Unpaid, Unbossed and Unloved...

Deep in the tangled thicket of a Blue Mass Group comment string, US senatorial candidate Ed O'Reilly offers up the offhand comment that "some" of the pro-Kerry bloggers out there are "paid".
Ed's precise quote goes this-a-way:
John Kerry's bloggers (some paid and some perhaps not) want to go back 35 years. I do not.
Let me blog unequivocally, the Chimes at Midnight is on no-one's payroll....Humble Elias is definitely in the "perhaps not" category.

I mean do you think anyone out there is really crazy or desperate enough to pay me to write this shit?

Paying the Little Blog that Cried for it's daily ration of "sarcastic rant driven chatter" (per Boston Magazine)would be grounds for a serious independent audit thats all I can say.

Last night's GOP debate...

Romney accuses Guiliani of coddling illegal immigrants, Rudy shot back that Romney hired Guatemalan illegals to clip his hedges in Belmont Mass.
Meanwhile...Fred Thompson, groaned, rolled over and before he fell asleep grunted something about Mike Huckabee being a tax and spend lib-er-al.
McCain picked on Ron Paul in a vain attempt to generate what pro-wrestlers call "cheap heat".

The rest of this useless rabble manfully pawed the ground and looked distinctly peeved to have wasted their own time and money on what is a losing game.
Yes indeed folks, the game is afoot it is now a mere biblical forty days til the balloon goes up in NH and none of these a-holes feels the least bit secure in their positions.
Which is fine by me, the lot of them are evenly divided by dangerously utopian mystics and craven power-worshippers.

My question is, is there a point beyond which these guys become too right-wing for the electorate? Cause' it seems to me that we are fast approaching that point where the debates all resemble an ill-tempered freeper circle-jerk with all and sundry promising to nuke Iran and turn America into an armed camp in a vain attempt to expell Raoul the poolman and Rosita the maid.
A strict Rovian analysis indicates that there is no such thing as being "too right wing"...however I wonder. This is a grim humorless lot over time that can't wear well with the American people.

The New Hampshire Primary is now exactly forty-one days away...

thanks to the NH Secretary of State's insistence that theirs must be the earliest in the nation at all costs short of the penitentiary.
There is something nigh tragic and ironic about such a famously xenophobic state struggling to hold fast to a political event that is an automatic magnet for outsiders and out of state ne'er do wells.
I can recall delivering lawn signs up there once for a certain candidate close to my heart and being treated to an expletive laden tirade by a passer-by focusing mostly on my home address and my parent's marital status.
Afterwards I thought to myself "If homeboy didn't want me up here doin' all my best for Candidate X, then he needs to start a petition to give up NH's first in the nation primary...that'll keep the furriners' out fer sure!"
Hell it work's great here in the Commonwealth, I think the last two presidential primary candidates who actively campaigned here was George Wallace and Jimmy Carter.
Well what of it, New Hampshire will NEVER give up its first in the nation primary, if they have to they will schedule it the day after the inaugural.
Of course, the democrats and the republicans would love to move the sinecure to some other bigger state, but NH has the weight of tradition, many many monomaniacal pols and certain out of state interests on her side.
The primary itself is a joke, the electorate is so jaded as to be contemptuous of the candidates and the process. Moreover, New Hampshire is one of the least diverse states in the Union, Midway Island has more ethnic and economic diversity.
But on the primary roles, like a TV sitcom in it's 12th season with sign on the horizon of the inevitable cancellation.

Strange defense of Don Imus on the Op-ed page of the Globe

courtesy one Lauren Stiller Rikleen, senior partner at Bowditch and Dewey.
Her argument boils down to this, 'sure Imus is a rat, but he is still a good interviewer and his competition are all so much worse (the inevitable dog eared Ann Coulter citation is dragged out) so what is the problem?'
The problem is, he is an old vengeful screwhead in a medium of old vengeful screwheads so exactly what he adds to the mix is unknown to me.
And if Ann Coulter is so nasty per Ms. Rikleen, what about all those times Imus gave lavish air-time to that drunken shrew Laura Ingraham?
Sure Don let certain select democrats on the show, a rarity in today's talk radio but he forces them to run a nasty gauntlet more often or not. They hardly get the free ride that is reserved for an old book-worshipping laggard like Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
Ms. Rikleen thinks Imus should be welcomed back because somehow it's a victory for the first amendment...well as far as I can see, the first amendment seems to exist these days to benefit the Imus class and no one else. How any of that benefits Humble Elias is beyond me.
Well...that having been said, the I-Man does serve as a useful means to keep Howie Carr out of morning drive time, other than that he is perfectly superfluous in every way.

Another day late and another dollar short....

A mere twenty four hours after Jeff Jacoby blithely proclaimed all the "good news" from Iraq the Iraqis celebrated the occasion by shooting the eleven relatives of a Baghdad journalist.

If I didn't know better, I'd say the sonsabitches read the Boston Globe.

In today's Sunday Globe

Jeff jacoby takes advantage of the cruel lull in Britney Spears' outrages to proclaim that Iraq has finally turned a corner on the road to becoming a freeper utopia.
Oh he hedges his bets and declines to reiterate his dreadfully naive "these are heady days for those of us in the war party" nonsense...nonetheless an entirely false sense of relief permeates today's column.
But don't you worry, Jeff's smug self assurance is as ephemeral as any flickering fuse in Tikrit.
I mean, so what if Bush invaded Iraq seemingly to give passive aggressive nerds like Jeff Jacoby fodder for their own internal war epic?
Well...it is costing lives for no reason other than to give a president with a twenty nine percent approval rating a feeling of manly accomplishment.
We ought not to forget that.
The fact of the matter is, Jeff and his wingnut pals can call Iraq a triumph all they want just as Daily Kos and Eric Alterman can offer up cogent reasons to call it a failure.
But what no one can do is generate a sane reason to stay.
Frankly, given cost in American lives and the fast failing US Dollar, the only reason to prolong the agony is because the fantasist wing of the GOP needs a another war, this time against Iran.
Very franky, at some point, the current situation will no longer be able to support serial fantasization as policy. What happens when we reach that point I do not know...but the current policy is not sustainable.

"Heady days for the war party" indeed.

I finally figured out what the hell is wrong with Scot Lehigh

he didn't watch enough television when he was a pup!
This is no joke folks, without thorough exposure to TV's first anti-hero, Doctor Zachary Smith a kid grows up with a dangerously simplistic view of humanity.

Lord no wonder Scot fell for Romney's bullshit...it's like he had no defenses at all!

Moreover, without "Batman" a child can grow to adulthood shorn of any sense of satire or appreciation of parody.

When was the last time you laughed at anything Scot Lehigh wrote? I mean, think about that.

And what of "Gilligan's Island" the supreme and eternal childhood re-run? A priceless archive of dog-eared vaudeville turns, all apparently overlooked by young Lehigh who was no doubt reading "Commentary" sans a shred of insight or pleasure.

I mean, no wonder he is such a pompous stiff in the public prints.

Frankly to me, the lack of a sense of humor, as evidenced by today's earnest laugh-like essay on the perils of television is in itself a dangerous form of mental torpidity.

Dangerous...

Frankly Scot's only hope is to start watching "Star Trek" re-runs...or maybe "The Fugitive"...dat one had class as well.

Health to Senator Kerry's efforts to slap down

T. Boone Pickens' and his "Swift Boat" menagerie of lies.

Pickens is exactly the sort of ass-hole who needs a good public smack-down, couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Oh and Kerry's alleged primary opponent Ed O'Reilly had this say:

"It goes to his credibility," said Ed O'Reilly, a Gloucester lawyer mounting a challenge to Kerry in the Democratic primary. "It needs to be cleared up."

Geez Ed, would it kill you to brand the whole thing as a pack of lies? I mean, would it?

Apropos of nothing

But then-President Kennedy looks a lot older than his years in these previously unseen photos by Richard Avedon.
Of course the poor man was on a host of medications for his back problems, allergies and other ailments.
Still and all that, he still went out sailing in all kinds of weather...couldn't been feelin' that poorly.

I still can't believe that he stepped out on Jackie...I mean day-um she had two kids and looks good in these pics.

Maybe I'm getting old and stupid like...

but this Mike Huckabee strikes me as being more than a little ludicrous .... and a little bit fascistic.

Anyway a true martial arts movie fan can tell you that Chuck Norris is the biggest fraud on Ghod's green earth, he has been dining out on the basis of getting his ass kicked by Bruce Lee for more than three decades. What Huckabee sees in the sheep-like Norris, is a mystery.

Mitt Romney thinks that...

since he beat Shannon O'Brien in 2002 he is just the man to triumph over Hillary in 2008. Or some of his aides and henchman tell today's Globe.
Wee-ell I dunno about that, Mitt has always staggered around under the weight of his swelled head, prideful and amateurish he expects the future play out just like the past.
That is not a strength it is a weakness.
Of course nowhere in that article is the timely help gubernatorial debate moderator Tim Russert rendered the Romney campaign at all mentioned. Phat Tim smirked grandly and treated candidate O'Brien like a half-amusing teachable for some ninety minutes of congressionally licensed airtime. Far from debating Romney, O'Brien had to fend off attacks on two fronts, the results as they say are a foregone conclusion.

No one wants to discuss any of that do they?

If Mitt Romney has a strength, it's not solely his ability to beat down female rivals and underlings, it lies in his ability yo beguile stupid credulous pundits like Tim Russert and Brian McGrory. Getting those guys on his side is a big advantage in any contest...and believe me the same lot will fall for Mitt's line of rubbish in 2008.

Figure out how to bust that combination up, and you will go a long way towards bearing Romney in any contest.

Belated Veterans Day sketch starring Elias Nugator Sr.

Late of General Bradley's picked combat engineers, recipient of the Purple Heart and a warm folksy form letter of thanks from Harry S. Truman.

At dinner I thanked him for his service to the Republic, he smiles modestly and rejoins "You are welcome..you know anytime you need it just ask!"

Candidacies...

Arlington school committeeman Jeff Thielman, a rock in local democratic politics is thinking about running for state representative should Jim Marzilli move up to the state senate in next month's special election.
He joins a lengthening list of quietly ambitious Arlingtonians who are all jockeying for position if there is a vacancy.
Ken Donnelly who finished a relatively strong second in the primary on Tuesday is said to be very interested in running, indeed his ringing endorsement of Marzilli Tuesday night at the Sons of Italy (Hell Donnelly got to the victory party before Humble Elias!!)was seen by many as a virtual announcement for the seat.
Meanwhile school committeeman Sean Garballey would allegedly love to run for state rep, but his age (twenty two) and his strong support for Donnelly may well put the kibosh on that notion. You have to wonder, the tenure for some of these positions runs as long as twenty years, it's been seventeen years since both positions were open, can Sean or anyone else wait that long for a shot at the big(ger) time?
I know Jeff Thielman, he is genial and incorruptible, brainy and tireless, if he gets in he will run hard for the job. That having been said, it's been a controversial year for the Arlington school committee so Jeff's chances are at best fifty fifty. Still the campaign is young, it depends on Jim winning next month and then we have to see if DiMasi calls a special election or not. Conceivably, the seat could remain vacant til next November.

It occurs to me...

that after four full years of blogging, that the Chimes at Midnight is already an antique. It is largely text driven, it links only on a basis of reciprocity (with some exceptions),there is no commments section and the archives drop down and down again to the ten circle of hell.
Meanwhile the Blue Mass Group have built an on-line forum with strong communitarian overtones, Marry in Massachusetts is experimenting with podcasting and everyone seems to be doin' video.
All this goes on as Humble Elias tries dimly to figure out how to archive old posts by the year.
There is no point to any of this save to note that at some point even an antique becomes utterly irrelevant and it then it is time to move on to fresh outrages.

Just sayin'.

The Bonfire of the Regulars...

The winners and losers from yesterday's 4th Middlesex special election are a diverse lot.
Burlington representative Charles Murphy made more than a few friends south of his hometown, however his chief henchmen in Arlington, former selectman Charlie Lyons proved incapable of delivering on his alleged promise of a thousand votes. The whole Murphy vesus Marzilli thing pretty much got blown out of the water last night, Murphy lack of a ground game outside Burlington pretty much sealed his fate in a fight between Jim's liberals and Ken's firemen.

Kenneth Donnelly despite his poor debate performance and unpolished style was able to project a great deal of strength at the precinct level in Arlington, normally the preserve of last night's winner, state representative Jim Marzilli. He did this by pitching every off duty police officer & firefighter into the fray and collecting big donations from out of state unions. Notably, Donnelly made it a point to drop by the Arlington Sons of Italy last night and loudly proclaimed his endorsement of Marzilli raising the distinct possibility that the former fire-fighter might get into the state rep's race if Marzilli wins special election in December. This was a serious topic of conversation last night at the Sons of Italy. Another Donnelly candidacy though depends on how much money he has left over from this campaign (a good state rep's challenge in Arlington costs upwards to $55,000 last time I checked)and whether or not his public sector union base has the stomach for an another special election in Arlington.
Donnelly might do better next fall if Marzilli wins next month and Speaker DiMasi then declines to call a special election. That way, Donnelly can rebuild his finances, rest his "volunteers", and concentrate on electing Marzilli thus to prove his bona-fides to the liberal base in Arlington. This might also be the best way for Donnelly's key backers; selectperson Diane Mahon and George Laite to recoup their losses, if they can't retain a state senate seat maybe they can do some business in the general court.
Meanwhile, last time I checked, Woburn rep Pat Natale has not conceded the election to Marzilli...but that was as of 11pm last night, he might have come to his senses since then. Hard to say what benefits Pat derived from this campaign otherwise, he made wild accusations and made a desperate last minute bid for anti-illegal immigrant pop which did him just exactly no good at all. There was talk a month ago that Natale wanted to use this campaign to test the waters for a statewide run, based on what I saw, Pat should rethink this notion in detail.

Overall, Marzilli won because there was a split and a bad one in his local opposition, normally 30 to 40% of the Arlington vote is against him, but with Murphy & Donnelly contending for the same cadres this left Jim free to run his numbers up in the progressive precincts in Lexington and Arlington. The name of the game last night was voter-ID and Marzilli won it.

Anyway congratulations to Jim, he worked hard, he reaped the benefit.
Now on to the general election.

Marzilli uber alles!

With a plurality of 39% of the vote, Arlington representative Jim Marzilli now won the democratic nomination for the 4th Middlesex special election. He carried Arlington with a staggering 62% of the vote and Lexington with a plainlu\y miraculous 72% of the vote.
Clearly, Lexington native Bob Peters' withdrawl from the race may well have delivered the day to Marzilli.
This combined lead overwhelmed state representative Charles Murphy and Ken Donnelly with Woburn rep Pat Natale running a dismal fourth.
Thr real story is the surprising performance of Kenneth Donnelly who made this a real horse race with 25% of the vote running second in all five communities in the district. Clearly the police and the firefighter's unions can still rock the house in a tight race. Moreover this was Donnelly's strategy all along, place a hard second and let the big fish carry their home towns...we it worked he still didn't win!
This is all the more astonishing giving Donnelly's underwhelming pulpit style and poor debate performance.

Nonetheless, tonight is Jim Marzilli's night, finally a man with a good brain and a good heart has risen to the occasion.

Humble Elias couldn't be happier.

Governor Patrick endorses Jim Marzilli in the 4th Middlesex special election:

(Below a cut and paste of the Governor's endorsement)





Dear Friends,

On Tuesday, November 13th, there is an election for State Senate in
your district, the 4th Middlesex, and it's important that you learn
about the candidates and vote.

Change begins at the grassroots level, and your local leaders,
including your State Senator, are the people who will make a direct
impact on so many of the services that you and your family depend
upon.

In this important race, I'm hoping you will join me in supporting Jim
Marzilli, who was an important partner to me in my own campaign and
has helped to guide my decision making as Governor. Jim supports all
four parts of the Municipal Partnership Act. He is a leading advocate
for renewable energy as a way to increase our available clean energy
supply, reduce pollution, curtail our dependence on foreign oil and
spur economic growth.

You can learn more about Jim at his website, or for information about
where you vote, visit the Secretary of State's site here. If you are
interested in supporting his campaign, consider volunteering this
weekend, contributing, or convincing your neighbors to do the same.

As we just learned once again here in Boston, unfortunately, voter
turnout is historically low in many local elections, and our local
leaders are often elected by only a handful of votes.

This makes your participation and your vote even more valuable.
Regardless of who you support, the most important thing is to take the
time to learn about the candidates and cast your vote.

I know just how busy daily life can become, but don't leave politics
solely to politicians. Please take a couple of minutes out of your
busy schedule on Tuesday, November 13th and vote for Jim.

Sincerely,
Deval L. Patrick

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro...

or so the Late Hunter S. Thompson once opined.
Such might be the case today for Woburn's state rep Pat Natale whose last act of defiance in the 4th Middlesex special election was to release a glossy mailer that features a figure resembling his wife holding her nose and grimacing at thought of dirty politics.
On the other side is a somewhat defensive letter from Joyce Natale extolling Pat's virtues that runs over some half hearted stabs at two of his current rivals for the senate nomination. The big issue that Pat has suddenly glommed onto is his opposition to giving in-state tuition to the offspring of illegal immigrants...must keep Raoul and Lucia out of UMass Boston's night school after all.
Dirty politics indeed....
In all it's a desperate, shrill & gaudy exercise in last ditchery on the part of someone who ought to know better.

In the 4th Middlesex Special Election

for the vacant seat of State Senator Bob Havern, the Chimes at Midnight would like to endorse State Representative James Marzilli .
This is not a slur on the capacities of the current democratic field, Charles Murphy is an able man, Pat Natale is energetic and in the right race Ken Donnelly would be an interesting candidate.
But in Jim Marzilli the man, his issues and the moment have all come together with rare harmony. This election, sound and fury aside is about the advocacy of certain rising issues, the intersection between energy needs and the enviroment, housing costs, tax relief for our senior citizens; all areas that Jim has staked out over the last seventeen years in House of Representatives. Jim Marzilli has done all this and more on behalf of Arlington, he ought to have a chance to do likewise for the whole district.

Note to the Laity...

There will be a Chimes at Midnight endorsement in the 4th Middlesex special state senate election tomorrow.

Meanwhile...the infamous "Bad Poets Society" has once again surfaced, this time in Harvard Square.

A TV Commercial????

Per the Blue Mass Group, state representative Charles Murphy has actually laid down a pile of cash for a television commercial in the 4th Middlesex special state senate election!

Anyone else tried something like this for a state senate election in Massachusetts before?
Seems like a desperate move to me, but I could be wrong.
Moreover the advert itself is a little indistinct, it mentions the state senate once and in passing during the voice over and doesn't not cite the actual district at all.
Therefore a casual or underinformed viewer could easily infer that Murphy is running against John Kerry!

Allegedly, said commercial will start running in Arlington and Lexington this weekend...

Meanwhile, Ken Donnelly's phonebank has called my house twice in the last twenty four hours pestering Elias Nugator Sr. (himself a retired state worker and nominally a union member) about the upcoming primary. None of it has changed his mind, he is for Marzilli.

The Boston Globe endorses Jim Marzilli for state senate...

the whole text can be found here:

Well this is certainly a leg up for Rep. Marzilli, up until now the Globe hardly seemed to pay attention to the 4th Middlesex state senate race.
There is one endorsement though, that seems to have gone a-beggin'...that would be the coveted imprimatur of the seat's former incumbent, Robert Havern. Bob has remained decorously and strangely silent through-out this campaign. Humble Elias can understand even if he doesn't quite approve of Jay Kaufman's studied neutrality in this contest, after all no matter who wins Jay might have to work with anywhere from two to three embittered colleagues. But Bob has officially quit the game and can throw his support to pretty much anyone. To date though, he has not...this is not to say he hasn't made some moves behind the scenes allegedlyhe told Arlington Selectperson Diane Mahon to steer clear of the special election...did he have a candidate in mind at that time? Did anyone talk him out of an endorsement?
Who can say?

Dick Cheney apparently told Congressman Armey

in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq in 2002 that:

"We have great information. They’re going to welcome us. It’ll be like the American Army going through the streets of Paris. They’re sitting there ready to form a new government. The people will be so happy with their freedoms that we’ll probably back ourselves out of there within a month or two.”

If nothing else this warrants calling for Cheney's resignation, either the man is a malevolent liar or too stupid to handle the job, whatever the explanation "he hath tarried too long for the good he hath done and so he must go"...to quote Oliver Cromwell.

"Lets you and him fight"

So opined Joanie Vennochi in today's Globe who is just pantin' for a morning drive time radio chat show matchup between Howie Carr on WTKK and Former House Speaker Tom Finneran, two men she has somehow mistaken for a pair of ideological titans.
If there is a notion that more perfectly illustrates the intellectual torpor of the Globe's op-ed page, then I'd like to see it.
Finneran is a nice pleasant monotonal conservative democrat with a deserved rep for backroom hardball.
Howie Carr on the other hand is a genial sociopathic demogogue who'd probably be Finneran's friend if Tom wasn't a democrat and all.
Building up this rivalry is like booking an aged Muhammed Ali in the ring with UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson...in sort it's a bizarre mismatch that only a columnist rife with false consciousness could love.
How exactly any of this serves the cause of diversity on the radio is beyond me.
Joanie however thinks this is a great and ultimate debate waiting to happen.
I wouldn't listen to either man if you put a gun to my head, ideologically they are peas in a pod, they diverge only in their personal style.
Humble Elias couldn't care less if Howie Carr gets back on the air in Boston ever again, it's not like their aren't ten more like him desperate for his slot. Hell, Howie is nothing but a tired old media freak whose career path is the secret envy of every local columnist.
And Tom FInneran is a sharp fanged bore in extremis...the idea that the two of them on opposing radio stations have anything to teach the rest of us is laughable.

There is a debate coming up in the 4th Middlesex special state senate election:

4th Middlesex Special Senate Election
Environmental Candidate Forum
Tuesday, November 6 , 7-8 pm
Lexington Depot, 3 Depot Square, Lexington

Global warming, gas prices, deteriorating parks, toxic pollution - come
learn more about the candidates for the 4th Middlesex Senate Seat
(Arlington, Billerica, Burlington, Lexington, and Woburn) and their
environmental positions. All candidates are confirmed (Donnelly,
Marzilli, Murphy, Natale). This race, which inludes Arlington, Billerica,
Lexington, and Woburn is to fill the seat of former Sen. Robert Havern. Sponsored
by Clean Water Action and the Mass Climate Action Network. Event is free
and open to the public. For more information, (617) 338-8131 ext 211 or
bostoncwa@cleanwater.org

Senator Clinton's supporters are critical of...

the unctuous patronizing treatment meted out to their candidate by NBC's own Tim Russert at the last democratic presidential debate.
However this is nothing new from Tim, he and Mitt Romney basically ganged up on democratic gubernatorial nominee Shannon O'Brien at the last debate before the 2002 election.
Tim has always been a lackey for the GOP, his definition of "journalist objectivity" nothing more than the eternal quest to humiliate and degrade liberal candidates. It is just that when that candidate is female, we get the extra benefit of Tim's misogyny.
And that smile of his? Merely the smug leer of a wingnut pimp who thinks he has penetrated a bastion of liberalism.

Size is Destiny Part 2

A pic of the big-ass Charlie Murphy for State Senate sign mounted on Summer Street in Arlington, can be seen here:

***
In other news a reliable source tells Humble Elias that Bob Peters has endorsed Jim Marzilli in the upcoming 4th Middlesex State Senate special election.
As yet no word yet from his townsman, State Representative Jay Kaufman.

I'll bet that if

the Senate Judiciary Committee routinely used waterboarding to vet nominees to the Justice Department then Michael Mukasey would come out loudly against all kinds of torture practices involving simulated drowning.
Hell, I think the Senate Judiciary Committee ought to think about this...a few scary dunkings and all these judicial nominees will sing like canaries about their dubious investments and crazy "professional" associations. It will vastly speed up up the process at the very least.