When the only state house player willing to talk to Joanie Vennochi is Sal DiMasi...

you end up with columns like this;

In one sense, the "battle" over casino gambling is a very serious political contest indeed with abiding consequences for the entire Commonwealth. But to read Joanie Vennochi it is a chance to pop open a Pabst Blue Ribbon and watch as Patrick and DiMasi oil themselves up and start grappling for the World Wrestling Championship.
"Shallow reportage" in other words....but what the hell, it is what sells after all.
So let me just idly note that I think the current contest is to DiMasi's advantage, Sean Garballey is being sworn in as a new member of the House today and he can be considered a strong "no" vote on any casino gambling proposal. The Globe additionally reports that a good ten or so state reps have switched their votes to "no" in the last week or so. There would seem to be some momentum in the House for a strong "no" vote.
So yes, the pressure is on.
the problem is, that while Sean Garballey and others are agin' casino gambling, (and rightly so in the opinion of Humble Elias)they also want a bigger slice of local aid. Garballey campaigned heavily on the promise of retrieving the 30 million lost to Arlington in the past eight years or so.
Fine...but where the hell is all that cashola supposed to come from?
If we wanna be squawking magpie style thinkers like Joanie Vennochi, then yes we need to see the current casino gambling controversy as nothing but a Test of Strength between the Governor and the Speaker.
On the other hand, this debate win or lose, ought to be nothing but an opening act to a larger more realistic more fact-driven discussion about revenues, resources, public interests and goals here in Massachusetts.
If we want to raise MCAS scores ten percent across the board in our high schools, where is the money gonna come from for the extra classes and tutoring?
If we want to offer scholarships to every straight-A student that graduates High School again, where does the revenue come from?
Let us not even go into the state of our roads and bridges and the shocking condition of public transportation in the Commonwealth.
But if all we get out of the current situation is a WINNER and a LOSER, then we are all being shortchanged, flummoxed and bamboozled.
Don't fall for it says Humble Elias, demand something more from all the above listed participants.