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Comments

1. #1
   On December 17th, 2009 at 10:49 am, Painkiller said:

   We need such people in every State, every level of government, to keep all others honest.

   Or, at least, to shine the brightest light on such shenanigans.

   Now if we only had such journalists, such as you Michelle, in the bulk of the Mainscream Medium.

   http://danielmcandrew.com

2. #2
   On December 17th, 2009 at 11:04 am, Truesoldier said:

   This is just one of the many problems with public employee unions. We have seen many conflicts of interest here in WA ST with the employee public unions helping to get Gov Gregoire elected then she turns around and forces all state employees to pay dues , whether they are union or not, for the unions collective bargaining efforts. If you don’t pay you get fired. And we are supposedly a right to work state.

3. #3
   On December 17th, 2009 at 11:05 am, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

   Fox guarding the henhouse:

   For a second there I thought you meant FoxNews. Our Democrat brethren are rather possessive of state resources and consider them their own to be used at will, such as with Joe the Plumber smearing. But with Massachusetts competing with Illinois as the most corrupt state I have little faith an “ethics” probe will do much good.

   Let us hope Republican Senate hopeful Scott Brown isn’t utterly destroyed. Between regulatory agencies, various police forces and such it is not hard to imagine newly created evidence of some foul deed being planted on him or his family. A SEIU gang stomping a family member or staff would not be out of the question-we are talking Massachusetts: the Land of Dunk Em and Run.
   
   It is illegal to use government computers for political campaigning? Leaving the scene of a fatal accident is too-never stopped a Massachusetts pol. The home of Concord and Lexington, the Sons of Liberty and the First Tea Party of Note is a sewer.
   ===
   Arizona: man pulls a knife and demands your money–Bang
   Massachusetts: man pulls a knife and demands your money–Excuse me while I use my cell phone to call for help

4. #4
   On December 17th, 2009 at 11:06 am, Rogue Cheddar said:

   The Mass. AG needs to arrest her and throw the book at her! Oh! Nevermind!

5. #5
   On December 17th, 2009 at 11:08 am, Rogue Cheddar said:

   I apologize for my State. I’m so ashamed.

6. #6
   On December 17th, 2009 at 11:19 am, sultanp said:

   Michelle,

   Thanks for putting this election on the larger media stage. Scott Brown has a great chance to grab this Senate seat from yet another insider-Democrat who will be another rubber-stamp for Harry Reid, marching lock-step with Pelosi et al.

   Scott Brown can be the 60th vote that denies Reid/Pelosi their one-vote margin victories!

   Outside support is needed to fight the Democrat machine, so thanks also for posting his web-site http://www.brownforussenate.com/

   It’s a closer race than many think. Scott has the integrity to stand up in the Senate and actually *represent* us!

7. #7
   On December 17th, 2009 at 11:27 am, cheapseat said:

   rogue; your state does seem to have a plethora of whackos, pinkos, and queers elected to congress. but we here in the state of misery have the distinction of electing a dead guy senator. you guys just elect pedophiles, perverts, spendthrifts, and bozos. but seiu members need to ask why this group of thugs can collect and give to politicians millions in dues, back illegal immigrants taking jobs in this union over americans, and have it’s leaders live like royalty while the members live on minimum wage.

8. #8
   On December 17th, 2009 at 11:33 am, chapoutier said:

   but we here in the state of misery have the distinction of electing a dead guy senator.

   And you made the right choice.

9. #9
   On December 17th, 2009 at 12:49 pm, stillontheroad said:

   cheapseat said:

   I was doing some work in KC at a local Dept of Health and the number of SEIU posters in that place reminded me of pics of North Korea.

10. #10
    On December 17th, 2009 at 2:04 pm, Danceswithdachshunds said:

    Looking at the tire tracks on the back of Gerald Amirault, Martha Coakley’s rise to power is owed to ‘child abuse’ the same way Mike Nifong’s was to ‘rape of a black stripper by Duke Lacrosse players’.

    We can only hope that she’ll end up like him someday…

11. #11
    On December 17th, 2009 at 2:08 pm, RedMindBlueState said:

    On December 17th, 2009 at 11:08 am, Rogue Cheddar said:

    I apologize for my State. I’m so ashamed.

    So you’re the other conservative in our lovely People’s Republic. I’d been wondering who that was…

12. #12
    On December 17th, 2009 at 2:28 pm, Blackstone said:

    Must-read from Ann Coulter on Martha Coakley

13. #13
    On December 17th, 2009 at 3:08 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    On December 17th, 2009 at 2:08 pm, RedMindBlueState said:
    So you’re the other conservative in our lovely People’s Republic. I’d been wondering who that was…

    We’re a dying breed. At least I don’t live in the People’s Republic of Cambridge. This State has fallen far. Hopefully Scott Brown can bring some small relief.

14. #14
    On December 17th, 2009 at 3:55 pm, Wayfaring Stranger said:

    On December 17th, 2009 at 11:05 am, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

    …Arizona: man pulls a knife and demands your money–Bang
    Massachusetts: man pulls a knife and demands your money–Excuse me while I use my cell phone to call for help

    That’s right on the money as per Coakley; there was an incident a year or so back when a father decked the pervert who was reaching under a public bathroom stall to feel up the man’s son (IIRC the boy was five or six years old). Believe it or not, the dad was arrested for attacking the perv (who was also an illegal immigrant).

    And Coakley’s response? We generally discourage self-help (that’s a near if not exact quote).

15. #15
    On December 17th, 2009 at 4:01 pm, sillygatboy said:

    On December 17th, 2009 at 12:49 pm, stillontheroad said:
    cheapseat said:

    I was doing some work in KC at a local Dept of Health and the number of SEIU posters in that place reminded me of pics of North Korea.

    You should torn some down. I would’ve

16. #16
    On December 17th, 2009 at 4:08 pm, Wayfaring Stranger said:

    On December 17th, 2009 at 2:04 pm, Danceswithdachshunds said:

    Looking at the tire tracks on the back of Gerald Amirault, Martha Coakley’s rise to power is owed to ‘child abuse’…

    Yes, she was really tough – except when it came to stopping Father Geoghan,. /sarc.

17. #17
    On December 17th, 2009 at 4:13 pm, Wayfaring Stranger said:

    On December 17th, 2009 at 2:08 pm, RedMindBlueState said:
    

    On December 17th, 2009 at 11:08 am, Rogue Cheddar said:

    I apologize for my State. I’m so ashamed.

    So you’re the other conservative in our lovely People’s Republic. I’d been wondering who that was…

    We are the few, the proud, the defiant.

    And we want to see Scott Brown take the seat that the Dems keep saying “belonged” to Teddy Kennedy, totally ignoring that it belongs to we, the people.

18. #18
    On December 17th, 2009 at 4:57 pm, RedMindBlueState said:

    On December 17th, 2009 at 4:13 pm, Wayfaring Stranger said:

    We are the few, the proud, the defiant.

    And we want to see Scott Brown take the seat that the Dems keep saying “belonged” to Teddy Kennedy, totally ignoring that it belongs to we, the people.

    Amen. And if you’re up here in the 6th District:

    http://www.billhudakforcongress.com/inner.asp?z=14

19. #19
    On December 17th, 2009 at 5:07 pm, Dan Lee said:

    One of the reasons I left Massachusetts was the deep corruption of the Government at almost every level.

    One thing that I remember so vividly was the extortion racket that as I young man I was forced to be part of as an ASE Certified Auto Technician. I had to be certified to do emissions inspections required by state law, & the things I saw other inspectors do were unbelievable..

    It was common practice for people to accept a $50-$100 bribe to put a valid (passing) sticker on a car that had no chance of passing due to Mechanical problems. The inspector would simply pull a car that would pass next to the one that wouldn’t & put the exhaust probe in IT instead.

    The state would once in a while feign policing the problem by yanking someone’s license to inspect, but the truth was that it was always some tiny little shop that they could put in the paper, & make an example of so it looked like they were doing something about it. One that only raised a little revenue for the state anyway. Meanwhile this fraud was going on all over the place, & the arbitrary nature of the inspections would punish some car owners, & let others get off depending on whether they new someone, or paid the bribe. There was almost no state oversight, & some shops would check some things that were required, & others ignored those problems. It was different at each place I worked. Here’s how it worked:

    If you went to a place that had an inspection machine/license that specialized in Exhaust/Shocks/Suspension? Well you had better not go there if you have the slightest play in your steering, or even a small exhaust leak, because they’d fail you & offer to fix it for you on the spot. They didn’t do windshield replacement, so they’d ignore the heinous crack in your windshield if you fix the stuff they do make money on. Meanwhile the state gets their fee for the failed inspection, & you get one free re-inspection. (which is really free at $45 about half of which was going to the state)

    If you went to a place that specialized in tires? Your balding tire tread was more likely to be “noticed” by the inspector, & so on..

    The system wasn’t about safety or the environment at all, because there was barely any over site. Inspectors could ignore or falsify what they wanted, & most things could not be proven if they came back on you anyway. There were too few Registry cops to police all the licensed shops, so that was a joke too.

    For the inspectors like myself, who didn’t even want the job, we were sometimes threatened with physical harm by people who were angry with the Government squeezing them. All I could do was explain to them that I was just following the rules that their Government created for us to follow, & that they need to write their reps, & stop voting for Democrats. Of course you can imagine how many times I was told to stop saying THAT to people. I quit at least one job over it..

    The problem still exists today, because there’s always a way to game the system, no matter what the bureaucrats try to come up with for half assed safe guards.

    The reason I’m telling you about this, is because if there was corruption in this comparatively small government program in Massachusetts, imagine what else is going on there?