Three mini-columns at this time:
John Fish, the billionaire proprietor of Suffolk Building, wildly overplayed his hand attempting to jam via 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 wherein 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 Faculty.
Attempting to elucidate his incontinent sucking-up to the hack lifer Scott Bosworth, Fish tries to alibi for at the least a few of his incontinent missives.
In a seven-page affidavit, listed here are a few of his alibis:
Eight completely different instances Fish admits texting Bosworth, however then provides the next sentence: “This alternate had nothing to do with the Service Plazas procurement.”
Two different instances Fish admits texting Bosworth, however then provides the next sentence: “We didn’t talk about 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There’s an outdated saying: The fish rots from the pinnacle. 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 similar to John Fish: “The louder he spoke of his honor, the quicker 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 working 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” may prevail and take energy.
The late Paul Sullivan of Tewksbury, who later grew to become a WBZ radio discuss present host, was the hacks’ candidate for county commissioner. However to empty votes from the suburban reform candidate (whose identify I can’t even recall), hack County Commissioner Mike McLaughlin had a brainstorm.
McLaughlin mentioned, let’s put a straw candidate within the Democrat main from Lowell named… Edward Kennedy. It’ll idiot all of the dumb liberals in Cambridge and Newton.
What might probably go incorrect?
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 main election night time, he swept to a straightforward victory. McLaughlin had a younger hack working for him by the identify of Marty Meehan, a neighbor of Ed Kennedy’s in Lowell. Meehan was advised to go over to Kennedy’s home and inform him he’d received.
Based on Lowell lore, Meehan went to Kennedy’s home and knocked on the door. Kennedy had been chopping 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 shaggy dog story that it even was written up in The New York Instances. One of many defeated, actual candidates defined what occurred with Edward Kennedy:
“Individuals suppose he’s Teddy Jr. When our individuals have 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 lifeless, 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 identify in Massachusetts, nicely, in 2020, the final of the Kennedys in workplace, Joe Kennedy II, was defeated within the Democrat main for the Senate by Ed Markey, who shamelessly modeled himself after the “First Household” that he has all the time been generally known 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 all the time scouting out their subsequent mark, and the Kool Assist Kult of the Massachusetts GOP appears to suppose they’ve discovered their subsequent large rating.
His identify 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 have been ousted from the trough in 2023, after going roughly 0–48 in contested state races from 2019 to 2022. In addition they nearly bankrupted the state GOP, spending the get together’s meager funds on, say, non-public eyes to stalk GOP state committee members in addition to squandering a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars} on pathetic losers like DoorDash Diehl.
Now, the Kult appears to be like at Minogue and sees their subsequent Rick Inexperienced — the dim-bulb entrepreneur who offered “jobs” for thus lots of them.
Minogue’s internet 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 might imply much more dough for them than these COVID welfare packages a few of them cashed in for as much as $80,000 for his or her, uh, companies.
And there’s no jeopardy in choosing Minogue’s pockets. I imply, COVID was straightforward cash, however look what occurred to one of many Kult’s prime 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 have been working the Mass GOP. (To repeat, the reply is zero.)
Caveat emptor, Minogue, as a result of grifters gotta grift.
Order Howie’s new guide, “Mass Corruption: Vol. 1 The Cops,” at howiecarrshow.com/retailer.
