Great News: Big Dig Boondoggle Could Cost Us Another $200 Million

When they estimate a tab for what this fiasco will cost us, go right ahead and double or triple it, since by the time they're done it'll cost way more. This is the legacy of Ted Kennedy and Tip O'Neill.

A few days after a 110-pound light fixture crashed from the ceiling of the Tip O’Neill tunnel onto one of the busiest roads in Boston, a highway crew made an alarming discovery: nine other lights in the sprawling Big Dig tunnels were hanging from supports so corroded that they could fail at any time, too.

The Big Dig already had a tragic experience with dangerous falling objects. A tunnel ceiling panel had collapsed in 2006, killing a woman a few hundred yards from where the nine corroded fixtures were discovered on Feb. 16. State engineers had no way of knowing how many more of the 25,000 lights in the Big Dig tunnels had become unstable - and plenty of reason to fear that corrosion was widespread after years of saltwater leaking into the tunnels.

But the engineers in charge kept quiet. They filed no written report. They didn’t brief their boss. And when they asked federal regulators for money to fix a corrosion problem that “could’’ lead to falling light fixtures, they didn’t disclose that one had already fallen.

If we had a real Attorney General there would already be a criminal investigation into this, but our man Eric Holder is too busy covering up his role in Fast and Furious to even notice.

Internal e-mails and Transportation Department reports obtained by the Globe show that last winter’s light fixture collapse presented a more hazardous situation than Secretary Jeffrey B. Mullan disclosed to the public, and one that could add $200 million to the already-gargantuan price of the Big Dig.

State records also show that his agency’s attempt to solve the problem was both more secretive and sluggish than he admitted. Engineers, led by Mullan’s close associate Helmut Ernst, didn’t even send the fallen fixture to a lab for analysis until March 16, instead leaving the crucial piece of evidence in a South Boston maintenance facility along with mounds of road debris.

“I have to ask what we have been doing for six weeks. No testing yet?’’ lamented Mullan in an e-mail hours before a March 16 press conference where he belatedly told the public about the light fixture hazard in the tunnels.

Despite these private doubts, Mullan told reporters he and his staff had “spent quite some time’’ investigating the incident and that he was disclosing it after getting “a better idea of exactly what we were dealing with.’’ He said they had deliberately kept the incident quiet to avoid panic while they worked.

But hey, no bog deal, right? After all, this mess cost us billions in overruns and was done in half-assed fashion. But it was a blue state payoff to unions, so who are we to complain? They meant well.

The light fixture fiasco underscores a culture of secrecy among the engineers who maintain the $22 billion Big Dig, one of the world’s most costly - and problem-plagued - highway projects. After years of scandals, bad press, and lawsuits alleging shoddy work, engineers freely admit they don’t like to write things down, prompting one transportation consultant to compare the atmosphere to President Nixon’s White House.

The consultant, C. David Taugher, wrote in a March internal report, “How deep does the culture go where nobody says anything, even when they know they should?’’

Again, where are the feds in this case? Could you imagine such a costly project in a red state becoming one of the most massive boondoggles in history and nobody being held accountable?

Talk about a culture of corruption.

'Shhhh! Can You Hear the Tidal Wave Coming to Massachusetts?'

Need any idea how the political tide is shifting? As the writer here says, even in the capitol of Moonbatistan brave souls are showing their support for Republican Sen Bielat as he hope to remove Babbling Barney Frank from office. Outside of seeing Dingy Harry go down tonight, there would be no more sweeter victory than seeing the architect of the Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac debacle sent off into retirement.

Oh my God, could bluer than blue Brookline — the capital of Moonbatistan — be breaking for Republican Sean Bielat?

For 25 years I’ve lived in Brookline, where Republicans admit they’re Republicans at their own risk. Yet I haven’t seen so many lawn signs for a Republican since a few courageous matrons put a “Weld for Governor” placard on their lawn in 1990 and paid the price: social suicide. They were promptly shunned at Whole Foods. Their poor children sat alone in the cafeteria.

It says something huge about Barney Frank’s fall from grace that a few brave Brookline-ites are ready, again, to risk their neighbors’ wrath.

Here’s what I’m seeing: a few dozen small and discreet Bielat signs, mostly in South Brookline on the West Roxbury line, where there’s more diversity. That is, you can actually question Al Gore’s prediction that the Cape will be underwater by 2025 and not be jettisoned from The Great Books Club.

I also see Bielat signage on homes worth $2 million and up. What do rich people care? If no other kids will share a cafeteria seat with their little third-grader, they can ship Muffy and Junior off to private school.

There are almost no Bielat signs around Coolidge Corner, where Bielat lives and apartments and condos dominate. Lots of Brookline condo associations won’t allow political signs. Some wouldn’t even allow American flags to fly on the day after 9/11. I do recall some “Darfur! Not on My Watch” signs outside condos a few years back though, which gives you an idea of what we’re dealing with.

Bielat spokeswoman Lisa Barstow confirmed yesterday why Bielat himself can’t put a sign outside his own condo: his association’s rule. “But they did give him a special dispensation on primary day and for the general election,” she said. Wow. How ecumenical of them.

Mitt Romney stumped for Bielat Monday night.

Shauna O’Connell, a Republican first-time candidate running against state Rep. Jim Fagan (D-Taunton), added: “Shhhh! Can you hear the tidal wave coming to Massachusetts?”

“Sean Bielat is going to go down in history as the man who finally retires Barney Frank,” she said.

A Frank spokesman did not return messages for comment.

Funny how a man who's spent decades talking trash has been awfully quiet of late. A real challenge to your job can do that to a guy.

Massachusetts expect a record turnout today. Let's make it happen, folks. Send a message to Obama by booting his buddy Deval Patrick. The state is one of the few remaining Democrats firewalls. Make it crumble.

'They Suddenly Think Massachusetts is Going to Become Some Right-wing Tea Party State'

Honestly, I don't think there are many folks who believe a deep-blue state like Massachusetts is suddenly becoming a GOP stronghold, or in the words of this Democrat, a "right-wing tea party state." But if a day out from the midterms and a gubernatorial election the Democrats are scrambling to cling to power it speaks volumes about what's in store for them tomorrow nationally.

“The environment has shifted so much that even in strong Democratic states like Massachusetts, Republican candidates are waging successful campaigns,” said Tory Mazzola, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, which has spent $662,000 against Democrat Bill Keating in the race for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Quincy).

Outside groups, those that don’t coordinate with a candidate but aid their campaigns with ads, e-mails and mailings, have spent nearly $4 million on the 10th congressional district race between Keating and Republican Jeff Perry, more than almost any other House race in the country.

The NRCC’s push for Perry marks the first time the organization has spent money on a Massachusetts House race this decade, according to campaign finance records dating back to 2002. Mazzola credits Brown’s U.S. Senate victory and voter anger, noting that for the first time Republicans are running in nine of the state’s 10 congressional districts. “That’s a clear indication that people have had enough of one-party rule in Massachusetts,” he said.

The 10th district is also a priority for Democrats, too, said Shripal Shah, regional spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “We’re going to make sure voters understand the choice they have on Tuesday,’’ he said.

Democratic media consultant Michael Shea said Republicans are still “intoxicated” by Brown’s win and misreading the electorate: “They suddenly think Massachusetts is going to become some right-wing Tea Party state. I have every hope and belief they are wrong, and so they are throwing a lot of money down the drain.”

If the GOP picks up a couple of House seats and defeat Patrick it's been money well spent. If Sean Bielat finishes off Barney Frank it'll leave the Democrats crushed.

Is Barney Frank in Trouble?

Let's face it. If a 15-term incumbent in the bluest of blue states is bringing in Bill Clinton to campaign for him it can only mean one thing--he's worried about his re-election. How sweet would it be to have Barney Frank get the boot from Congress?

The last U.S. president or presidential candidate to visit the Silver City, Crowley said, was Jimmy Carter in 1976, who was then running against incumbent Gerald Ford.

Other past presidents to have visited and spoken in Taunton include Abraham Lincoln, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson and John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Crowley said his assistant Todd Castro, who was once a U.S. Capitol Police officer, has been working with the Secret Service and local officials to coordinate a plan to stage the event.

Crowley said Frank deserved the rally for all he’s done to help provide funding through the years for various projects in Taunton.

Examples cited by the mayor were programs for seniors, funds for the city-owned Taunton Nursing Home and federal money for the Route 138 road improvement project.

“It’s a testament to his nature and the energy he’s expended on our behalf,” Crowley said.

But some local Republican candidates said the upcoming rally is a sign that Democratic incumbents, including Frank, are feeling the heat this election cycle.

“They’ll need all the help they can get this year,” said Shaunna

O’Connell, the Republican candidate from Taunton, who is running against state Rep. James Fagan, D-Taunton.

O’Connell said voters will “not be fooled by election year antics.”

As for the former president’s prestige and influence, she said the bottom line is that the electorate “are not voting for Clinton.”

Taunton City Councilman David Pottier, the Republican candidate challenging long-term state Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, said the Frank rally is indicative of Democratic trepidation heading into November.

“I find it interesting that they’re calling out the big guns,” Pottier said. “Obviously they’re afraid [because] they can’t run on the record of the last several years.”

If Frank is worried about true blue Massachusetts, then the time’s certainly are a changin’,” he said, paraphrasing the famous Bob Dylan song.

“I appreciate the historical significance of Clinton coming to town, but this smacks of desperation,” Pottier added.

Sean Bielat, the Republican vying for Frank’s job, said it’s notable that Frank and Clinton will appear together in Taunton, where U.S. Sen. Scott Brown beat Martha Coakley by a 15-point spread.

“I think Barney is concerned about the middle of his district and is trying to shore up support,” Bielat said. “I’m extremely flattered that Bill Clinton is coming.”

Frank dismissed such thinking as “nonsense.”

“I asked Bill Clinton for his help a couple of months ago. It’s no different than a TV ad — it’s all part of a campaign,” said Frank, who is also Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Frank is taking on a Marine with a platform of slashing military spending.

Despite what he described as Frank's financial advantage, "There's a lot of concern with the direction of the country. There's a lot of concern with Barney Frank's involvement with Fannie and Freddie and the real estate collapse. There's a lot of concern with just, 'Hey, we need some turnover,'" Bielat said.

"I actually think there's a lot more support for our campaign than people might, at first, expect," he said.

Asked for his own level of confidence about a race against Bielat, Frank said he wanted to focus on the issues.

Among them, he said, is the need to raise taxes on the very wealthy and to "reduce America's worldwide military footprint as a way to reduce the deficit."

Here's Bielat's campaign site. This Marine would be an American hero if he could knock off the odious Frank.

Update: Via Sissy Willis on Twitter, there's also this site from Bielat. Watch Bawney gag on his own words.

'If the Governor Loses, It’s Really Bad for the President'

Considering Barack Obama is already zero for one in his Massachusetts endorsements this year, if he can't drag Deval Patrick over the finish line this fall he may want to seriously reconsider his policies, especially since it appears likely he'll be facing a GOP Congress, if not Senate, come January.

A worried White House is poised to pull out all the stops in Gov. Deval Patrick’s heated gubernatorial bid - viewed as an early litmus test of whether disenchanted voters are ready to give President Obama’s message of hope and change four more years - or the heave-ho.

A Vineyard-bound Obama and his team already are discussing fall fund-raising appearances with Patrick’s camp and churning out campaign ads while David Axlerod - campaign guru for both Patrick and Obama - chats with Patrick “fairly regularly,” said one source close to the Obama administration.

“If the governor loses, it’s really bad for the president,” a Democratic insider close to the White House said yesterday, pointing out Obama already lost a seemingly sure U.S. Senate seat to Republican upstart Scott Brown.

Another Obama source said the race is “being looked upon as a petri dish to see how things will go for us.”

Obama and Patrick have been practically joined at the hip throughout their political careers. They’ve been friends for more than two decades and share a similar background as well as a campaign staff - Axelrod helmed Deval’s 2006 gubernatorial bid and Obama’s White House run two years later. Obama’s slogan, “Yes We Can,” was a slight turn on Patrick’s “Together We Can.”

“They essentially had the same message based on hope. They both won and then watched their early approval ratings go south. Patrick seems to be recovering but he’s still in danger,” said Andrew Smith, political professor at the University of New Hampshire. “If Patrick loses here, the Obama people are really going to be nervous.”

Of course if Patrick loses the media will tell us all politics is local, and if the Democrat Patrick wins in overwhelmingly Democrat Massachusetts we'll be told how popular Obama is.

Heads Obama wins, tails Patrick loses.

Great News: Provincetown Schools Now Handing Out Condoms to Kids of Any Age

Can't say I'm surprised by this--it is Provincetown, after all--but seriously, is some nurse going to be handing condoms to a 7-year-old if he asks for one, assuming the kid even knows what one is? Are they going to have kids sizes available?

Students in Provincetown – from elementary to high school – will be able to get free condoms at school, under a policy passed earlier this month, even though their parents might object.

“We know that sexual experimentation is not limited to an age, so how does one put an age on it?” said Superintendent Beth Singer, who wrote the policy unanimously passed two weeks ago by the Cape Cod town's School Committee.

“It’s about availability; we’re not handing 'em out like M&M’s,” said committee chairman Peter Grosso.

It's about availability? So if they're out the little kiddies go on a waiting list until some are available?

The policy, which requires school nurses to supply condoms to any student who asks, was met with criticism by some parents, particularly over the possibility of preschoolers acquiring condoms. But Singer insists that if an especially young child requests a condom, the nurse will ask the student’s motive and act accordingly.

“If that were to happen, we would deal with it in a professional and appropriate way,” she said. “I don’t anticipate that this policy is going to affect youngsters. It’s there for adolescents. ... We do know from research” that children now have sex at a younger age.

Jeanmarie Kaeselau, 41, who has a fifth- and an eighth-grader in the school system, said today that she is uncomfortable with the policy, which takes effect next school year.

“That’s a little weird,” she said, adding that she would be "uncomfortable" if her fifth-grade son came home with a condom. “I’d rather have him come to me.”

Sorry to let Ms. Kaeselau in on a little secret, but your kid won't be coming to you asking for a condom.

This is just another school district deciding it know better than parents and they're overstepping the role that schools serve, or at least used to.

Plus it's a total waste of funds since if you've ever been in Provincetown you'll know condoms are available pretty much anywhere, so if any youngsters want them they can just walk into a store a buy them, no questions asked.

H/T Spitfire Murphy.

Pro-Abortion Crowd Horrified by Massachusetts 'Choose Life' License Plates

For the people who so loudly proclaim themselves "pro-choice" they look awfully intolerant when others choose to express themselves outside the liberal orthodoxy.

Controversial anti-abortion license plates urging motorists to “Choose life” soon will adorn Bay State cars and trucks - driving pro-choice activists to distraction and giving Gov. Deval Patrick a possible migraine during a hotly contested election year.

Drivers could begin seeing the plates - which feature a mother holding a baby in front of a yellow heart - on the road by the end of this month.

“It appears the state is giving their stamp of approval to this cause,” said Andrea Miller, executive director at National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League Pro-Choice Massachusetts. “They’re using a state agency as a tool to fund-raise and funnel money to (anti-abortion) entities.”

Og course this NARAL twit has no idea what she's talking about Seriously, a license plate is going to be a distraction? Maybe these people should just stay off the road and curl up in the fetal posiiton, no pun intended.

Any nonprofit can get a special license plate under state law so long as they collect 3,000 registrations at $40 a pop within the first two years they are available. The organization also must put down a $100,000 bond, according to information available on the Registry of Motor Vehicles’ Web site.

Merry Nordeen, of Wakefield - who belongs to the local chapter of Choose Life - has been trying to get the license plates made since 2003.

“This doesn’t infringe on anyone’s rights. The whole purpose of the plate is to provide financial support for women,” said Nordeen, who added she would be comfortable with a pro-choice license plate on the road.

But the anti-abortion plates leave Patrick - who has always been pro-choice - in a political pickle during a volatile election year, said Boston University political professor Thomas Whalen.

“In politics, image and perception overrules reality every time,” Whalen said. “Patrick has another heaping mess on his plate.”

Patrick’s office declined comment, deferring to this statement from Massachusetts Department of Transportation spokesman Adam Hurtubise:

“The statute governing the issuance of special plates is very clear. The group seeking this plate met all the statutory requirements for a special plate."

You Don't Have To Be Crazy To Be A Democrat

But apparently it doesn't hurt.

A former Massachusetts legislator is being prosecuted for sexual harassing and accosting some women. Perfectly normal behavior for Democrats. (See: Clinton, Bill) According to Wikipedia the guy had a long and respected resume of supporting just the right liberal topics like global warming, universal healthcare, and environmental issues. Like all good Democrats who are accused of wrongdoing he did not leave office voluntarily, but eventually he was booted.

In the meantime the investigations and the charges and the trials continued with the latest being that today a judge ruled he could finally be charged with a felony.

Massachusetts' highest court says prosecutors can proceed with a felony charge against a former state Democratic legislator accused of sexually harassing four women and trying to grope one of them.

An attorney for James Marzilli of Arlington, Mass., argued that the former lawman was charged with a crime that doesn't exist under state law. But the Supreme Judicial Court disagreed, saying Wednesday that Massachusetts law permits Marzilli to be prosecuted for the charge of felony attempted indecent assault and battery.

Wait though, it gets better. Once again according to the Wiki entry on this guy he suffers from a bipolar disorder.

On 6 June 2008 the Boston Herald reported that Marzilli was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.[20] On August 5, 2008 his wife mailed a letter to supporters explaining that he had been diagnosed as suffering from bipolar disorder and the recent events in Marzilli's life had taken place during a period of hypomania.[21]

Sort of gives you a good insight into the mind of a Democrat doesn't it, and should make you seriously ask yourself why you would want to take anything they have to say at face value. Hell between the drunken and stoned out of their minds on Ambien Kennedy's to the "I smoked it but I didn't inhale" Clinton to those who plead a variety of mental conditions to explain away their actions, I think I could find a better group of people to hang out with.

Oh and about that guy in South Carolina that won the Democrat primary to be their sacrificial lamb against Jim Demint, Hot Air says he has some 'splaining to do.

Crackdown on Illegals in ... Massachusetts?

Remind me again how cracking down on illegal aliens is supposed to be political suicide for Republicans? If we've got the State Senate in Massachusetts voting overwhelmingly to tackle the issue, you know the Democrats are waking up to reality. Of course this could merely be some sneaky political cover as this now has to be negotiated with the House, and who knows what the slippery Governor Deval Patrick would do, but remember he is up for re-election this year, so could he possible cave?

With one lawmaker citing President Lincoln's respect for the rule of law, the Massachusetts Senate passed a far-reaching crackdown this afternoon on illegal immigrants and those who would hire them, going further, senators said, than any immigration bill proposed over the past five years.

In a surprising turn of events, the legislation replaced a narrower bill that was passed Wednesday over the objections of Republicans.

The measure, which passed on a 28-10 vote as an amendment to the budget, would bar the state from doing business with any company found to break federal laws barring illegal immigrant hiring. It would also toughen penalties for creating or using fake identification documents, and explicitly deny in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants.

The amendment would also require the state’s public health insurance program to verify residency through the Department of Homeland Security, and would require the state to give legal residents priority for subsidized housing.

The amendment will now be part of negotiations with the House as part of the entire state budget.

Supporters, especially Republicans, struck patriotic notes and spoke of the sanctity of the law as they spoke on the Senate floor.

“It was President Lincoln -- and I’m going to paraphrase here -- who suggested that respect for the law should be preached from every pulpit taught by every mother to every child,” said Senator Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican.

But one supporter said that the measure was being passed for practical purposes and would hurt people.

Now even if a law like this is actually enacted, don't forget the esteemed Attorney General recently said it's not illegal to be an illegal in Massachusetts, so don't expect any robust enforcement, if any. And to be sure you could expect and army of ACLU types to descend like locusts filing asylum claims considering some rather recent precedent of a certain famous illegal alien. Then there's some formidable obstacles in the House to overcome, and if the attitude of certain Massholes is any indication, there's absolutely nothing that will change any minds.

Then again, even the dimmest of hacks can read polls, and this surely is an eye-opener.

Democrats had resisted such a sweeping proposal, but spent last evening negotiating today’s measure, shortly after a new polled showed 84 percent of the liberal-leaning state’s voters supported tough immigration rules barring state services to illegal immigrants.

Plus, for a relatively small state it's not as if we're talking puny numbers.

Most immigrants in Massachusetts are here legally, but an estimated 190,000, or 20 percent, are here illegally, according to the census.

Exit questions: How long until Patches Kennedy calls Massachusetts a slave state and when does Boston announce a boycott of Massachusetts?

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Unreal: Idiot Massachusetts Pol Rear-Ended by Illegal Still Supports Illegal Aliens

Some people are just beyond help. I hope the folks who voted for this clown are proud of him.

A state lawmaker was rear-ended by a suspected illegal immigrant last Thursday.

Now, State Rep. Mike Moran, of Brighton, is talking about the crash involving Isaias Naranjo. Watch the video to the left.

The 27-year-old suspect was reportedly driving under the influence of alcohol and did not have a valid license.

Police say when Naranjo was told of the serious charges he would be facing, he just laughed.

State police were unable to notify immigration authorities that Naranjo might be illegal. due to a 2007 order that strips them of immigration enforcement powers.

Previously.

Massachusetts Democrat Rear-Ended by Drunken Illegal

Naturally since Massachusetts is a sanctuary state for the marauding hordes of illegal aliens, the state police are unable to notify immigration authorities about the illegal status if this criminal. How rich is that irony? But since it's one of the beautiful people involved in this accident, you suppose they'll take action now?

A serious car crash involving a local lawmaker and a suspected illegal immigrant is threatening to reignite already heated debates about immigration on Beacon Hill, according to police reports obtained by FOX25.

State Rep. Mike Moran of Brighton was rear-ended by a suspected illegal immigrant this week. The suspect was wearing a Mexican costume at the time of the crash where he slammed into Moran at 60 mph.

The suspect, 27-year-old Isaias Naranjo, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a valid license. According to the report, when told of the serious charges he would be facing, he just laughed.

But because of action taken by Gov. Deval Patrick, state police were unable to notify immigration authorities that Naranjo might be illegal.

Three years ago, Patrick revoked an order by former governor Mitt Romney which gave state police power to investigate immigration violations.

Of course according to Martha Coakley, it's not illegal to be illegal in Massachusetts.

This could also become an issue in the governor's race because of what Patrick did three years ago.

The suspect, whose blood alcohol content was .25 at the time of the accident according to the police report, is being held on $50,000 cash bail.

The sad thing is this wouldn't have even been reported if it weren't for a Democrat hack getting rear-ended.

Update: Savor the delicious irony.

Rep. Moran, who got hit by the illegal no Massachusetts law enforcement officer is allowed to acknowledge, voted to kill the Perry Amendment. Perfect!

The Perry Amendment would have blocked illegals from receiving welfare and other state benefits.

H/T Spitfire Murphy.

'Technically, It Is Not Illegal To Be Illegal In Massachusetts'

I guess now that some illegal Pakistanis have been rounded up in connection with the Times Square bomb plot, this insipid quote from the idiotic Martha Coakley no longer applies. Amazing how this woman managed to lose the Senate race last January, isn't it?

The question at the press conference at the State House yesterday was, Why do these illegal types keep gravitating to Massachusetts?

The attorney general, “Marsha” Coakley, was a no-show, but she’d already answered the question a few weeks ago on Worcester radio station WCRN.

Marsha, why are so many of these illegal aliens invading Massachusetts?

“Technically,” she replied, “it is not illegal to be illegal in Massachusetts.”

That’s one of the people Deval said had been briefing him on the “probe.” Whew - good to know, we have people who are serious about this problem. Back to Deval at the press conference.

“Two people in Massachusetts are in federal custody.”

But the bigger problem was, he wouldn’t say what they were charged with: immigration violations. See, the governor doesn’t like to talk about illegal aliens, especially when they’re committing crimes, as opposed to just being illegal, which Marsha Coakley says is not illegal.

Deval has been “fully briefed” on the probe, or so he said, so he must have known that the feds were tracking illegal aliens. Or maybe no one dared tell him that they were on the trail of some of the people he wants to give in-state tuition to.

Arrested in Watertown - will the Boston City Council vote to boycott Watertown next?

The second suspect was lugged at the Double Tree in Allston - that’s Boston. Does this mean the City Council will now have to bocyott itself?

Deval was playing the most unlikely role of his career, assuring everyone that he was on top of what might be a terrorist probe, although of course he would never use the “T” word.

“That may be a step too far for the moment.”

Everyone remain calm! Inspector Deval is on the case.

“Police have stepped up their surveillance.”

But . . but . . . that sounds so Arizona. What’s a moonbat to do?

Thanks to Hot Air for the link.

Delahunt Retiring

Another one bites the dust. Dr. Amy Bishop was unavailable for comment.

Representative William Delahunt will not seek re-election to Congress, the seven-term Democrat will announce tomorrow, ending a nearly 40-year career in elected office and giving Republicans hope of capturing the seat, which stretches from Cape Cod to the South Shore.

"It's got nothing to do with politics," the Quincy Democrat said today. "Life is about change. I think it's healthy. It's time."

Change! Who knew change involved Democrats running for the hills so soon?

The 68-year-old lawmaker said he has been considering leaving the House for several years, but was talked out of it two years ago by the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who convinced his friend he should stay and help President Obama with his first-term agenda.

"He said, 'Come on -- this is a new time. It's a new era. We [will] have a new president. We're all needed," Delahunt recalled Kennedy telling him. Once Kennedy died last year, Delahunt said he grappled with whether to stay and work on the issues Kennedy held dear.

"Clearly, since his death, there's something missing. There's a void. With the void, you feel the need to be here because there's much to do," Delahunt said wistfully in an exclusive interview.

There's also that messy residue from the Amy Bishop killings.

A host of Republicans were already in line to challenge Delahunt, and since Joe Kennedy III dropped out last week, the Democrat pickings are slim.

Democrats believed to be lining up to run for the coveted congressional seat include Quincy state Rep. Ron Mariano, former state Democratic Party chairman and Dukakis aide Phillip Johnston and Norfolk District Attorney William Keating.

State Sen. President Therese Murray, a Plymouth Democrat, has said she won’t toss her hat into the ring.

Could there be a GOP pickup here?

And what's the deal with this?

U.S. Rep. William Delahunt will be bowing out of politics and won’t seek re-election, U.S. Sen. John Kerry confirmed in a news release.

What, is Liveshot his press aide now?

Speaking of Lerch, what's the deal with this?

Great News: Another Kennedy Preparing to Run in Massachusetts

You figured now that Patches is fleeing Rhode Island we'd be Kennedy-free for a bit, didn't you? Not so fast, my friends, not so fast. Now while you can count me among the legions that want to see William Delahunt take a powder, we should be careful what we wish for.

With speculation mounting that US Representative William D. Delahunt will not seek reelection, Joseph P. Kennedy III, son of the former congressman and great-grandson of the Kennedy family patriarch, is eyeing a run to succeed him in the 10th Congressional District, senior Democratic sources say.

The sources say that Kennedy, a 29-year-old assistant district attorney on the Cape considered by many to be the most promising member of his generation to extend the family’s political legacy, is not close to making any decisions and will not speak publicly until Delahunt announces whether he will seek another term. The discussions are taking place very privately among Kennedy family confidants.

As Delahunt ponders his future and Democratic hopefuls eye a bid for his seat, Kennedy’s potential candidacy is weighing heavily on the field that is starting to take shape.

“If he runs, he is immediately the front-runner,’’ said state Senator Robert O’Leary, Democrat of Barnstable, who said he would run for the seat if Delahunt retires. “From my perspective if Kennedy enters the race, it obviously changes the dynamic and makes it more difficult. But it would not change my decision.’’

One potential hurdle, however, is the political climate in the state, and especially in that district, which went heavily for Republican Scott Brown in last month’s Senate election. If Kennedy were to run and win his party’s nomination, he could risk become a lightning rod for the newly energized conservatives from around the country who poured millions of dollars into Brown’s coffers. With no member of the family ever losing an election in Massachusetts, he would be putting the Kennedy legacy on the line.

Delahunt Finally Resurfaces, Plans Press Conference Today

It's taken Massachusetts Democrat Willianm Delahunt 10 days to get his story together surrounding his decision to release Amy Bishop, I mean Dr. Amy Bishop, from custody following the shooting death of her brother in 1986. Since it was divulged Delahunt, then the Norfolk DA, made a call and Bishop walked free, he's used his trip to Israel as a convenient excuse to avoid comment on the explosive case.

Former district attorney and U.S. Rep. William Delahunt is vowing to today divulge the details of his role in the investigation of a Braintree native who killed her brother in 1986, the same woman who allegedly unleashed a deadly rampage in Alabama this month.

“I really want to get myself fully briefed,” Delahunt told the Herald yesterday, after returning from a trip to Israel, where he had been since the Alabama killings took place on Feb. 12.

Delahunt, who is considering not running for re-election, was the Norfolk district attorney when Amy Bishop shot her 18-year-old brother to death in 1986.

Bishop, 45, a Harvard-educated neurobiologist, faces capital murder charges for allegedly shooting to death three colleagues and maiming three others at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Delahunt said he and former assistant district attorney John Kivlan will hold a press conference at his Quincy congressional office this afternoon to answer questions.

“We’ll be there ... to spend whatever time is necessary to answer questions from the media,” Delahunt said.

Bishop was not interviewed by Delahunt’s state police squad until 11 days after her brother’s death.

After the shooting, Bishop had run from her parents’ Victorian house with the shotgun and held it to the chest of an auto body shop worker, demanding a getaway car, according to the worker and reports by Braintree police at the time. She then trained the weapon on cops who found her there.

She wasn't interviewed for 11 days after she killed her brother and pointed a shotgun at police?

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has announced an investigation into the 1986 slaying and mishandling of the case.

Law enforcement lapses in the 1986 case have touched off outrage from Boston to Alabama.

“There are just too many unanswered questions,” said Needham attorney Timothy Burke, a former prosecutor. “This is the very reason why cases of this magnitude require the utmost in scrutiny.”

Bridgewater State College criminal justice professor Dr. Mitch Librett, a retired New Rochelle, N.Y., detective, said the case smacks of a “cover-up.”

“I have never heard of such a thing where there’s been a death by firearm where you have the actor identified and there’s not so much as a grand jury,” he said.

Who's the Most Endangered Democrat in Massachusetts?

Sadly, it's not Barney Frank, who will no doubt have to be carried out in a box. Howie Carr thinks William Delahunt is one Congressional Democrat in the greatest jeopardy of being swept out of office in November.

Bill Delahunt, come on down!

The only question is, does he permanently adjourn to Hedonism II now, or in 2012?

It’s like a logging forest out there for congressional Democrats these days. Timber! First Chris Dodd falls, then Patches Kennedy, not to mention a whole host of lesser-known Beltway banditos. They’re all retiring due to ill health - the voters are sick of them. The question now is the same one they ask at the deli counter. Who's next?

Consider why Delahunt might want to call it a career. First, he’s already got a state pension - $58,343.76 a year. He’s also vested for a congressional kiss in the mail, probably at least another $90,000. He turns 69 in July, so he’s still young enough to cash in on his career in, ahem, public service, as well as finding time to fact-find at those clothing-optional Jamaican beaches he so enjoys.

On the other hand . . . first of all, there’s a congressional redistricting coming up. Massachusetts may be losing a seat. Redistricting is all about carving, and it would be immensely easier if there’s a solon who is retiring and whose district no one would miss.

And if Delahunt runs, and loses, which certainly seems possible, then who better to gerrymander out of Congress in two years than the cheeky Republican who knocks him off?

Well, it appears Delahunt may not even have any fight left.

US Representative William Delahunt said yesterday that he is considering retiring from his congressional seat representing the South Shore and Cape Cod, although he portrayed his deliberations as routine and said they are not related to challenges from Republicans who are energized by Scott Brown’s upset victory in last month’s special Senate election.

“Every election cycle, I take my time, I think it through, and I think, not about whether I can win or lose, but: ‘Am I in a position to make a difference?’ ’’ Delahunt, a Quincy Dem ocrat, said in a telephone interview. “Can I achieve what I want to achieve outside of public life?’’

Delahunt, who has not faced a serious challenge since he was elected in 1996, has a campaign war chest of more than $600,000 but has not been aggressively raising money this year, according to federal records. He said he will announce in March whether he will seek reelection.

If he departs, it would signal a continued shift in New England’s political landscape after the Republican Brown stunned Democrats when he won the seat held by the late Edward M. Kennedy. Kennedy’s son, Patrick, said yesterday that he will be quitting his US House seat in Rhode Island.

“I have held elected office for almost 40 years,’’ said Delahunt, a former prosecutor. “I understand that there is always an ebb and flow. Today you are up and tomorrow you are down. That is the rhythm of political life.’’

Delahunt has held office so long that Democratic strategists said it is not clear who in his party might seek the seat if he were to retire. Some have floated the name of Therese Murray, president of the Massachusetts State Senate, who is from Plymouth. But she has recently indicated that she believes Delahunt will run and win.

Still, several Republicans see a chance to recapture one of the state’s conservative districts, where Brown received some of his highest margins of victory on Jan. 19. And they have seized on an unlikely issue: Venezuela. Or, more specifically, Delahunt’s good relations with Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela, who once called President Bush “the devil’’ in a speech at the United Nations.

Remarkably, the Globe goes on to portray Chavez in a positive light, something they'd never do for a Republican.

Update: Delahunt may really be having problems now.

Top Democrat on Brown: 'He Does Have a Certain Wackadoo Quotient'

So nice to see Democrats taking their humiliating defeat last night with the class we've come to expect from them. Here's New York Democrat Congressman Anthony Weiner lashing out wildly in every direction while appearing with Don Imus this morning. Just soak in some of these choice cuts. On healthcare:

"People didn't understand what we were trying to do"

Translation: Americans are stupid and were duped by this guy in a pick-up truck.

On Coakley:

"She wasn't a great candidate"

That might be an understatment, especially when this follows:

"She was the worst candidate of the last 15 years..."

The worst candidate that the unions, DNC, DSCC spent millions on, as well as forfeiting what little credibility Obama has by appearing for her.

Back to those stupid Americans:

"Most Americans don't realize what we're trying to do..."

Yeah, well when you're holding meetings in secret and refuse to televise them, that might hold some weight. But the fact is, Mr. Weiner, we realize exactly what you're trying to do and that's why Brown won.

And classy as ever, he insults Brown before he can even get to DC:

"He does have a certain wackadoo quotient..."

Stay classy, Democrats.

Weiner ends by saying Democrats can't ignore the results and be arrogant about their position. Really? Do they act any other way?

Happy Anniversary, Barack: How's That Hopenchange Working Out?

The man who would change politics as we know it has accomplished just that. A year after being sworn in as president he's completely invigorated the GOP and breathed new life into a party given up for dead just a year ago.

That's change we can believe in.

Yes, US politics have become so volatile of late that sweeping projections about last night's returns probably shouldn't be made quite yet.

Still, this is the fifth time in three months that Obama has focused his star power to effect political and policy outcomes -- losing each time.

It didn't work in Virginia and New Jersey, where he roller-skated in for Democratic gubernatorial candidates Creigh Deeds and Jon Corzine last November.

Or in Copenhagen, when he popped in to tout Chicago as host for the 2016 Olympics.

Or in Copenhagen again, last month, at the global climate-change conference.

And now this.

Obama needs to get better at anticipating outcomes. Each time he commits his personal prestige -- and that of his office -- and then loses, he diminishes both.

So far, he merely looks foolish.

Pretty soon you'll have Republicans calling Obama, pleading with him to campaign for their opponents.

Meanwhile, a deeper look at the Massachusetts results show results sure to stun. For example, in Barnstable, where Hyannis is loctaed, Brown blew out Coakley 12,331 to 7,543.

Meanwhile, Brown this morning has a message for the Democrats. They're not going to listen either way, and they'll pay in November.

Asked on NBC's "Today" show if the election was a referendum on Obama, he replied, "No, it's bigger than that."

"I just focused on what I did, which is to talk about the issues — terror, taxes and the health care plan," he said. "I don't think it was anything that she did." Brown noted that he was able to establish himself as a strong candidate, traveling across the state "while they were in the middle of their primary. ... People enjoyed the message."

He called the Obama-backed health care system "not good for our state," and said he didn't think the voters would stand for any effort by Democrats to delay seating him in the Senate. Brown said Democrats would pay at the polls in November for any "political chicanery."

Meanwhile, it's refreshing to see the same people whose belligerence helped squander the Democrat advantage upping the ante. They'll never learn.

Massachusetts Senate Results: Coakley Concedes!

Major update at 9:20: Scott Brown just said on WRKO in Boston that Coakley called to concede!

9:25 Update: Fox's Carl Cameron announces it: Brown has won. Bring on the Hump Bot.

9:30 Update: It's official.

In an epic upset in liberal Massachusetts, Republican Scott Brown rode a wave of voter anger to defeat Democrat Martha Coakley in a U.S. Senate election Tuesday that left President Barack Obama's health care overhaul in doubt and marred the end of his first year in office.

The loss by the once-favored Coakley for the seat that the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy held for nearly half a century signaled big political problems for the president's party this fall when House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates are on the ballot nationwide.

9:55 Update: Coakley concession speech. Bye bye, Marcia.

And finally, the Humpbot.

Robot libido
by sabotage

Started this in the previous post, but things should develop quickly.

You can view live results here. Rasmussen has exit polling here.

Preliminary results include:

* Among those who decided how they would vote in the past few days, Coakley has a slight edge, 47% to 41%.
* Coakley also has a big advantage among those who made up their mind more than a month ago.

Hmmm. Plus, Nostrilitus, man of reason?

Powerful Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Henry Waxman (D-CA) does not support moving healthcare reform bill quickly if Martha Coakley loses.

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to do that," Waxman said. "He ought to be seated and we'll see where we go -- if he wins!"

With 7% of the vote counted it's 51-48% for Brown.

More here. Ace is at Brown HQ.

Update 8:40: Brown up 5 with 18% of the vote in. A live blog at RCP. A good town-by-town link here.

Update 8:45: The WHDH link seems to be updating faster than most. Now 25% of precincts with Brown up 52-47, 288,615 to 260,730.

Update 8:50: Howie Carr is calling it for Brown while on O'Reilly. He looks like he lost some weight. Democrat Mary Anne Marsh is crestfallen. Now 40% of the vote in--this is coming in fast--and it's 53-46 for Brown.

Update 9 pm: Now 57% in and it's 53-46 for Brown. Ace is still drinking and schmoozing.

Update 9:15: On MessNBC, in the face of imending disaster for the Democrats, Howard Dean tells Rachel Maddow that people are tired of the "the partisan bickering" in Washington. No, Howie, they're tired of the Democrats. It's now 65% of the vote in with Brown up 53-46 with nearly a 100,000 vote lead. Someone's going to be calling this soon, I imagine.

Heh: Brown Win Will Be 'a Tragedy of Greek Proportions'

Perhaps the shining moment of election night in 1994 was seeing then-CNN hack Judy Woodruff choke up in tears when news broke the GOP had taken control of the House and Senate. Looks like Judy is in for much more heartbreak tonight, and she's not the only one.

Atlantic senior editor Andrew Sullivan described the election on his blog as “a nihilist moment, built from a nihilist strategy in order to regain power ... to do nothing but wage war against enemies at home and abroad.”

Sullivan, a longtime conservative who announced he was leaving “the right” last month, concluded Monday that “Democrats can stop hoping at this point” and predicted a double-digit victory for Brown.

Sullivan just announced that? Uhhh, I think they're confusing him with a certain husky, ponytailed blogger. The hysterical Sullivan long ago parted ways with the right.

Leave it to Woodruff, however, to really get maudlin.

Other pundits have had their own grand pronouncements on the possibility of Democrat Martha Coakley losing the seat once held by Ted Kennedy: “Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos —who once worked for someone dubbed the “Comeback Kid” — wrote on his blog Tuesday that a Brown victory “would certainly be the biggest political upset I have seen in my career.” PBS’s Judy Woodruff, quoting someone from the White House, described the situation on ABC’s “This Week” as “a tragedy of Greek proportions if Ted Kennedy's successor is the one ... who was responsible for the death of health care.”

Leave it, naturally, to the most odious one of all the far-left crackpots littering the landscape to reach even lower than thought possible.

On Monday’s “Countdown,” Keith Olbermann told viewers that in Brown, “we have an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, tea-bagging supporter of violence against women and against politicians with whom he disagrees.”

“The Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” Olbermann added in his special comment, “is close to sending this bad joke to the Senate of the United States.”

Bathtub boy should soon be curled up in the fetal position.

Update 8:20: You can view live results here. Rasmussen has exit polling here.

Preliminary results include:

* Among those who decided how they would vote in the past few days, Coakley has a slight edge, 47% to 41%.
* Coakley also has a big advantage among those who made up their mind more than a month ago.

Hmmm. Plus, Nostrilitus, man of reason?

Powerful Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Henry Waxman (D-CA) does not support moving healthcare reform bill quickly if Martha Coakley loses.

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to do that," Waxman said. "He ought to be seated and we'll see where we go -- if he wins!"

With 7% of the vote counted it's 51-48% for Brown.