Today's Herald cover story, by Dave Wedge, makes a convincing case that there are some bad dudes working in the government-subsidizied Massachusetts film industry. But it provides an awfully spotty history of how these bad dudes came to benefit from the Commonwealth's largesse.

First, let's take a look at the Herald's description of the nature and origins of the problem:

In the wake of Mitt Romney's Times column on how to fix Detroit, Blue Mass. Group's David Kravitz suggests that Mitt Romney take over as GM's CEO:

It's perfect. GM needs new management; Romney's free; he's a turnaround guy; he's from Detroit; his dad ran a car company; he's already got a national profile, which would really help GM; he's already filthy rich, so he could take the job for a pittance.

In an op-ed in today's Times, Mitt Romney makes a pretty good case against bailing out the domestic auto industry. But he seems to lay an inordinate amount of blame for Detroit's woes on the extra costs that current labor agreements impose on American manufacturers in comparison with foreign competitors.

Is Sarah Palin an overmanaged candidate? Yes! says CNN's Gloria Borger:

[N]ow the McCain campaign has a real problem. They've managed to turn a self-confident and appealing candidate into one who is afraid of veering off her talking points. She's clearly studying and cramming, but it's like trying to cram for an exam when you haven't really taken the class.

ST. PAUL--In an email, a DQM reader takes vigorous issue with my assessment of Mitt Romney's speech to the RNC:

A B-plus my ass! You won't see or hear a worse speech all year than Mitt's. I was sitting on my couch practically covering my eyes. I don't like him, but I was touting him for VP.

Real quickly, here's my response.

ST. PAUL--Unless my ears deceived me, our former governor didn’t mention gay marriage once! That’s a big change from his last RNC speech, when he described gay marriage was a threat comparable to Islamic radicalism. He did, however, give a little nod to family values, referring to the fact that we need to raise our children in “homes free from promiscuity.

BLOOMINGTON, MN--It can’t be easy being Mitt Romney nowadays. Imagine: you find your place in the Republican firmament, make a serious run at the GOP’s presidential nomination, earn frequent mention as a possible running mate for John McCain — and then watch as McCain picks an obscure, untested, deeply flawed hockey mom-cum-Alaska secessionist for the job.

Here's the beginning of "The New Big Dig," the lead editorial in today's Wall Street Journal:

Mitt Romney's Presidential run is history, but it looks as if the taxpayers of Massachusetts will be paying for it for years to come. The former Governor had hoped to ride his grand state "universal" health-care reform of 2006 to the White House, but his state's residents are now having to live with what he and the state's Democratic Legislature passed.