Keller @ Large Blog

More Palin Fallout

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:05:37 GMT

Here are links to statements about the controversial Newsweek cover from Sarah Palin and the magazine's editor. Any buyers?

Lights! Camera! Phony Spin!

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:31:44 GMT

Terriffic job here by the Boston Globe Spotlight team exposing the sham "Hollywood East" project that's been a highly-touted part of our state's "economic development strategy."

Punch line: "....a look behind the breathtaking vision of Plymouth Rock Studios reveals a project marred by over-the-top claims, broken promises, legal infighting, and the chronic lack of one crucial ingredient: money."

Sounds a lot like the Big Dig, the Rose Kennedy Greenway, transportation "reform" and universal health care, to name just a few of the mega-policy disasters of the last quarter-century or so here in Eden East. (Add to my list below.) Our arts-related resources are a potential source of legitimate economic growth, and movie and TV-production spending that generates profit for the Commonwealth ought to be a part of that. But pie-in-the-sky-when-you-die fantasies about thousands of high-paying jobs in Plymouth? Please. It was meep when Rev. Ike used to peddle it on late-night TV and it's been mega-meep coming from the Reverends Cellucci, Swift, Romney and Patrick.

By the way, while we're making lists, can you add to one I'm starting of disastrous legacies of the Cellucci years? A runaway Big Dig, the pretend 2000 income-tax rollback, infatuation with Hollywood, Jane Swift.....

For it Before He Was Against It

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:35:14 GMT

Q: Have you ever seen Mike Capuano and John Kerry photographed together? And are you sure it wasn't a fake?

The Most Stylish Bostonians?

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:57:13 GMT

The Boston Globe has unveiled its latest list of "the most stylish Bostonians," and while they all look sharp, I have a different take. Watch it at 11, then add your own nominees below.

The Voters Are Speaking....

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:19:00 GMT

I'll give you my take on the message voters locally and nationally seems to be sending (if, in fact, there appears to be a coherent theme) at 11pm on WBZ-TV.

Meanwhile, give me your own testimonial. What message did you send with your own vote today? What was the one thing that compelled your choice most profoundly?

Junk Food on Jobs

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:45:17 GMT

An acquaintance of mine with many years of sorting through (and, at times, dishing out) political spin writes the following:

"Are you looking at yesterday's numbers on jobs 'created or saved?' Even if you accept the Patrick Administration's own numbers, consider:

* Buried in the Globe article: 'The 23,533 individual jobs created or retained amount to 8,792 full-time positions, according to the administration’s calculations.' They only created 8,792 jobs! Everyone who hears 'jobs' thinks they are full-time, 40 hours a week. They should be saying 23,533 part-time jobs, at best.

* According to the AP, the 23,533 includes 6,000 summer interns. So if my math is correct, a full 25% of the jobs went to college students. That's not exactly robust economic development.

* Teachers, firefighters and school teachers -- all necessary and valued jobs -- do not contribute to growing businesses or the economy. It's just the nature of the jobs. And I'm sorry, but adding a new job at the pizza shop because of a nearby construction project is not impressive economic stimulus.

* Where are the tax incentives for R&D? Where are the breaks on payroll taxes to encourage new hiring? What is Patrick doing at all to help private industry recover? (They always cite biotech, but that's a very small fraction of the total employment in Massachusetts.)"

To which I can only ruefully agree and add this: the feds are blowing smoke on job creation as well.

Buon appetito everyone!

"Unhappy" Women?

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:01:38 GMT

Here is the Time Magazine cover story referenced in my report Tuesday night.

Here is the controversial academic study Time found so credible.

Whoops. Makes you wonder - or should - about any news story or analysis you see based on a "study."

Obama's Revealing Pitch

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:22:53 GMT

Here is a link to the text of President Obama’s remarks at Friday’s fundraiser for Gov. Deval Patrick. I can’t find a link to the text of his comments to a smaller group of high-roller donors, but it was e-mailed to me by the White House, and I've excerpted most of it with my comments interspersed in italics:

“….Since Deval took office he has performed extraordinary things under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. (He has? How did we miss this?) There's not a tougher time to be governor than right now. And yet without losing his cool, without losing that steady inner calm that he has, (And this?) Deval has gone about the business pushing through historic ethics reforms here in Massachusetts, working with his terrific lieutenant governor he's made sure that education isn't shortchanged, that this commonwealth ends up being a leader in clean energy and biotech and all the innovative areas that are ultimately going to determine how well we're able to compete around the world. (That’s the litany of Patrick’s “success”? A tweak of the ethics laws; shoring up the ed budget with stimulus funds; and some dicey bets on solar panels? Ugh.)

And as a consequence there really should be no doubt that this guy gets a second term. (Applause.) There really should be no doubt that this guy gets a second term. (Applause.) (But there is doubt – right at the top, apparently.)

But having said that, let's be honest -- this is going to be a tough race. Reelection is not a foregone conclusion, because times are tough and Deval is the first one to acknowledge that there are a lot of people hurting out there. (…whose confidence in the incumbent has not been enhanced by tax hikes, poor budget management, and the sight of politically-connected insiders bellying up to the trough.) And although he and I are partners in making sure that we are continuing to fund basic research and we're continuing to fund education and we are implementing health care reform in a way that works for ordinary families, the fact of the matter is, is that when people look at a high unemployment rate and they look at tough budget decisions that have to be made the argument that, "Well, things would be a lot worse if it weren't for Deval" and "things are going to be a lot better as a consequence of Deval" -- that argument is a tough one to make. (How true. So what is the rationale for re-election?)

It's a lot easier to be irresponsible. It's a lot easier to push off tough decisions. It's a lot easier to just say, let's just manage the status quo as best we can and spend a lot of time pointing fingers and blaming others for why we're not getting things done. (Patrick’s competitors are already arguing that this describes his own executive style, from the billions in new spending he wanted just before the crash, to the snail’s-pace progress on the $500 million in savings he promised, to the ruinous relationship failures with legislative leaders and the press. A compelling rebuttal is, surely, in the works.)

And so the question I guess that I'm going to have for all of you -- and I'm going to have a chance to speak to the larger group so I'm not going to make this a long speech -- but to these folks here who are some of the core supporters, early investors in Deval's vision, the question I have for you is, were you in this just for the glamour and the excitement? (Laughter.) Were you along for the ride just when it was easy? Or did you really believe in what Deval was talking about? Did you really believe that, you know, there was a gap between what could be accomplished in this state and the status quo and an understanding that it was going to take an enormous amount of effort and there were going to be a lot of ups and downs in order to close that gap. (Is that vague enough for you? Either the president’s speechwriters know nothing about how the governor got elected in 2006, or the truth is too embarrassing to re-hash. Remember those heady days of hope, change, property-tax relief, executive and legislative branches working cooperatively, outsider populism, a fresh new look for the corner office furnishings…oops, strike those last four items.)

If you really believed, if you understood fully the scope of Deval's vision, what he was talking about in terms of moving Massachusetts forward, then this should be an energizing moment. This should be a time where you are really feeling good. Because you are ready then to enter into battle on behalf of that vision. (There must have been considerable coughing into sleeves – a healthy habit these days, by the way – at that one among the Patrick campaign donors who are among his harshest critics, when you talk to them privately. They’ve gagged on their man’s performance in office, and now they shelled out five grand to be told, shut up and get set for another buffet? TGIF.)

It's going to take a lot of work. We're going to have to make sure that the same kind of excitement, the same kind of energy that was displayed the first time around is replicated on behalf of governance. And campaigning before you're governor is always easy because everybody projects onto you whatever it is that they think should happen. Governance, that involves detail, that involves making tough choices, that means inheriting problems and having to grapple with them.

It means -- governing means that you are having to prioritize. And you also begin to recognize that transformation doesn't occur overnight. I was having a conversation I think with some world leaders at the G20 summit, and the discussion was around climate change and the fact that we're now moving, the United States, to the forefront, to leadership, as opposed to being in the caboose when it came to trying to deal with climate change. And some countries were feeling a little bit impatient, "Can't you get this done now?" "Why haven't we already affirmed the science that exists out there?"

I said, look, the United States is like an ocean liner. It's not a speed boat. If we make a shift of five degrees or 10 degrees, 10 years down the road, 15 years down the road you're going to look back and we're going to be in a very different place than we otherwise would have been. And we have to have that long-term vision about where we're going.

(Well said! How puzzling that this wise message of patience and managed expectations so jarringly contradicts the campaign themes of dramatic change and soaring hope. And that imagery of gradual, strategic shifts in course – that sounds like a better story for tax-wary voters than full speed ahead on costly new health care and energy policies. It all sounds almost…Clintonian circa 1995.)

Well, states are just like the country as a whole. And I am absolutely confident that as a consequence of the tough decisions that this governor is making right now, Massachusetts five years, 10 years, 15, 20 years down the road is going to be a much better place. And that's what we're fighting for. We're fighting for -- what Deval is fighting for here is the same thing we're fighting for all across the country. Some pretty simple things -- complicated to execute, but pretty simple concepts.

We want every child in America to have a world-class education so they can compete for any job in the world. That's goal number one. (And by the way Deval, thanks, buddy for your dynamic advocacy on behalf of my administration’s challenge to lift the charter school cap, which I’m sure will manifest itself any day now.) (Applause.) We want a health care system that is efficient and effective so that people are actually getting their money's worth, that families are not bankrupt because they get sick and governments are not bankrupt because all the money is going to insurance companies and drug companies. (Applause.) We want to make sure -- we want to make sure that we are at the forefront of clean energy and producing millions of jobs in solar and wind and biodiesel. (Applause.) We want to make sure that we are creating jobs for the future -- not low-wage jobs, not just jobs at the bottom rungs of the service sector, although we want to make sure that those jobs are paying a living wage and have decent benefits. But we also want to make sure that we're creating the jobs, building a new smart grid and laying broadband line all across this country.

That's the vision that we're looking for. We want to make sure that everybody can retire with some dignity and some respect. And all those things are achievable, but it's going to take some work. So I just want all of you to understand that the road between now and next November is going to be long, there are going to be lots of ups and downs. Because Deval is continuing to govern he's not just going to shift into political mode, even though some of his political advisors may tell him to -- this is actually one of the few flaws of this man, is he doesn't always take direction -- (laughter) -- as well as he should.

(Wow! There’s your tabloid headline: OBAMA RIPS PATRICK “FLAWS”. Enquiring minds want to know – what directions of Obama’s has Patrick failed to “take”? David Plouffe, call your office, stat!)

So he's going to still be governing, he's still going to be making some choices. Some of them may not be popular. But if all of you recognize that his core vision is right, that his integrity remains intact, that he is not tired, he's energized, he's ready to go, he's still fired up -- if all of you have that same spirit then I'm absolutely confident that this team right here is going to win. (Applause.)

And I just want you to understand -- and the last thing I'm going to tell you, I want everybody to understand this, that what happens in Massachusetts is going to have implications all across the country. (You bet it will. He and Patrick ran on the same stump speech; to see it given the heave after one term in bluer-than-blue Massachusetts, for gosh sakes? Unthinkable.) I cannot succeed as President unless I've got good partners at the state level. And frankly, people on Capitol Hill, they watch the tea leaves, and they say, well, gosh, if the kind of governor who's implementing universal health care in Massachusetts, and if the kind of governor who's making sure that education funding is flowing steadily, if the kind of governor who is prioritizing clean energy and basic research and technology -- if that kind of governor isn't rewarded then maybe I shouldn't, as a member of Congress or as a senator, take some chances and take some tough stance in pursuit of that same vision.

And when the people of states reward courageous, hardworking governors like that, that has implications for our national politics as a whole. So I just hope everybody here understands what a precious thing you have in Governor Deval Patrick, and that you are going to be working as hard as you can and as sustained a way as you can in the months to come in order to make sure that he has another four years to do extraordinary service for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

(Study guide synopsis of all of the above: OK, so maybe he’s been an unpleasant flop so far. But if he goes under, it’s my blood in the water too. Please, do it for me. Don’t make me beg. And for now, that seems like the best argument the Patrick re-election campaign has going for it.)

Terrorism? What terrorism?

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:04:37 GMT

It didn't take long for the spin to spew forth from lawyers, family, friends, and other assorted apologists for "soft-spoken pharmacist" Tarek Mehanna to dismiss the charges as ridiculous.

Of course! They always are.

After all, plots to slaughter innocent Americans (oh, excuse me, "non-believers") don't get much more absurd and unbelievable than this.

The Hoax Parade

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:07:53 GMT

Fool us once, shame on you; fool us twice, shame on us.

Let's be real -- the Heene family's (alleged) hoax, especially exploitative and vile as it may be, is hardly the first time we've been victimized by a hoax. Around here, no one can hear about a murder without thinking of con man Charles Stuart and the vicious, racist hoax he tried to pull off to cover up his wife's slaying. Hardly a year goes by without some sad specimen feigning cancer to elicit donations, which they usually blow on toys.In politics, lefties think Iraqi WMDs were a Bush hoax, despite clear evidence that he used them against the Kurds; right-wingers see global warming as a hoax, notwithstanding significant evidence of climate change.

Watch my report on why we fall for hoaxes and how to break the habit here.