is making $755,121 a yr as president of UMass.
As for the ability of the Kennedy title in Massachusetts, effectively, in 2020, the final of the Kennedys in workplace, Joe Kennedy II, was defeated within the Democrat major for the Senate by Ed Markey, who shamelessly modeled himself after the “First Household” that he has at all times been referred to as a “Okay Mart Kennedy.”
And by the best way, did you ever see Ed Markey and Ed Kennedy in the identical room?
MassGOP Kultists decide new knight errant
Grifters are at all times scouting out their subsequent mark, and the Kool Assist Kult of the Massachusetts GOP appears to suppose they’ve discovered their subsequent massive rating.
His title is Michael Minogue, he’s a billionaire, and he simply introduced his candidacy for governor final week.
The Kult’s chief, former GOP chairman Jim “Jones” Lyons, gushed throughout Minogue on social media, and all I can say to Minogue is — name the bunco squad earlier than it’s too late!
The Kool Assist Kult has extra angles than a Nigerian prince.
Lyons and his crackpot minions had been ousted from the trough in 2023, after going roughly 0–48 in contested state races from 2019 to 2022. In addition they virtually bankrupted the state GOP, spending the occasion’s meager funds on, say, personal eyes to stalk GOP state committee members in addition to squandering a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars} on pathetic losers like DoorDash Diehl.
Now, the Kult seems at Minogue and sees their subsequent Rick Inexperienced — the dim-bulb entrepreneur who offered “jobs” for thus a lot of them.
Minogue’s web price dwarfs Inexperienced’s. He has much more dough than that loopy outdated man in Milton the Kult tapped who claims he talks to the Virgin Mary each afternoon.
Minogue’s marketing campaign may imply much more dough for them than these COVID welfare applications a few of them cashed in for as much as $80,000 for his or her, uh, companies.
And there’s no jeopardy in selecting Minogue’s pockets. I imply, COVID was simple cash, however look what occurred to one of many Kult’s high guys, ex-Sen. Dean Tran.
He’s now doing federal time at Devens FMC, close to his outdated Senate district.
Mr. Minogue, the Kult is gonna inform you they’re the one true Trumpers within the Mass GOP. Yeah, proper. Simply ask Jim Jones Lyons which candidate he was with in 2016. Ask Rick Inexperienced the identical query.
Extra importantly, ask them what number of elections they received once they had been operating the Mass GOP. (To repeat, the reply is zero.)
Caveat emptor, Minogue, as a result of grifters gotta grift.
Order Howie’s new e book, “Mass Corruption: Vol. 1 The Cops,” at howiecarrshow.com/retailer.
