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Wednesday, March 16, 2005
IT DEPENDS ON WHOM YOU ASK.
The Herald today reports that the Democratic leadership on
Beacon Hill is sticking up for Massachusetts Turnpike Authority
chairman Matt Amorello, Governor Mitt Romney's designated fall guy
for the Big Dig catastrophe.
The Herald's Ann Donlan and
Noelle Straub write,
"As the latest Big Dig controversy raged, Democratic leaders lined up
behind Amorello," citing US Representative Steve Lynch and Attorney
General Tom Reilly as powerful Democrats who oppose Amorello's
removal.
Herald columnist Howie Carr
is even more emphatic about Democratic support for Amorello
(nominally a Republican, by the way), claiming
(sub. req.), "The bloated boss of the Big Dig is still counting on
all his old pals from the Legislature to back him up - Trav, Sal,
Tony, Joey, Stevie. The hackos di tutti hacki are all still in his
corner, as you could tell from the deafening silence emanating
yesterday from the State House."
Deafening silence, huh? Carr ought
to get the wax out of his ears. Because this
Globe story, by Raphael Lewis and Sean Murphy, lists three
influential Democrats who said yesterday that they either want to see
Amorello go or are willing to consider it. To wit:
In a surprising
development, however, several Democrats said they agreed with
Romney that Lemley's statements raised serious concerns about
Amorello's stewardship of the Turnpike Authority, and at least
one, Secretary of State William F. Galvin, also called on Amorello
to step down.
"This is now a public safety
issue, and the only way to know the situation is to get access to
these records," Galvin said. "The shell game has got to end. And
Amorello is the person in charge."
Yesterday, Senator Steven A.
Baddour, Democrat of Methuen and cochairman of the Joint
Transportation Committee, criticized Amorello for denying Lemley
access to records.
Baddour also said he was
surprised and outraged that Amorello had failed to renew Lemley's
contract in December, as well as that of tunnel- wall specialist
George J. Tamaro.
Lemley was brought on in late
2003 to assist retired Judge Edward M. Ginsburg's efforts to
recoup money lost to Big Dig construction defects and
mismanagement. Tamaro was hired last fall after a massive leak in
the tunnel wall.
"At the end of the day, the
Turnpike Authority doesn't have the credibility to stand up before
the public to say these tunnels are safe," Baddour said. "That's
why we brought in Lemley and Tamaro."
Senator Mark C. Montigny,
Democrat of New Bedford, said it now appears it is time to
consider a bill filed by Romney that would merge the Turnpike
Authority with the state Highway Department, which legislators
have long resisted.
"The turnpike and Bechtel have
grossly mismanaged this project, and the Pike has perhaps lived
beyond its useful life," Montigny said. "If there's some way to
put politics aside, we should reopen the discussion with the
governor."
Uh, Howie, would "Stevie" be Steven
Baddour? Just wondering. And how come Bill Galvin didn't tip you off?
Granted, he's not a legislative leader, but isn't he one your best
sources?
posted at 8:22 AM |
4 comments
|
link
4 Comments:
So the Democratic Leadership on Beacon Hill have been on top of this Big Dig fiasco Dan? I see.
Over the years, Herald columnists have tended to let their screeds get further and further from any real reporting.
Howie, especially, ceased being a reporter years ago.
See also Callahan.
Typical, shoot the messenger.
I believe Dan's commentary is more on the decline of Howie Carr's skills as a commentator than on the political issues Howie is commenting on. I know that over on the Radio-Info boards (where slander means never having to say you're sorry) Howie's been catching more flak than usual (over the past few month) for "phoning in" his show on WRKO.
While a commentator has more need for creativity than for journalistic fact-checking, it does strike me that Howie's journalism skills have gotten pretty weak as of late. It's one thing to interpret things a questionable way to make your point - it's another when you're just pulling stuff out of your ass to do the same.
Of course, most conservative commentators have witnessed four years (and counting) of rampant ass-pullage from the Bush administration...
MEDIA LOG ARCHIVES
Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
