Herald's At-Large Endorsements, And Other Notes
--The Boston Herald has endorsed five at-large council candidates, which is kind of odd considering voters can select four, but I have no problem with it. Along with incumbents Steve Murphy and John Connolly, they chose Ayanna Pressley, Ego Ezedi, and Robert Fortes. The two white Irish guys make perfect sense, although I think Connolly's a little progressive for them if you look close enough. Ezedi figures to be their kind of hero, for taking on Yancey and the 'old guard' black establishment a few years ago. And I thought all along that Fortes, a black Republican with legit government experience, should be appealing to the white conservatives of Boston. And Pressley, an impressive but fairly non-ideological woman, is a pretty easy choice for them I think. No surprise that they wouldn't go for Felix Arroyo. But no room for Andrew Kenneally? That's interesting to me.
--Ralph Martin has been conspicuously silent about the Boston mayoral race that he was once so interested in being a part of. I mean, if the guy was so concerned about the city's future under another Menino term, you would think he'd be out there lending his voice to the discussion, and his support to the challengers. Instead he's been absolutely mum on all things Boston since choosing not to run. An observer might conclude that Martin must be too busy for political activity, or in a position where he needs to avoid any appearance of political interests, because surely the former DA isn't just CHICKEN-SHIT SCARED OF TOM MENINO. So, how to process the announcement that Martin has leapt without hesitation into the Senate race, taking a position as honorary co-chair of Martha Coakley's campaign? Why does he have time, interest, and freedom to get involved in that race, but not the battle for Boston that he was thisclose to actually running in? Do you suppose he really is just CHICKEN-SHIT SCARED OF TOM MENINO?
--I'm still not prepared to weigh in at any length about the email scandal situation, but geez it kinda looks like at the very least the city's MIS and counsel operations are not exactly running at maximum efficiency, professionalism, and expertise.
--The retrial of Joseph Cousin for the murder of Trina Persad has finally begun, after a lengthy legal battle over the bizarre mistrial the first time around. Thank goodness; maybe if they can get a verdict this time the BPD can finally let go of Danny Keeler. Keeler, whose exploits I have documented and discussed in the past, is still on the force (making huge salary and overtime) despite everything, and my theory for the past several years (and it's just a theory) has been that they can't let him go until the Cousin case gets settled. Keeler was the lead detective, and one of the defense's major arguments in the first trial was that Keeler constructed a case around Cousin, and twisted the investigation timetable to make it appear that the evidence led to Cousin. In other words, that Keeler is lying -- an allegation a jury would be more likely to believe if Keeler had to testify that he no longer works for the BPD because they fired him for repeated problems telling the truth. Given the importance of the Persad murder, I figure they were stuck with Keeler on the payroll until the case played out.